Alaska Kids' Healthy Harvest Cookbook

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Alaska kids grow, cook, eat and love vegetables!

by Sarah R-P. Lewis

Kids and Gardens Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

Some people complain about our cool, sometimes extreme, Alaska weather and make vacation plans, right? But a lot of people love it, and so do healthy vegetables, including some you can grow right in your own garden.

Kale likes it cool and rainy, too. In fact, though kale needs sun, it actually doesn’t like it when it gets too hot. And it’s a super food, packed full of nutrition!

Potatoes are an awesome Alaska vegetable. They grow well here, and there are so many yummy ways to cook them.

Carrots are like candy from the garden. They are sweet and even come in beautiful colors like orange, purple and red.

Zucchini grows so well in Alaska that people are always trying something new with it. Wait until you see the recipe in this book!

Peas are tasty, crunchy, healthy snacks straight from the garden, and they’re fun to grow. Whether they’re cooked or raw, they’re a great part of a healthy harvest.

Note for Parents and Teachers

A recent study showed that if young people have a fun, positive memory about a vegetable, even a vegetable that kids wrinkle their noses over, they’re more likely to eat it and enjoy it as adults. Our taste buds grow and change as we grow and change, so if a kid says, “I don’t like zucchini,” he probably doesn’t like zucchini — yet. So he should keep trying it.

Some foods a person might never like, but a teen is much more likely to try some kale if she remembers those fun kale chips she made with her third-grade class. A young adult, when starting out on his own, is more likely to buy (or grow) some fresh peas if he remembers how crunchy and sweet they were when picked from his school or community garden.

So you can use this little recipe book to make a family dinner or cook for a Healthy Harvest Festival at school or with your youth group. But no matter how many people you’re feeding, remember to make it fun!

Menu for a Healthy Harvest Festival

If you want to enjoy vegetables straight from the garden (or store) in some amazing and creative ways and make a whole meal of Alaska food, plan a Healthy Harvest Festival with your family, friends, school or even your whole town or village.

Here’s a great menu to celebrate the harvest:

Starter

Kale Chips

Main Dish

Venison Stew or

Salmon Chowder

Side Dish

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Salad

Carrot Salad

Dessert

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Kale Chips

If you’ve never tried kale, or never thought you’d like it, this is the way you want to try it first: crispy, salty and delicious, it’s always a hit.

Ingredients for one batch (which is never enough!)

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon table salt)

Also needed

Salad spinner (or towels), large bowl, plastic spatula/turner, cookie sheet (possibly two), tin foil, medium serving bowl

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash the kale and dry it very well in a salad spinner or between towels.
3. Pull the leaves off of the center stems and tear them into chip- sized pieces.
4. Put kale pieces into the large bowl, pour oil over leaves and sprinkle salt over all. Toss well using your hands or a plastic turner (or both).
5. Spread leaves onto cookie sheet(s) in one layer and place in preheated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Leaves should be crispy and just starting to turn brown at the edges. Be very careful not to overcook because the chips will burn easily.
6. Serve immediately or cool and store in an airtight container.

 

Venison Stew

Venison stew is a perfect fall or winter meal — hot, filling, hearty and filled with meat and vegetables you can harvest from the garden and forest. A little trivia: Though we often use the word to mean deer meat, “venison” is actually the word for meat from any wild ungulate (look that word up!) harvested by hunting. Here in Alaska, that includes deer, moose and caribou, too! You can also make this stew with beef.

Ingredients for six to eight servings

• 3 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds venison stew meat, cubed
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3½ cups water
• 8 small potatoes, peeled and diced large
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour mixed into ¼ cup water

Also needed

Stew pot, knives, cutting board, mixing spoon, large ladle

Instructions

1. In the pot, brown the meat in oil.
2. Add onions, garlic, Worcestershire, bay, oregano, salt and water. Simmer, covered, for 1½ to 2 hours.
3. Add potatoes and carrots; cook until tender.
4. Stir flour-water mixture into stew to thicken.

Salmon Chowder

We probably all have salmon in our freezers or canned up in the pantry. A quick chowder is a great family meal and another good reason to have carrots and potatoes in the garden.

Ingredients for eight servings

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small-medium onion, chopped
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 2 pounds salmon (fresh, thawed or canned)
• 1 can nonfat evaporated milk
• 1 can creamed corn
• ½ pound (about 2 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded

Also needed

Large soup pot, mixing spoon, knives, cutting board

Instructions

1. Melt butter in pot; sauté onion, celery and garlic powder until onions are tender.
2. Stir in salmon, potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, pepper and dill.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
4. Stir in milk, corn and cheese. Cook until heated through.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

These should be made with some of the larger potatoes from your garden. Kids love to mash!

Ingredients for four servings

• 4 large potatoes, baked
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons low-fat milk
• ¼–½ cup grated cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt

Also needed

Cheese grater, knives, cutting board, large bowl, potato masher

Instructions

1. Lay potatoes on their sides and cut a small slice in the top of each. Carefully scoop out the pulp and place in a large bowl. You can also cut the potatoes in half the long way to scoop out the pulp and make potato boats!
2. Mash the pulp with butter, milk and salt.
3. Refill each potato shell with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Carrot Salad

Carrots and almonds are so sweet that this is almost like a fruit salad — and you might save some cranberries that you picked (dried or in the freezer) to make it even more tasty.

Ingredients for six servings

• ¼ cups olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon sugar (or 1 tablespoon of maple or birch syrup)
• 3 cups shredded carrots
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• ½ cup slivered almonds

Also needed

Small bowl, large bowl, mixing spoon, fork, knife, cutting board

Instructions

1. Whisk together oil, lemon juice, parsley, mustard, salt and sugar (or syrup) in a small bowl.
2. Combine carrots, cranberries, onion and almonds in the large bowl.
3. Add dressing. Combine very well.
4. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, if possible, or overnight.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Every celebration needs cake. And this is awesome! Even zucchini can’t make cake “healthy,” but a sweet treat is not always a bad thing, and the vegetable adds some nutrition, though you’d never know it.

Ingredients for one 9x13-inch pan

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1½ cups cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated zucchini cream cheese frosting (homemade or store-bought)

Also needed

9x13-inch cake pan, large bowl, wooden spoon, spreading knife

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour pan.
2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs and oil. Stir very well.
4. Fold in the zucchini until evenly distributed.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let cool, then frost.

You won’t need to store this — it’ll be gone quickly! But it will refrigerate nicely for a few days if you’re making it ahead.

Healthy Harvest Notes

 

   Sarah R-P. Lewis, Extension Faculty, Health, Home and Family Development  

Revised May 2022