TULALIP — It’s a long way from Jim Douglas’ roots in Liverpool, England, to his warm and gleaming kitchen in Tulalip.

In his neatly pressed chef’s whites, Douglas expertly prepares a plate of salmon frittata and another of rolled oat-and-bean meatballs. He’s following recipes from the Washington State Chef’s Association’s “Food Bank Challenge Cookbook,” created by local chefs and being distributed to food banks in Snohomish County.

“I didn’t even know they had 20 food banks in the area,” Douglas, 77, said.

The project began a year ago when Chris Plemmons, then president on the Washington State Chefs Association, decided to challenge the group’s members.

“I said, ‘We are the people that feed people for a living.’ ” Plemmons said. “We really need to feed the people who need to be fed.”

Plemmons, of Bremerton, went to a local food bank and took home the food that was on the shelves, just as any client would.

“What do you do with Chinese noodles, refried beans and dried food?” Plemmons said.

He devised a book with recipes from the association’s members using the ingredients and took the food back to hold a class to teach people how to make tasty meals with limited and often boring ingredients.

In turn, the food banks charge $1 for the book. Plemmons and others found that outside the food banks, the book was being purchased for $5 or $10 with five or 10 being sold at one time.

“Our goal was to help as many people as we could,” Plemmons said.

The Food Bank Challenge Cookbook is now being distributed to food banks in eight states, including California, Idaho, New Jersey. One was recently sent to Hawaii.

Douglas joined the effort about six months ago and brought the project to Snohomish County. He made a presentation to Volunteers of America in Everett.

“I thought it was a great idea,” Douglas said. “People pick up strange food and don’t know what to do with it.”

It’s Douglas’ passion to help families in need, and he will be involved when food banks provide their clients with food and a recipe of the month to go with what they take home.

Kathleen McGannon Dale, community outreach manager of Basic Needs Services at VOA, invited Douglas to a meeting of the Coalition of Snohomish County Food Banks.

“He offered them to all 20 food banks,” Dale said. “It was a no-strings-attached donation.”

One of the cookbooks is being used in VOA’s Kiwanis House, which started out as a home for abandoned women and children and is now used as temporary housing for families. Clients at Kiwanis House have their cookbooks to use for Monday night community dinners.

“It’s a great idea,” Dale said. “I’d like to see a program where there is a visiting chef and they make one of the dishes. Food for thought.”