LINC UP Soul Food Café partnering in Greens Cook-off at Southeast Area Farmers’ Market!

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market hosts its annual “Greens Cook-off & Green Tomato Festival” during market hours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 1 at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 900 Fuller Ave. SE 49506.  This year, LINC UP Soul Food Café is joining the fun! Chef Lewis Williams, LINC UP Café Manager, will preside and cook up his mama’s secret greens recipe for sampling and sharing—that’s right, he is going to share copies of his mama’s recipe!

“It’s all about Mind Body and GREENS,” Williams says.

Community members can enter the cook-off by simply bringing their prepared greens or green tomato dish to the market between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., when judging will commence. Prizes will include gift certificates to LINC UP Soul Food Café, a $50 Country Life Natural Foods gift certificate and a gift baskets full of products and produce provided by market vendors.

Grand Rapids celebrity chef, Chef O (Chef Oliver Hale) will judge the competition. An award-winning chef, tennis champion, transplant survivor, TV host and community volunteer, Chef O received a kidney transplant on January 29, 1985 as the result of kidney failure and a massive heart attack. He credits healthy cooking and eating for his longevity and success as a chef and an athlete.

In addition, Grand Rapids cooking coach, Anja Mast, will demonstrate and share samples of green tomato recipes. All market patrons will enjoy taste-testing fried green tomatoes and go home with a free, 30-page Green Tomato Cookbook developed by the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market, Kent County Health Department and Grand Rapids Food Systems Council. The cook book features, by permission, celebrity chef Bryant Terry’s recipe for Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes as well as everything from appetizers to desserts.