Bean and Chard Tacos: A Tasty, Kid-Endorsed Summer Snack

Harvesting green onions

It's finally summer at the Seattle Community Farm! In addition to the bountiful harvests of our second growing season, one of this summer's highlights is our Gardening for Good Nutrition class series with students from the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club. The students come once a week throughout the summer, learning about the journey of food from seed to stomach. We plant, tend, harvest, and eat together each week.

In addition to learning about the farm and seeing the work that goes into producing food for the Rainier Valley Food Bank, the students take command of the Children’s Garden, where they do everything from preparing the soil and making worm compost, to planting, watering, weeding, and exploring. During our first class of the summer, we saw some familiar faces from last summer, as well as many new ones. Students tasted fresh carrots, radishes, peas, and lettuce, with mostly positive results – carrots were a huge hit, while the late-in-the-season radishes were a bit too spicy.

Chopping ingredients

Our second class focused on People and Plant Nutrition. We used natural fertilizers to add nutrients to our soil in the Children’s Garden, and discussed how people (just like plants!) need lots of nutrients to grow and be healthy. 

We introduced students to MyPlate and prepared a delicious snack: Warm Bean and Chard Tacos, which were a hit with students at Marra Farm this spring. With a side of strawberries, this healthy snack contains foods from all five food groups on MyPlate! Most of the students loved the tacos; we fed the leftovers to the worms, who will produce more healthy soil to feed more plants to nourish more people! 

Warm Chard and Bean Tacos
Ingredients: 

• 2 cups chard, washed and chopped
• 1.5 cups cooked pinto beans, drained 
• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2 onion, minced 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 green onions, chopped 
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped 
• Some lettuce leaves, torn or chopped 
• Cheese (we used part skim milk queso fresco) 
• Whole-wheat flour or corn tortillas 

Directions: Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes, add beans. Then add chard and cook 2 minutes. Pile cooked mixture into a warm tortilla. Add the green onions, cilantro, lettuce, and cheese as garnishes.

~Leah, summer outreach and education coordinator at the Seattle Community Farm