My boyfriend is a better cook than me. So in an effort to conform to societal gender roles, I took a cooking class!
Hahaha, just kidding! Don’t worry, I couldn’t be less serious! The real story is that I got my fella a cooking class for his birthday at the National Gourmet Institute in NYC.
“Power Bowls That Heal: Mind, Body, and Soul” Cooking Class at the National Gourmet Institute NYC
We had so much fun making a mess of someone else’s giant kitchen. New York City kitchens are notoriously tiny so this was such a luxury. We spread out our prep in a giant room with multiple ovens and counter tops. Glorious. Even better than that: we created a ton of dirty dishes and we didn’t wash any of them. Not. One. Single. One. It was so opulent! And easily all my dude’s dreams come true: COOKING WITH NO DISHES!!
What’s that you say? You want more food, less dishes?
Our instructor for the class was Chef Olivia, who, in addition to being an award-winning chef, has a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Columbia. No surprise, she is into the science behind cooking. She didn’t get to technical with us, but the few nerdy tidbits she did share were absolutely intriguing. She’s offering a single class and a 3 day intensive on umami in February.
For our class, we divided into five teams and each made a Power Bowl. Team birthday boy and I made this Chef Olivia original recipe:
Black Quinoa Power Bowl with Bruleed Butternut Squash, Balsamic Roasted Onion, Massaged Rainbow Chard and Almond “Cheese” Crumbles
This class was all about mindful eating and making nutritionally balanced, plant based, flavorful meal that fits simply in a bowl.
It was great to try techniques we’d never heard of before, like reducing apple juice to a syrup to make a Spiced Cider Vinaigrette. Almond cheese!? I NEVER would have dreamed this is something I would make, but it was really tasty and not as difficult as you might think! We really got our hands dirty massaging chard and tossing onions. I used ingredients that I’d definitely be to cheap to buy, like a tablespoon of miso for the almond cheese and maple crystals in the butternut squash.
When I cook, I’m big on throwing everything into a bowl and tossing it all up stir-fry style. My boyfriend is really into presentation and plating, and so was Chef Olivia. This is why the above bowls look pretty fantastic, and not a slap-dash mess!
It was a little odd being in a class with so many different dishes being made. We had to be pro-active in getting instruction sometimes. I would not call it a traditional cooking class. But it was interesting seeing the other teams making dishes like Moroccan Spiced Falafel with Red Quinoa Tabbouleh, Preserved Lemon-Scented Cucumbers and Creamy Tahini Dressing.
And what was easily both our favorite: Coconut Turmeric Sticky Rice with Tikka Masala Spiced Sweet Potato, Chai Roasted Beets and Crispy Shallots
The very best part was ending the class with five different small and mighty power bowls of amazing, healthy food!
The two I haven’t mentioned yet were ‘General Tso’ Broccoli and ‘Kung Pao’ Edamame Black Rice Bowl with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Zuuchini Peanut ‘Noodle’ Bowl with Sriracha String Beans, Lemongrass Tofu and Tamarind Cashews. Both were delicious. Seriously, everything I ate at the Natural Gourmet Institute for this cooking class was absolutely delicious, so flavorful and fresh! Since the class, my fella has actually already made the Broccoli and Edamame Black Rice Bowl on his own!
It was a total birthday success! He was so satisfied from this meal, and feeling so healthy, my birthday boy didn’t want any cake. We joked his birthday dessert was coconut turmeric sticky rice!
I’d never taken a cooking class before. It was a fun and very active way to spend an evening. If you love vegetables as much as my boyfriend, the Natural Gourmet Institute is the place to go.
The Natural Gourmet Institute offers the best vegetarian cooking classes in NYC.
Find a full list of their class offerings here.
Most other classes I found while searching for the Best Birthday Cooking Class in NYC revolved around meat. If you looooove meat, you have a lot more options for classes! Check out this Time Out NY list of The Best Cooking Classes NYC Has to Offer.
I love it. Great job
Wow, that looks like a ton of fun! That coconut sticky rice recipe sounds amaaazing too. I like to cook, but I definitely don’t like to clean up. I’ve been cooking vegetarian only for a few months now and these sounded good though maybe a bit complex for my means right now, but it’s still so cool to be able to go there and cook all those delicious bowls!