At the end of a long beautiful productive day, a challenge was proposed by my beloved. And I LOVE a good challenge!
She mentioned having a very random thought over the course of the day where a Chocolate Chip Cupcake came dancing through. A Chocolate Chip Cupcake?! My mouth began to water like I was 8. I marveled at my response and my culinary mind took action. Knowing well that she is intolerant to gluten, I quickly went over in my mind all the ingredients needed to make them gluten-free...and right now! She sees the sparkle of inspiration in my eye and then double-dog-dares me! Impossible to resist! I jump out of my chair, apron flapping in the wind, chef hat magically appearing and I rise to the challenge. :)
30 minutes later I walk into the the next room with a plate of amazing gluten free Gingered Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Pancakes were going to be quicker than cupcakes at that point. We played like kids over the plate of sweets until we regretted even mentioning the idea an hour ago.
Let me tell you though. sometimes you need to feed and nourish the soul! And the laughter and sweetness of two kids over a plate of chocolately-ness can be exactly what the soul needs. Unfortunately, we both woke with sour bellies from eating sugar so late at night. Alas a little lemon ginger water first thing to re-alkalinize the system works wonders!
So, I share with you this little bit of sweetness. Laugh into this recipe while you are making it. It makes the cakes a little fluffier having all that bubbly happiness inside! Buon Appetito!!!
1cup Brown Rice flour, fine-superfine
1T ground chia seed, can use flax as replacement
2T cocoa
1t ginger powdered
1/4 cup candied ginger, roughly chopped
1/2t baking soda
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1T tapioca flour
1/2 cup unrefined cane sugar
1 pinch salt
1 1/4 cup water
1oz or 2T coconut oil
1t vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips
mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. be sure to run all powdered or fine ingredients through a sieve to break up any clumps and ensure even mixing. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, whisking until they are completely incorporated. Fold both together. Ladle into a medium hot pan. I prefer cast iron with a little coconut oil. Because of the tapioca flour and the chia seed, this recipe is a little gooey in the pan before flipping. Make sure your cooking temp is medium hot as to not scorch the cakes before they are ready to be flipped. the first few always stick anyways. Dont worry, they wont go to waste. :)
Enjoy plain or with a fruit or citrus compote. Grapefruit Vanilla Marmalade from Lokelani Ranch maybe. or a Morello Cherry Compote. or wait till the strawberries are dripping with sweetness!
Make sure you keep the ginger in the cakes though. In Ayurveda, ginger is the antidote to chocolate. We are concerned just as much about how these ingredients work in the body as we are about the taste. Enjoy!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Spring is HERE! Grab some Asparagus: Asparagus Potato Soup w/ Spring Onion & Truffle Oil
Wow!!!
What a switch from winter to spring! Hail, flooding and freezing one week to cloudless skies, 80 degrees, and gorgeousness the next. While taking a run the other morning, my beloved and I basked in the grace of the SF bay area spring: The most dynamic season we have. Over the last couple weeks, everything has come out to play: the fragrant flowers, the playful squirrels, the brilliant sun! I forgot what it was like to be outside under that giant source of heat and joy in the sky!
This is the season of the sprout, that time of year when seeds spring into action. This is when the qi is fresh and dynamic. A time to nurture and not restrain. Over the last several months of winter, we have been closed up, reserving our energies to maintain the inner warmth through the outer cold. In Chinese thought, this is the season of the wood element, like an upward moving sprout.
In nourishing yourself with this dynamic seasonal change and really embodying the element around you, let yourself spring! Eat fresh greens and herbs. Cut your meat consumption down to very little and use the stored reserves from the winter. Be ok with the fact that you may be sneezy. Imagine the bodys fluids like water moving through the seasons. during winter the bodys fluids slow down and stop as if frozen. In the spring they begin to thaw and move again. Sniffly sneeziness is just a part of the transformation. Let the rivers flow again.
As for eating, eat up the remainder of goodness from the winter to nourish the budding energy and give it space to open up. Potatoes, Lotus root, and grains in light quantity with lots of lettuces and young veggies. Spring onions are perfect this year! The asparagus has been amazing too! A little meyer lemon and you have a gorgeous meal!
How about a Asparagus Potato soup with Spring Onion and Truffle Oil!
1lb asparagus, woody ends in compost, diced fine, tops saved aside
2lb potatoes, waxy variety ie. yukon gold, etc.
