A quick ten years ago, Jamie Oliver and his crew landed in Huntington, West Virginia to attempt to improve the eating habits of the most unhealthy city (at the time) in the United States and film the process for television. Jamie hired Sustainable Food Systems from New England to work with the child nutrition office and the cafeteria staff in each of that county’s 26 schools, teaching them to prepare real food, mostly from scratch, to help build a foundation of better health.

Having worked with the wellness teams at my daughters’ schools, I was head over heels with the whole project. When my friend Carol encountered a guy wearing a Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution hat on a flight from Boston to West Virginia, she stopped him in his tracks. So began my friendship with Alden Cadwell and his boss John Turenne, founder of SFS.

Alden is an expert at feeding healthy meals to schoolchildren and has worked his way through multiple programs that specialize in the fine art of delicious nutritious school food. He now works as the Director Of Business Development-New England at Revolution Foods. He is a father of two young kale eaters and when we chatted for this interview, they were en route to a weekend campout in New Hampshire.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Because we have a garden, the kids love kale! They’ll run by and grab a fistful to eat. It warms my heart. A couple times a week we make a simple kale salad with carrots and peppers and make chicken wings in the oven. I roast them in a cast iron pan at 425. They get really nice and crispy. It’s super quick and a super happy dinner.

What’s your favorite city? San Francisco. I LOVE San Francisco! I can visit and get all the best parts: water, mountains, friends and family. The food is so incredible year round. I love the seasons of Boston. I love the ubiquitous produce that comes with California.

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? I LOVE Sofra in Cambridge. It’s a Mediterranean Turkish inspired breakfast and brunch spot. The flatbreads and pastries are phenomenal! They’ve done a great job pivoting during the pandemic.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Pepper jelly. I love a hot and sweet jam. It can kick up anything I’m cooking. I pick them up at farmer’s markets. It’s great on my morning eggs or chicken wings at dinner.

Who taught you to cook? I just get one?! It’s a combo of my dad and my grandmother. I fell in love with the smell and taste of baking from her, she really piqued my interest. We lived in Italy for a year when I was 11. That sort of blew my mind! We left school for an hour and a half for lunch. On Sundays we went out to the country for four to five hour lunches. Parmigiano-Reggiano, Balsamico and Prosciutto all come from the area where we lived. It opened my eyes to what food could be. Also I did a NOLS semester in Patagonia and learned to make great meals outdoors with simple ingredients.

What’s your go-to dish for company? I have a pizza oven in my backyard and I love doing pizza. I also love making the summer strawberry cake from Smitten Kitchen. Amazing, impressive recipe you can do with all the summer fruits.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I will listen to anything from Al Green to Old Crow Medicine Show, all the way to Jay-Z. That’s my range.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? YES.

Most stained cookbook? Probably Joy of Cooking.

Surf? or Turf? Again I have to say yes. I will crush a ribeye and I can eat my weight in oysters.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Cast iron pan.

Staple childhood comfort food? Mac and cheese.

Go-to olive oil? My parents get a case of olive oil every year from where we lived in Italy. I keep a few bottles for special uses and try to stretch it for the whole year, but it never lasts for the whole year. Berio is my everyday.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Michelle Obama. I’d really like to talk to her about her time in the White House. She’s a role model of mine for a lot of reasons.

Ideal grilled cheese? Sourdough bread, Vermont cheddar, Parmigiano and a couple slices of good melty American cheese. Definitely with butter.

Favorite pizza topping? We have some great local cheesemakers in Boston. I love burrata with squash blossoms and basil.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Jamie’s kitchen in England. I’d love to throw down with him.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? I always keep a jar of homemade preserved lemons in the fridge. You cut off one end of the lemon and slice it, keeping it together at the other end and stuff kosher salt between the slices and put it in a mason jar. In three weeks it’s ready to add to anything. It’s a salty, syrupy, citrus deal. So good.

Three things next to your stove? Salt, pepper, olive oil.

Favorite Sports Team? Red Sox.

Crispy wings + colorful salad=a delicious weeknight meal. Per Alden’s suggestion, I served mine with some spicy-sweet jalapeño ‘jam’ on the side.

Alden’s Crispy Chicken Wings with Kale Salad

Cooking the separate pieces of chicken wings in a hot oven in a cast iron skillet makes for a super quick happy dinner in the Cadwell’s kitchen. Total time is more than 20 minutes, but it’s mostly hands off. All told, 8 ingredients and 40 minutes and you have a delicious family feast!

HEAT the oven to 425. Separate the wings into flat and drum pieces. Toss them with a little olive oil (I used a tablespoon for a pound and a half of wing pieces) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange them skin-side down in a single layer in a cast iron skillet (alternatively use a rimmed baking sheet). BAKE for 30 minutes, then turn and bake until deep golden and crisp, about 10 minutes longer.

While the wings are baking, prepare the kale salad.

Strip the tough stalks from a large bunch of kale and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Chop a rainbow of bell peppers and thinly slice a large peeled carrot. Drizzle with good olive oil and a splash of vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. With squeaky clean hands (or tongs if you’d rather), toss the salad well to coat with the dressing. Set aside until your wings are ready (pop it in the fridge if your kitchen is summer hot).

Serve with a smile.