First Friday Night: Cheese Chowder
This month for First Friday Night we’ll be cooking a delicious cheese chowder along with a kale salad. Anytime is a good time for soup, but it’s especially tasty when the weather starts to get cooler!
If you weren’t able to come to First Friday Night in person, you can still make this meal with your family at home. We’ve got the ingredient list, recipes, and even a fun family activity linked for you below.
Fun Fact: Chowder is a thick soup made with broth and milk that usually also contains seafood or vegetables. The word comes from the French word ‘chaudiere’, which describes the cooking pot soups are usually made in!
First Friday Recipes:
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Ingredients:
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onions
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp instant chicken bullion granules
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey cheese -
Ingredients:
SALAD
1⁄2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 bunch kale (curly or flat leaf)
5 medium radishes
1⁄2 cup dried cranberries
1 medium Granny Smith apple (or other apple)
2 ounces crumbled feta cheeseDRESSING
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1⁄2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp smooth Dijon mustard
1 1⁄2 tsp honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fun Fact: Kale is a dark leafy green vegetable that is full of vitamins and nutrients our bodies need. Vitamin A is good for boosting your immune system, strengthening your bones and sharpening your vision. Vitamin C helps your immune system, bones and skin. Kale also gives you fiber, which helps your body feel full longer and makes your digestive system work properly.
Everyone has a job to do!
Suggestions for Cooking by Age
3-5 Year Olds: setting out ingredients, washing produce, setting the table.
K-2nd Grade: measuring ingredients, adding ingredients to bowl, tearing kale, clearing the table, cleaning up.
3rd-5th Grade: washing dishes, melting butter, cutting or grating (with supervision), adding ingredients to a pan, whisking dressing.
Middle School - Adult: chopping vegetables, slicing radishes, cooking soup.
Before you start, check out these helpful videos on hand washing and knife safety skills. When you’re ready, its time to get cooking!
At Kids Cook! we have a few simple rules that guide our cooking (and eating!) time. One rule is that we wait until everyone is seated to eat. We say our magic words - Bon Appetit, it's time to eat! - and we all enjoy the meal we’ve worked to create.
As you enjoy your dinner together, here’s a few conversation starters you can use to talk about your meal:
a) What textures do you notice in the food? How is this chowder different that other soups you’ve eaten?
b) How would you describe the flavor of the chowder? The salad?
c) What was your favorite part of the meal to prepare?
If you have kids (or adults) who don’t love the food, that’s ok too! It’s fine to try (or not try) something new, and there are lots of ways to talk about or interact with food besides eating - try cutting it, squishing it, pouring it or comparing it instead!
Another rule at Kids Cook! is that we cooperate and work as a team. When the meal is over, everybody gets to take part in cleaning things up! This is another opportunity for the whole family to get involved - from washing, drying, putting away or tidying up the rest of the kitchen.
We hope you enjoyed these recipes and had fun cooking at home! Feel free to take pictures of your family cooking together and post them on social with the hashtag #FFNathome.
See you next time!