Talking to Eliza Lathrop about cooking is like talking to someone about watching a rainbow or a sunset. For this busy educator, wife and mother of two, cooking is a means of rejuvenating her spirit.

"My creative outlet is cooking. I come from an artistic family of architects and artists. My artistry is in the kitchen," she said. "Cooking connects me to my identity. It helps me express myself and my love through the things I cook."

Yet for the elevated role cooking plays in her life, Lathrop isn’t about fussy gourmet dishes. Like many working mothers, she’s simply too busy juggling: working full time as an English and gardening teacher at Punahou School; coaching a paddling team; serving as a board member of Kanu Hawaii, the grass-roots organization focused on cultivating environmentally sustainable communities.

Lathrop’s food values are evident on the plate. One dish regularly in circulation is pesto pasta, the pesto made of items fresh from Lathrop’s home garden in Manoa and her weekly subscription box of local produce. The recipe could include everything from cilantro and arugula to parsley and kale, and maybe some macadamia nuts, depending on what’s available.

Just throw everything into the food processor, and it’s done in several minutes.

"It’s fast and easy, and you can make it in bulk and freeze it," she said. "Boil the pasta and toss it with the pesto — from the time you boil the water to finishing it, it’s under half an hour. If you want to make it fancier, use fresh pasta.

"It’s a mom/weeknight/live-your-values dish."

Her weekly menu lineup, chock full of local products, goes something like this: pesto on Monday, burritos or tacos (with a quickie homemade salsa made of local produce) on Tuesday, soup (again, using local produce) on Wednesday, salad (local) on Thursday and homemade pizza on Friday.

Though she might change up the schedule a bit, Friday pizza dinners are set because leftovers from the week become toppings.

"Half the pizza is cheese and sausage, for the kids, and half is greens, for the adults," she said.

Soups, at least the way Lathrop makes them, are also friendly for busy moms.

Part of the trick, she says, is to squeeze in advance prep whenever you can. Perhaps on a Monday, when she’s done processing herbs into pesto, she’ll take some time to prep kabocha and butternut squashes for Wednesday’s squash soup.

Maybe she’ll roast them in the oven and then refrigerate them until Wednesday. If not, first thing Wednesday morning, she’ll turn up the oven high and toss in a tray of the squash, roasting it in a water bath as the family gets ready for school. Just before leaving the house, she turns off the oven and leaves the squash inside, using the residual heat to soften it up.

When Lathrop gets home, she removes the squash from the oven, scoops out the flesh and throws it into the blender with vegetable stock, milk, onions and garlic. After heating the creamy mixture on the stove, she serves it up with baguettes.

"The kids love this," she said.

Lathrop, 41, was born in Japan, and her family moved to Hawaii when she was a year old. After graduating from Punahou School, she attended Cornell University where she majored in American studies while moonlighting in the school’s agriculture department.

In 2008 she presented a proposal to bring gardening to Punahou, and she’s been running the program since.

"Now I’m realizing maybe the cafeteria should be a classroom as well, to make students more aware of the choices they make," she said. "You know, they say we vote with our forks three times every day."

Lathrop’s values about food mirrors that of Kanu: knowing where one’s food comes from, sourcing locally as much as possible, growing one’s own food and building community.

"Finding an organization that gets people thinking about issues and allowing them to find their own paths to sustaining the islands is important to me," she said.

Lathrop joined Kanu in 2008 and participated in the Eat Local Challenge, which encourages participants to feed themselves exclusively with locally produced food. Now, as a board member, she is helping to organize the Cook Local Challenge, launching in the coming months.

"The main idea is to empower people to use diverse, locally available ingredients in a variety of ways," she said.

Moreover, the challenge encompasses everything from producing food in small gardens to learning new kitchen skills. As always, Kanu endeavors to create community around the challenge via digital content, workshops and gatherings. Stay tuned for details at kanuhawaii.org.

"This is going beyond the Eat Local Challenge — it empowers people to be producers as well as consumers," she said. "The more we can make food and cooking more local and transparent, the stronger the food community becomes. That creates that island feeling and a sense of accountability."

Lathrop walks the talk. Her sizable backyard garden boasts herbs, tomatoes, beans, arugula, lettuce and kabocha. She also raises a couple of chickens and keeps a small beehive.

It’s a place she shares her food values with her children, Maeve, 12, and Riley, 15, who spend time harvesting eggs and tending the plants. She says her children and her husband, Spencer, are her food community at home.

"When I talk about cultivating community, I don’t necessarily mean a meeting with a big group. I have a community at home when my family eats together. We have a community at the table."

For Lathrop, food and cooking naturally inspire community.

"Sometimes the foodie movement can get precious, but it’s really about what most connects you to your food," she said.

"I love going into Andy’s Sandwich Shop in Manoa because I’ve known them since I was 11. I don’t know if they’re using organic or local — and I don’t really care. I like them.

"What I love about food is if I make a recipe from my grandma, I am connected to her," Lathrop continued.

"My dad, who passed away, was a hunter. Once I had some venison, and (chef) Ed Kenney gave me some fat. It was perfect for the gamey venison, and I made a good sausage.

"It made me feel connected to my dad. He would have been so happy."

ELIZA’S FAVORITE PESTO

» 3/4 cup roasted almonds
» 5 to 7 cloves garlic
» Salt, to taste
» 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
» 2 cups arugula
» 1 cup cilantro
» 1/2 cup olive oil, adjusted as necessary
» Pepper, to taste

In food processor, place almonds and garlic and pulse until mixture has consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add Parmesan and some of arugula and cilantro; pulse. Add olive oil gradually and pulse until herbs break down; repeat until all herbs are incorporated. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper. Makes about 2 cups.

Variation: Substitute with pine nuts and 3 cups of basil, or any herbs you prefer.

Approximate nutritional information, per 1/4 cup serving (not including salt to taste): 250 calories, 24 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 115 mg sodium, 4 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 6 g protein

ELIZA’S SQUASH SOUP

» 6 cups (2 to 3 whole) kabocha, acorn or butternut squashes, halved and seeded
» 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
» 2 onions, chopped
» 1 head garlic (or to taste), minced
» Salt, to taste
» 1 quart vegetable stock (substitute with chicken stock)
» 1 quart milk (substitute with coconut milk or stock)
» Salt and pepper
» Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place seeded and halved squash cut side down onto pan with edges. Pour about 1/2-inch water into pan. Cook 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until soft.

In pan over medium, heat oil or butter. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions soften and garlic is fragrant. Turn off heat.

Meanwhile, scrape squash flesh from skin.

In blender, blend onion and garlic, and squash with stock and milk, in batches.

Pour soup in pot and heat 20 minutes at gentle simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve garnished with parsley, if using. Serves 10 to 12.

Note: For more flavor, add carrots and/ or fresh grated ginger to onion-garlic saute, or fresh herbs such as thyme and sage.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (based on 10 servings and assumes vegetable stock and does not include salt to taste): 130 calories, 6 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 450 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 5 g protein

Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.