1/2 red onion, diced fine
sprig of fresh marjoram
2 bay leaves
salt & Pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
2 qt veg stock/water
1 spring onion, finely diced
grapeseed oil
truffle oil (optional)
Cut up all your ingredients first. In a soup pot, add a little grapeseed oil and your onions. Saute until translucent. Add potatoes and saute until beginning to brown. Add your stock/water, bay leaves, and asparagus saving the tops aside. Bring up to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the potatoes are soft. Blend soup with either a hand blender or a bucket blender. return to soup pot and add lemon, salt, pepper, and marjoram tasting along the way. When it is perfect, add the asparagus tips and the spring onion. Serve with a little drizzle of truffle oil.
Enjoy!!!!!!
What a switch from winter to spring! Hail, flooding and freezing one week to cloudless skies, 80 degrees, and gorgeousness the next. While taking a run the other morning, my beloved and I basked in the grace of the SF bay area spring: The most dynamic season we have. Over the last couple weeks, everything has come out to play: the fragrant flowers, the playful squirrels, the brilliant sun! I forgot what it was like to be outside under that giant source of heat and joy in the sky!
This is the season of the sprout, that time of year when seeds spring into action. This is when the qi is fresh and dynamic. A time to nurture and not restrain. Over the last several months of winter, we have been closed up, reserving our energies to maintain the inner warmth through the outer cold. In Chinese thought, this is the season of the wood element, like an upward moving sprout.
In nourishing yourself with this dynamic seasonal change and really embodying the element around you, let yourself spring! Eat fresh greens and herbs. Cut your meat consumption down to very little and use the stored reserves from the winter. Be ok with the fact that you may be sneezy. Imagine the bodys fluids like water moving through the seasons. during winter the bodys fluids slow down and stop as if frozen. In the spring they begin to thaw and move again. Sniffly sneeziness is just a part of the transformation. Let the rivers flow again.
As for eating, eat up the remainder of goodness from the winter to nourish the budding energy and give it space to open up. Potatoes, Lotus root, and grains in light quantity with lots of lettuces and young veggies. Spring onions are perfect this year! The asparagus has been amazing too! A little meyer lemon and you have a gorgeous meal!
How about a Asparagus Potato soup with Spring Onion and Truffle Oil!
1lb asparagus, woody ends in compost, diced fine, tops saved aside
2lb potatoes, waxy variety ie. yukon gold, etc.
1/2 red onion, diced fine
sprig of fresh marjoram
2 bay leaves
salt & Pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
2 qt veg stock/water
1 spring onion, finely diced
grapeseed oil
truffle oil (optional)
Cut up all your ingredients first. In a soup pot, add a little grapeseed oil and your onions. Saute until translucent. Add potatoes and saute until beginning to brown. Add your stock/water, bay leaves, and asparagus saving the tops aside. Bring up to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the potatoes are soft. Blend soup with either a hand blender or a bucket blender. return to soup pot and add lemon, salt, pepper, and marjoram tasting along the way. When it is perfect, add the asparagus tips and the spring onion. Serve with a little drizzle of truffle oil.
Enjoy!!!!!!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Melissa Hudson Bell's "Brunch"
Independently run arts absolutely rock! When a friend invites a you and gaggle of other interested folks for a little art show they have put together in a little cafe or theatre or private home, you can be guaranteed something different and interesting. A little expressional piece of their experience of a sparkle in the world. Sometimes it is edgy, sometimes a little mundane, sometimes a totally irrelevant to your life. And sometimes completely relevant. Either way, I am soooo happy to see independent arts continue to draw new paths through the maps of our consciousness.
Such was the feel this weekend, or at least sunday for me, getting to be a part of the "Brunch" show danced through by Melissa Hudson and her wonderfully creative and often hilarious crew of performers. The event, like some of Melissa other pieces, is all food inspired dance. Yup, food and dance. Sounds like it can be a little messy for sure and much to the delight of the crowd and I think the performers as well it does get messy! Every performer did a little diddy based on a connection with food. The first was a sultry dance with a 5 ft tall stuffed banana. Yup, a banana and it was hilarious! Second was a introspective piece with ritz crackers, next was a little parody on a Tv personality that eats way too much butter called "kale is better than butter". Then we were shown the perfect recipe, and some hilarity from a jewish woman traveling with some sweet potatoes and a few loose screws! I stepped up and got folks out of their chairs for a interactive demonstration on winter foods, and finally Melissa and her 2 co-performers with their piece on Eggs.
