September Stone Soup Community Cooking Class

_STONE SOUP – we’ve all heard the folk story [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup] about strangers sharing a small amount of food that, when combined, creates a meal to feed the community. This summer, we’re bringing that community meal concept into the kitchen with our Stone Soup series!_This monthly hands-on class will focus on seasonal and improvisational cooking. Attendees each bring an ingredient that we’ll put together and transform into a delicious, fresh, seasonal meal! In each class, we’ll talk about what’s in season, highlight some key ingredients and recipes (not just soup!), and discuss ideas for improvisational cooking (aka “what can I make from these ingredients?”). After we cook together, we’ll sit down and share the meal we’ve created at our community table. Some ideas of what you can bring are: * a bunch of herbs or a few vegetables from your garden * an excess of produce from your CSA box * a mystery vegetable from the farmers market that you’d like to learn how to cook Some things not to bring: * Expired produce or canned goods * Home-canned preserves (we love to make them, but can’t use them in class) Classes are hands-on, vegetarian (eggs and dairy in some dishes, but no meat), and all ages are welcome. BYOB encouraged! _Presented in partnership with Green City Market [http://www.greencitymarket.org/]._ ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR Chef Ronak Patel gained a love of preparing and eating eclectic foods at a young age with his parents who welcomed his company in the kitchen and introduced him to food from around the world. Ronak decided to pursue his initial love of cooking through attending Le Cordon Bleu Chicago and has worked for catering companies throughout the Chicagoland area. Since May 2014, Ronak has been the owner, private dining chef and cooking instructor at Chef Ronak. He has taught classes and workshops at the Sugar Beet Food Co-op in Oak Park and Read It & Eat in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Currently, he is a Resident Chef and Cooking Instructor at Peterson Garden Project Community Cooking School in Edgewater in Chicago, where he has taught since 2015. He is also a Chef Instructor at Cook, Cork and Fork in Palatine.