What’s the best dish you can think of? Or, to put it another way, if you only had one more meal to eat before departing to Heaven, what would that meal be?
I love just about every kind of food: steak, seafood, pizza, chicken, and any kind of pasta dish. But I think if I had to choose one meal, it would be a thick hamburger with mustard, chili, and slaw with a side of tater tots. It’s making my mouth water just thinking about it!
Ever wonder about the 8,000+ children who eat Feed the Hunger food on a regular basis? We do. Do they really like it? Do they ever get tired of it? (Some children eat the food you provide 5 times a week; some eat it 6 times a week.) We are always asking the teachers, cooks, and the children what they like and don’t like about the food. Here’s one thing we found:
As with any child and food preference, tastes differ. Not everyone is equally enthusiastic. The cooks try to change things up a bit by adding something different each day if they can. Many times, it’s simply adding a vegetable that can be grown locally or purchased cheaply. Cabbage, onions, peppers, celery, and tomatoes are popular additions. And, if a program has a chicken or goat, that can be added as well.
Feed the Hunger staff member Melinda Staples recently asked several of our overseas programs what recipes they liked to serve with the beans and rice meals. This recipe was submitted twice, from our Caribbean partners in Haiti and Jamaica: chicken feet with beans and rice. Yummy!
Left, chicken feet in Haiti. Right, chicken feet in Jamaica.
Simply remove the outer layer of skin, and what’s left are the tendons and more skin. You can slow-cook them for a couple of hours or stew them. Adding bananas or yams is appropriate too. If you prefer, you can have chicken-foot soup with a side of rice and beans.
Chicken feet, considered waste in many cultures, are truly a delicacy in other places around the world. For me, I think I’ll stick with my hamburger and tater tots.
Thank the Lord for staple foods like beans and rice, and for diverse cultures that can spice it up a bit to make it delicious for hungry children everywhere!
Jim Gurley | Director of Development