I had the fortune of doing a little piece as one of the performers. You may begin to imagine one of those Teppanyaki chefs cookin up some Japanese food throwin tongs and spatulas and knives wildly for their guests circled around with wide eyes and hungry empty bellies. But that wasnt me... :) There were some hungry bellies heard and some enthused eyes intently listening though. My focus was to introduce an movement interlude. One where everyone would get up and make and taste some wonderful food themselves. Since it is the deadset of winter and I am wearing my wool cap everyday now, I focused on foods that nourish the kidneys and the heart. As times get cold, the body and in particular the kidneys need protection and warmth. When the kidneys are stressed, the heart gets the brunt of the hit. When the heart is taxed and tired, the spirit cannot rest. And we all know winter is all about hibernation and introspection.
So, I made a squash soup as a base and a whole bunch of goodies everyone could add into it. There were pickled turnips, collards with garlic, raw walnuts, hearty rye bread, shaved and browned brussel sprouts with apple cider vin, goatcheese mustard sauce, quinoa pilaf, orange braised fennel bulb and radicchio, and a little parsley. Each one of these items has a specific role and function when they do their dance within the body. If you would like more info about these items, just let me know!
I explained everything and the food dance began! Everyone got a little taste and a new inspiration with winter foods. As the nibbling continued, The last performance for the afternoon jumped onstage and more hilarity and amazing choreography was to be showcased.
What a beautiful afternoon! Foods, dance, laughs, smiles...yeah. If you are in the bay area and have any interest in food and the arts, keep an eye out for Melissa Hudson Bell and her crew. Relevant, gutsy, hilarity, creative, extraordinary!
For a demonstration or cooking class/dinner where you can learn more about what you are eating and how to nourish body and spirit with your fork, send me an email!
Buon Apettito!!!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
a little step away from the acroyoga menus
Tonight I feel like writing about something that is fresh on my mind...and in my soup pot! I know I still need to write the following 3 days of menus for the acroyoga playshop. But this meal is so in the tip of my tongue! Pun quite intended....ok, I will try to refrain from the food puns. :)
While walking through the chilled winter wind today, I found myself realizing that winter is officially here. Fall has come and gone and the California winter came sliding in with the first storm of the year. Friends in Tahoe have begun shoveling and I scrambled to find my Ugg boots and my scarf.
On that walk I craved warm, cozy, juicy, slightly sweet goodness for my dinner. thai Coconut Butternut Squash soup. 45 minute preparation. Feeding 8. I will be taking it with me as my partner and I head down the Big Sur Coast to start our thanksgiving tradition.
Recipe:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 medium yellow onion
1/2 cup ginger chopped fine,
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped fine,
24 oz cocomilk, can or fresh made....we know which is better :)
24 oz water
1/2 cup tamari
2 tbl chinese 5 spice
1 tbl curry powder
1 cup cilantro, chopped fine, stems and leaves
1/4 cup apple cider vin
salt
saute onions in a large pot. add ginger and lemongrass as onion gets translucent. Add curry and 5 spice powders. brown for 5 minutes to activate natural oils in the spices. Add squash, coco milk, water, tamari. Bring up to boil and then turn down to a fast simmer for 30 minutes. Add ACV. blend. add cilantro and salt to taste.
Enjoy!!!!!
While walking through the chilled winter wind today, I found myself realizing that winter is officially here. Fall has come and gone and the California winter came sliding in with the first storm of the year. Friends in Tahoe have begun shoveling and I scrambled to find my Ugg boots and my scarf.
On that walk I craved warm, cozy, juicy, slightly sweet goodness for my dinner. thai Coconut Butternut Squash soup. 45 minute preparation. Feeding 8. I will be taking it with me as my partner and I head down the Big Sur Coast to start our thanksgiving tradition.
Recipe:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 medium yellow onion
1/2 cup ginger chopped fine,
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped fine,
24 oz cocomilk, can or fresh made....we know which is better :)
24 oz water
1/2 cup tamari
2 tbl chinese 5 spice
1 tbl curry powder
1 cup cilantro, chopped fine, stems and leaves
1/4 cup apple cider vin
salt
saute onions in a large pot. add ginger and lemongrass as onion gets translucent. Add curry and 5 spice powders. brown for 5 minutes to activate natural oils in the spices. Add squash, coco milk, water, tamari. Bring up to boil and then turn down to a fast simmer for 30 minutes. Add ACV. blend. add cilantro and salt to taste.
Enjoy!!!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
the AcroYoga Lunches....
So...
