Students came out to learn how to cook healthy versions of different Asian take out recipes in Klehm Hall Tuesday night.

The Health Education Resource Center, also known as HERC hosted a “Healthy Cooking 101” program where students are able to learn how to cook healthy meals.

Caroline Weber, a family and consumer sciences graduate student, works at the HERC and is planning the healthy cooking classes for the semester.

Weber said she chose Asian take out as the first theme because she figured most students would come back and eat mostly take out food.

The students broke off into groups and went to different stations to make tofu pad Thai, baked egg rolls and sesame broccoli.

“People always think of more ethnic food as being really complicated and thinks they require a lot of ingredients,” Weber said. “I wanted to show how you can make ethnic foods with simple ingredients.”

Weber said she wanted to show that even the favorite take out meals could be made at home.

Lauren Olsen, a freshman elementary education major, said she went to the class because she has been to previous like it.

“(Weber) suggested it and I thought it would be delightful,” Olsen said.

Olsen went to the class with her roommate Alyssa Lepore, a freshman psychology major.

Lepore said she thought it would be a fun thing to do since she had never cooked Asian food before.

“I’ve only really cooked Italian food so I thought it would be fun to try something new,” Lepore said.

Robyn McKeown, a junior communication major, said she found out about the class after she Googled “cooking classes at Eastern”.

“I went to community college before I came here and I took cooking classes and really liked it,” McKeown said.

Weber said she plans out the cooking classes based on what is in season during the time of the class.

Weber said the next class is “A healthy take on game day favorites” because football season is right around then.

“Tailgating is usually associated with greasy and heavy foods, so we want to try and do something on the lighter side,” Weber said.

Weber said the cooking class in November is planned to show how to make healthy sides for the holidays.

Weber said students can register for any of the HERC programs through their section on Eastern’s website.

Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]