After moving to Portland in 1991, I had time and resources to get a Holistic Nutritionist degree. During the years I studied nutrition on my own, I never wanted to be a dietitian because I didn’t agree with their overall philosophy. Knowing that Jell-O was a staple in hospitals convinced me that I didn’t want to learn what dietitians had to teach. Sadly, there are few medical schools that teach nutrition.

Over the years whenever I read about food served in public schools supervised by dietitians I get depressed. Where are the whole grains and produce I know to be the best for good health, especially for growing children? Don’t get me started on soda pop.

With my professional cooking experience, passion for nutrition, and desire to make a dent in hunger I volunteer as a chef instructor for Oregon Food Bank’s (OFB) Nutrition Education program. This program provides nutrition classes under a federal program called Cooking Matters. Based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) food pyramid, each of the six week classes focuses on a different topic including nutrients and budgeting. These classes, held once a week for six weeks, are hands-on for students. I usually teach at a local women’s shelter. Women of all ages and levels of cooking experience take the classes. Most are pretty vocal about what they will and will not eat. The ladies seriously critique some vegetables—“what is that?” “I don’t eat stuff like that.” I talk about the nutrition of various veggies—how color is an indicator of the nutrients it contains—as I demonstrate safe chopping, and the ladies pick up their knives and do their part for our communal meal.

The week of the protein demonstration we demo a whole chicken because it’s the most affordable meat. An assistant does the meat presentation as I make it clear to the students that I do not eat meat.

This brings up a lot of questions, and some resistance. I’ve not eaten meat for about four decades, and know some things to be true. Not only is a vegetarian diet more diverse, healthful, and better for the planet, it is also way cheaper. We do a scavenger hunt at a local grocery store for one of the OFB classes where we compare prices of various foods. When class participants see the huge cost difference between meat and beans, many are stunned, or mad. Mad because they don’t want to give up meat. I assure them that they don’t have to give it up entirely, but they can cut way back.

We talk about various ways to prepare beans. One of the favorites, and one I cook often at home, is a Lebanese dish called Mjaddrah a lentil dish with rice or bulgur. It’s a hit with most of the women. The people who participate in these classes get a binder covering all the topics we discuss that has a variety of non-meat recipes. Several years ago a recipe I created was included in this book.

I continue to teach OFB classes, and whole foods vegetarian classes, around Portland. Most of all I continue to learn about how food affects health. I mentioned at the beginning of my tale about the flip-flopping of nutrition advice in the popular press. The basis of my knowledge which I teach and practice myself is that a diet of whole real foods that you can see, smell, feel, and taste, is best for all of us.

This is the best time of year to me. Spring has sprung and my favorite food of all time is in abundance—strawberries. All my life strawberries have been my favorite food. I love everything about them—their alluring beauty, their captivating aroma, their compact design, their convenience, and their spectacular taste.

Oregon strawberries, where I live now, are as aromatic and flavorful as the Ohio strawberries of my childhood. In the intervening decades, I’ve tasted my share of bland berries that aren’t worth the money. And I don’t buy them in markets, natural or not, and never off-season since they have traveled who knows how far from where they were grown. They’ve probably traveled farther than I’ve ever been.

Grown to hold up during their voyage somewhere, picked before they are ripe, then packaged in environmentally questionable plastic boxes, these products are not healthful nor good for the environment. Seasonal fruits are not meant to be eaten out of their local season—they become common if they are easily available.

As I approach the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings starting in early May my anticipation grows—will they have the season’s first berries yet? This year they arrived surprisingly early given our very cool spring. The first few weeks they were scarce. Finally, last week there were more berries than anyone could imagine and the price had lowered. I bought my first half crate. I froze two pints, made strawberry muffins and we eat the rest fresh out of the carton. I usually eat mine over yoghurt with some sprouted and roasted seeds: pumpkin and sunflower, and ground flax seeds. Yummy. Sometimes I slice some into a bowl and pour on heavy cream. Way yummy.

Strawberries are delicate—like any fruit bruised spots will mold and that mold will transfer to the rest of the container. So, I check all the berries as soon as I get them home. If they have some soft spots remove the spots and eat that berry right away. DO NOT wash them until you are ready to eat them, except if you are freezing them. Otherwise, store most in the refrigerator until ready to eat. The colder the fruit the less the luscious flavor comes through. I remove a pint from the refrigerator each morning to warm them before nibbling on them all day.

To Freeze: line baking sheets with waxed paper. Check your freezer for space to place the sheets flat. Rinse each berry, shaking off the water and patting it dry, then slice or cut each one into bite-sized pieces. Small berries can be left whole. Be sure to shake off as much water as possible so your berries aren’t water-logged when you thaw them. Place the cut pieces in a single layer on the baking sheets and put them in the freezer. These gems will freeze overnight. Place them into heavy plastic freezer bags (or doubled regular bags). They will keep this way for several months. They are perfect for smoothies in hot weather with a little milk (dairy, nut, or coconut, whichever you prefer), and some nutmeg. If you don’t add sugar you get a very nutritious drink with the rich taste of strawberries. When I have some that last into winter I’ll use them for muffins or in pancakes or pies. The frozen ones don’t work well for tarts or shortcake. Freezing breaks down cell walls making the fruit mushy so they aren’t so good uncooked.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

~ Virginia Woolf

“Noncooks think it’s silly to invest two hours’ work in two minutes enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, well, so is ballet.”

~ Julia Child

“A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.”

~ Samuel Johnson

To cook liquids, like soup, in a pot so that the liquid on top is barely moving.