Over the course of this weeks worth of lunches, we spanned a range of world cuisines while utilizing a group of specific items that reflect the dietary needs of the season. Most of these ingredients are available the world over with little variation and are harvested during the same season. Hmmmm....I looks to me like Panchamama is trying to help us out here by making available the ingredients we need when we need them. Yet, that even sounds a little backwards. And we as a culture did get a little ahead of ourselves with technology that allows us to have "heirloom" tomatoes no matter where on the planet we are. So, lets back up and say, Eating the produce of a specific season is essential to the health and wellness of the eater during that season.
Example: Turnip. Sown in Early summer, harvested during fall in the temperate regions of the globe (the majority of occupied land mass). Fall is the season of Metal in Chinese medicine. It is also the season associated with the lungs and the color white. During fall the body is in retract mode and needs to release the heat accumulated during the intensity of the summer time. It is a time of detoxifying and protection in preparation for the winter. Our bodies are looking for pungent foods that dispel heat, moist and mucilaginous foods that nourish and protect the lungs and colon, and beta-carotene rich foods that nourish the immune system. As for the turnip, it is pungent! A member of the mustard family, it is high in sulfur that aids in purifying the lungs. In its pungency, it is very effective in moving stagnant qi that can create blocks in the body as the temps cool off and we slow down. Fall and winter are the best times to harvest turnips and the best times to eat turnips. Tell me...Have you ever craved a turnip during the summer heat? No? Watermelon? Yes.... exactly.
Wednesdays meal incorporated some beautiful Scarlet Turnips...YUMMMM!!! And most of you had never even thought about using a couple Scarlet turnips before, huh. It was actually my first time too!
Tuesday was all about the Beet! And We Rocked Some Beets too! Good for the heart, liver, rooting, grounding, loving.... :)
So lets look at tuesdays meal...
Tuesday:
The Weather: Sunny, Chilly morn, leaves falling...
Body Needs: Warming, grounding, detoxifying. Day 2 of workshop, purge stagnant qi that has come to surface in first day and pacify wind/vata energy rooting qi in Lower dantien.
Menu: Golden and Bulls Blood Beet Borscht with Scarlet Yams and Carrots, Herbed Red Quinoa, Kale and Avocado Salad
Borscht: Classic Eastern European Soup. Loved and revered in the lands of really cold temps. Beets build blood, strengthen the heart thus rooting the shen or spirit, and helps clear liver stagnancy. The yams buils spleen qi and root qi in body in general.
3 medium beets, scrubbed, cut into small cubes(not perfect)
3 meduim yams, same as above
3 carrots, same as above
1 bulb fennel, same as above
1 lg onion, peeled, cut into small pieces
4 qt water or veg stock or water with bullion
2 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 cup Apple cider Vin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch Dill to garnish
Take first 7 ingredients and place them in a pot over high heat. Bring up to a boil and then turn down to simmer until beets and carrots are soft but not mushy. Timing depends on how large the cut is. remove the rosemary sprigs. Blend as much as you like. I like half and half. This is how I did the tuesday borscht. Add the ACV, salt, pepper and dill. POUR a whole bunch of love into it, and enjoy. It really cant get any simpler.
The quinoa is cooked in a grain 2:1.5 water ratio. When it is done, it gets olive oil, salt pepper, Vinegar and herbs to season. I do this all to taste depending on quantity. trust your palate and your hand!
The salad is mainly prepared with Kale which is massaged first. Massaged?! Yup, a little oil and a dash of salt and it gets gently worked with the hands until it begins to soften. Just like us...minus the salt! The avocado is added in gently and then a little ACV gets added in. Also very simple to prepare and soooooo good for the body! we also added a little chopped dandelion greens and celery.
Another seasonally smart, nurturing meal.... Wednesday coming...
Over the course of this weeks worth of lunches, we spanned a range of world cuisines while utilizing a group of specific items that reflect the dietary needs of the season. Most of these ingredients are available the world over with little variation and are harvested during the same season. Hmmmm....I looks to me like Panchamama is trying to help us out here by making available the ingredients we need when we need them. Yet, that even sounds a little backwards. And we as a culture did get a little ahead of ourselves with technology that allows us to have "heirloom" tomatoes no matter where on the planet we are. So, lets back up and say, Eating the produce of a specific season is essential to the health and wellness of the eater during that season.
