| Rush Hour Recipes |
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 Neighborhood Co-op has designed a quick, convenient and inexpensive home-cooking program – called Rush Hour Recipes - to help customers shop for, plan and prepare a healthy, tasty, and economical meal that serves four people for less than $20 in under 30 minutes. And in a decidedly interactive twist unique to any store in the region, this program is administered - in the flesh, no less - by a professional chef who can be found at the Co-op on alternating Friday evenings from 4 to 6 p.m. sampling his culinary creations as well as offering tasty alternative tips for carnivores, herbivores and celiacs alike. Chef Bill - as he is commonly known both on and off campus - is Bill Connors, the Executive Chef for Housing Operations at SIUC. He is a graduate of the Washburne Culinary Institute in Chicago - and like many who call Southern Illinois home, fell in love with the people, the flora and the fauna of the region and decided to permanently stay put. He was turned on to the Rush Hour concept after taking a tasting class last November that sampled and taught about the many culinary oils that the Co-op carries.
“I really enjoyed what we were doing.” he said. “It was a lot of fun.”
After a post-class consult with Lisa Smith, the Brand Development Manager for the Co-op, Bill was on board to help develop the Rush Hour project, which includes ultra-handy recipe cards that alert shoppers to the best deals available at the store. The cards include the classic recipe format, but also feature a shopping list that direct folks where to find items that include our affordable natural and organic Basics Program goods.
The thought of working at the Co-op and trying to develop affordable and easy dishes for people to prepare appealed to Chef Bill immensely. Plus, he has years of experience with demonstration cooking for students at SIU.
“So I’m at ease with it,” he said. “And it sparked my interest in creating new recipes.” (Two of which can be found on page 8 of this newsletter). “I also find that people get real interested when you say you can prepare a meal for under $20 in 30 minutes for a family of four. Anybody can really do it. After a little vegetable chopping, the meal itself will take about 20 minutes and we try to do it with only two pans, so there’s not a lot of mess to clean up.”
And while good food, good health, savings and fun are certainly part of the entire Rush Hour package, this gregarious chef has a profound interest in our food system at large. His wife is vegetarian and Bill is very conscientious of the culinary wants and needs that cover virtually every facet of the food system. His extensive experience with university students has also helped him to meld the expansive and complex demands of our contemporary fast-paced food culture with the more down-home virtues that are at the core of a quality familial lifestyle.
“As a chef my interest is in going back to slow food - not necessarily rush hour, but family hour. That’s how I was raised. Everyone was sitting at the table eating.”
Bill said that these days “you just don’t see that kind of family time often enough.”
“So this should appeal to the average consumer out there and the family,” he continued. “My recipes are healthy and quick and I think that any of them can be done wheat free or meat free, depending on their wants and needs.”
“Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions,” added Chef Bill. “We’ll figure out a way to make it work. That’s what I’m here for.”
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