Will Rogers, executive chef for Good Tidings Catering, teaches a sold-out vegetarian cooking class in his kitchen in Stamp Student Union on March 24, 2015.

They started out with a carrot and ginger soup. But by week four, they’ll have advanced to candied ginger ice cream with chocolate-spiced bread.

Twice a week, Will Rogers, the Green Tidings executive chef, leads 12 participants in a vegetarian cooking class held in the basement of Stamp Student Union.

Rogers began working with Stamp’s Art and Learning Center in the fall to create the hands-on cooking class. The second session of the class, which is sold out, began Tuesday and will run until April 21.

About one-third of the class is made up of undergraduates, while the rest are a mix of graduate students, local residents and alumni.

“I was happily surprised,” Rogers said. “It was nice to see a range in age. It’s very mixed.”

Participants don’t just learn how to cook each meal ­­— they also learn cooking techniques, such as different knife cuts and how to roll pasta dough. By the end of the session, each had prepared their own meal.

“The food was delicious, and the class is very hands-on,” said Marissa Sileo, a senior mathematics major. “We actually get to do the cutting and the stirring … and we’re learning cool recipes and techniques and even little tips, like how to have a good presentation.”

The cooking class is part of a larger effort to show the benefits of eating healthy and consuming fresh products, said Bart Hipple, Dining Services spokesman. Green Tidings utilizes local, sustainable ingredients from nearby resources such as Terp Farm and many of the recipes taught in class come from the food truck’s rotating menu.

“It’s all good food,” Hipple said. “That’s what we’re trying to encourage people to understand. Vegetarian isn’t just this weird little niche. It’s good food.”

Sileo said the class showed her how easy it is to incorporate fresh ingredients into a healthy diet.

“We’re learning to make soup, a salad, dessert. … It’s easy to bring vegetarian [ideas] into each different meal in different ways,” she said.

Hipple said the cooking class and Rogers’ outlook on food are good ways to educate students on how to cook healthy, practical recipes.

“For a while, when I was a student, we would eat whatever was put in front of us,” Hipple said. “I think now students are really understanding how to feed themselves healthfully and paying more attention to that.”

Graduate student Alex Lopatka said he saw the benefit of looking for healthier options through Rogers’ class.

“I’m going to try and find fresher ingredients, especially herbs,” Lopatka said. “Everyone can benefit from their own cooking — that way, you know what’s in the food that you’re making.”

Though no plans have been finalized, Rogers said he is open to teaching more classes.

“I have no plans right now, but I’d like to grow the partnership between Green Tidings and ALC,” he said. “I’m open to changing up the formats. It could be cool to have students pay per class, or maybe next time we’ll do a class with meats or seafood.”