Cooking class teaches students many skills, but one of the most important isn’t how to measure ingredients or read a recipe.

Our classes also teach how to adjust and make changes when things don’t go as planned.

In our Week 6 class, we had to make a lot of adjustments.

Three of the six chefs in our class were absent, leaving us short-handed with lots of chopping and prep work to do. And we were without Ms. Linda, who had broken her arm and was recovering from surgery.

Fortunately, the three remaining members stepped up to get the job done — and we got a boost from a previous student who dropped by to say “Hi” and stayed on to help.

The recipes we were making proved popular: a spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup, plus homemade guacamole and corn chips.

Soup is one of the great meals of cooking because it’s easy to make, thrifty and nutritious. You can use fresh ingredients or leftovers, and there are endless combinations to try and experiment with.

The Chicken Tortilla Soup had lots of kick with new spices like cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and fresh cilantro.

It built flavor by searing boneless chicken thighs in a soup pot, then adding the spices and fresh vegetables like chopped onion, green pepper and garlic.

Canned tomatoes and black beans completed the blend, and the result was tremendous.

Austin Caballero, who likes to share things we cook with his family, was the first to weigh in. “Home, home, home!” he shouted after taking his first bite. “I liked it all. I liked the chicken and the chips and the soup.”

Not to be outdone, Genevieve Brush announced that she would give the meal “Infinity out of 10. I did a combination of the chips and guacamole and the chicken in the soup and it was so yummy I almost fell off the chair.”

Even Pablo Gomez, who hasn’t liked many of the recipes we’ve cooked, admitted “The guacamole was good. I give it 8 out of 10. I liked the chips, too. They were crunchy. I give this a thumb’s up.”

The guacamole wouldn’t have happened if Ivette Kelly Perez hadn’t stopped in. She was a chef in cooking class a year ago and dropped by just to say hello.

Because we were short-handed, we asked if she would like to stay and cook. She said “yes” and we put her in charge of the guacamole. She quickly halved and pitted the avocados, chopped the tomato and helped Austin cut and squeeze the juice out of the fresh lemon.

She then helped Austin and Genevieve cut raw corn tortillas into wedges to broil into chips.

The corn tortillas were an eye-opener for the Bayard chefs. They were impressed that they could be used in different ways, as crispy chips and sliced additions to the soup.

“We turned the tortillas into noodles,” Genevieve said. “It was so good.”

So was the outcome of a class that started with a lot of challenges.