Sadly, too many greenies don’t actually know how to cook. Instead we eat out at pricy sustainable restaurants — something we can afford less and less as our pocketbooks shrink — or, when we’re piling into a Denny’s booth with our friends at 1 am, we order the only thing on the menu we can eat: fries.
Fret not, carb coveters. LA offers a veritable eco-cornucopia of vegan, sustainable, organic, and even macrobiotic cooking classes, so you can learn to whip up your own seasonal meals using goodies from local farmers’ markets, or even from your own patio, saving money and ensuring you know exactly what you’re putting into your mouth.
Whether you’re looking to incorporate more vegan foods into your diet or searching for healing fare, we’ve hunted down the classes that will ensure you never have to resort to a super-sized sleeve of salty spuds again (unless you really want to).
1. Spork Foods
“We want people to discover that vegan food is more than brown rice and tofu,” says Jenny Goldberg, half of the sister duo that is Spork Foods. “Not that there’s anything wrong with brown rice and tofu,” laughs her partner Heather. But it’s what the girls do with their vegan, organic menu that really steals the show. Think caramelized banana wontons, creamy carrot soup with herb sour cream, and purple potato rolled tacos with roasted tomatillo salsa! Even non-vegans become regulars at Spork classes. sporkfoods.com
2. Cuisine by Kat
At the precocious age of five, Kat Odell whipped up a tomato and basil pasta sauce from her parents’ own garden. Nowadays she still sources food locally, frequenting LA’s best farmers’ markets for fresh ingredients. “I believe in seasonality and supporting local farmers,” Kat explains. Faced with a bevy of friends who loved her food but couldn’t cook, Kat began teaching. “My favorite part is to have everyone very hands-on, all participating,” she says. “The experience of preparing and sharing a meal together is what I really love about food.” cuisinebykat.com
3. Chicks With Knives
These chicks may have knives, but everything about their food is designed to make you feel warm and fuzzy. “We customize the classes to your tastes and your skill. You do it in your home. You can have a glass of wine. You don’t have to get a babysitter,” explains Rachael Narins of CWK. “We build the menu depending on the interest of the client.” CWK specialize in what they call “SOLE Food” — that’s Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical. Their monthly private supper club is also a fun place to mix, mingle and meet like-minded foodies. chickswithknives.com
4. Viva la Greens
Christy Morgan’s macrobiotic perspective informs every aspect of her instruction, menus and mission. “The focus on macrobiotics and the five-element theory emphasizes the different seasons, different emotions, different tastes, different moods.” In her hands-on cooking classes students can expect a menu planned around their personal nutritional needs. And in her “From Patio to Plate” series, Morgan partners with small-space gardening expert Darren Butler to plan a meal you can grow on your apartment’s own balcony. Viva la urban eats! vivalagreens.com
5. Hipcooks
In a downtown art colony, Hipcooks has built a foodie empire (with east and west LA locations and a new Portland outpost). “We’ve got about 50 different menus,” says Bonny Giardina, Los Angeles Studio Manager. “People get to be very hands-on, cutting and chopping and tasting together.” Bringing together owner Monika Reti’s original classes — which were spurred by a groundswell of demand among her friends for her fabulous recipes — with several other staff chefs, Hipcooks now offers gluten-free, dairy-free, even raw classes, plus instruction in Indian, Moroccan and Japanese cuisine to name a few. hipcooks.com