Several times a month the lobby of The Well is filled with the aroma of home cooking as The Cove hosts one of its numerous cooking demonstrations.

Tucked away in The Well, The Cove features a full-size kitchen where cooking demonstrations are held to teach students quick and easy ways to cook healthier and tastier meals.

In honor of Black History Month, Soul Food for the Healthy Soul, held Feb. 21, gave 10 Sacramento State students the opportunity to learn how to make three classic soul food dishes with a healthy twist.

Senior dietetics major Shyra Murrey was one host of the demonstration. She began the class by giving a brief background on the roots of soul food. Murrey said African-Americans popularized the term soul food in the 1960s as a description of the food they prepared.

Food has long been a way to bring people together and Murrey feels soul food is a reflection of that.

“We might not be getting along but if we get some good food in front of us then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to talk,” Murrey said.

Murrey began the demo with the preparation of collard greens, a dish often overlooked for its nutritional value.

“The things college students need most, that they’re not typically getting, you’ll find in the greens,” Murrey said.

This includes fiber, protein, vitamins and calcium. By preparing the greens in a vegetable broth, omitting the use of any meat or additional salt and adding tomatoes to the finished product, the dish remains low in fat and sodium while retaining all the dietary value of the greens. The addition of the tomatoes also boosts iron absorption.

Murrey also added onions and chili pepper flakes to the recipe for flavor. The texture was firm and chewy without any of the slime or squish often found in cooked spinach.

Senior dietetics major Margreet Adriani was Murrey’s co-host during the class.

Adriani demonstrated how to prepare a healthier corn bread by supplementing the flour with wheat flour. By using both white flour and wheat flour, the corn bread has higher fiber content without heavily altering the flavor.

In comparing the ingredients of the scratch corn bread, which is entirely vegetarian, Murrey showed a box of Jiffy cornbread mix includes lard and animal fat in the ingredient list. By making the corn bread from scratch, students can be sure they are not unknowingly eating animal products or excess fat.

The corn bread recipe created a muffin slightly less crumbly than typical corn bread but it was still fluffy and moist.

Finally, Murrey showed how to make Aunt Jackie’s Mac N’ Cheese, a recipe originally from Murrey’s mother-in-law she tweaked to make healthier. While not exactly a diet food, this macaroni and cheese recipe is healthier than a box of Kraft or a dish one might find in a restaurant.

Although this recipe called for cream of chicken soup, Murrey also gave a vegetarian alternative of cream of mushroom soup for the handful of students who were vegetarian.

The macaroni and cheese was reminiscent of a casserole as the noodles were layered with cheese and baked in the oven. This created a crunchy top giving way to a bed of creamy noodles underneath.

Students in attendance appeared to enjoy the dishes and seemed eager to try making one or two of the recipes at home.

It was the second cooking demonstration senior dietetics major Kirat Bains has attended. Bains said she was looking forward to making the collard greens due to high nutritional value as well as the cornbread.

“Next time I make cornbread I’ll make it from scratch,” Bains said. “It’s much healthier and it still has that cornbread flavor.”

March is National Nutrition Month and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ theme this year is “Shape up your plate,” Adriani said.

To celebrate, The Cove will be focusing on breakfast and will host No Excuse, Quick and Healthy Breakfast, a cooking demonstration featuring 10-minute breakfast recipes on March 7 from 10 to 11 a.m.

For more information or to sign up for a cooking demonstration, call (916) 278-5422 or visit www.csus.edu/hlth to view upcoming events.

Jessica Scharff can be reached at [email protected]