Example: Turnip. Sown in Early summer, harvested during fall in the temperate regions of the globe (the majority of occupied land mass). Fall is the season of Metal in Chinese medicine. It is also the season associated with the lungs and the color white. During fall the body is in retract mode and needs to release the heat accumulated during the intensity of the summer time. It is a time of detoxifying and protection in preparation for the winter. Our bodies are looking for pungent foods that dispel heat, moist and mucilaginous foods that nourish and protect the lungs and colon, and beta-carotene rich foods that nourish the immune system. As for the turnip, it is pungent! A member of the mustard family, it is high in sulfur that aids in purifying the lungs. In its pungency, it is very effective in moving stagnant qi that can create blocks in the body as the temps cool off and we slow down. Fall and winter are the best times to harvest turnips and the best times to eat turnips. Tell me...Have you ever craved a turnip during the summer heat? No? Watermelon? Yes.... exactly.
Wednesdays meal incorporated some beautiful Scarlet Turnips...YUMMMM!!! And most of you had never even thought about using a couple Scarlet turnips before, huh. It was actually my first time too!
Tuesday was all about the Beet! And We Rocked Some Beets too! Good for the heart, liver, rooting, grounding, loving.... :)
So lets look at tuesdays meal...
Tuesday:
The Weather: Sunny, Chilly morn, leaves falling...
Body Needs: Warming, grounding, detoxifying. Day 2 of workshop, purge stagnant qi that has come to surface in first day and pacify wind/vata energy rooting qi in Lower dantien.
Menu: Golden and Bulls Blood Beet Borscht with Scarlet Yams and Carrots, Herbed Red Quinoa, Kale and Avocado Salad
Borscht: Classic Eastern European Soup. Loved and revered in the lands of really cold temps. Beets build blood, strengthen the heart thus rooting the shen or spirit, and helps clear liver stagnancy. The yams buils spleen qi and root qi in body in general.
3 medium beets, scrubbed, cut into small cubes(not perfect)
3 meduim yams, same as above
3 carrots, same as above
1 bulb fennel, same as above
1 lg onion, peeled, cut into small pieces
4 qt water or veg stock or water with bullion
2 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 cup Apple cider Vin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch Dill to garnish
Take first 7 ingredients and place them in a pot over high heat. Bring up to a boil and then turn down to simmer until beets and carrots are soft but not mushy. Timing depends on how large the cut is. remove the rosemary sprigs. Blend as much as you like. I like half and half. This is how I did the tuesday borscht. Add the ACV, salt, pepper and dill. POUR a whole bunch of love into it, and enjoy. It really cant get any simpler.
The quinoa is cooked in a grain 2:1.5 water ratio. When it is done, it gets olive oil, salt pepper, Vinegar and herbs to season. I do this all to taste depending on quantity. trust your palate and your hand!
The salad is mainly prepared with Kale which is massaged first. Massaged?! Yup, a little oil and a dash of salt and it gets gently worked with the hands until it begins to soften. Just like us...minus the salt! The avocado is added in gently and then a little ACV gets added in. Also very simple to prepare and soooooo good for the body! we also added a little chopped dandelion greens and celery.
Another seasonally smart, nurturing meal.... Wednesday coming...
Saturday, November 13, 2010
AcroYoga Theraputics meets the QiChef...
And I am back!!.....
As a brief little recap of the last couple months since i have written in, Life has Drastically changed! Not just a little change like the simple day to day changes you may witness, but Massive beautiful change. And with that, there is an increasing awareness on healing with seasonally intentional foods.
Over the last week, my amazing creative partner Jana and I dove into a beautiful event of preparing lunches for ~35 acroyogis focusing on the playful and theraputic functions of their art. Co-founders of AcroYoga, Jenny Sauer-Klein and Jason Nemer guided 30 dedicated students with the ayurvedic/chinese medicinal knowledge of Scott Blossom through a movement workshop filled with healing intention, deep serenity, and rawkus laughter.
Alas Jana and I had too many other things going on after preparing the lunches for us to drop our intention and attention into joining the play on the mats. We look forward to our next time though.
Our role as the chefs for this amazing workshop was to do what we do best: creating seasonally minded loved up nourishing bites guided by the principles of traditional medicine. I think we did pretty well! And the following is a day by day breakdown of what we made and why. Each meal filled an intentional role of tonifying or purging specific organ systems according to how the weather presented itself that day and a general understanding of what the eaters were doing.
Remember, food is medicine. Each meal should be another step in healthfully regulating your everchanging being. Lifes dynamic pulse demands an awareness to our surroundings and how our body, mind, and spirit are dancing with it. If we loose track for a day or two or 365, also remember, we are only here right now. And each moment is new!! Give a good sigh from the bottom of the heart and release all those unmet expectations you may have for yourself and others...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yes!!! Now you are practicing Qigong, and healing your heart. Repeat and feel the energy release and drop your tissues. I think I just saw your shoulders come down an inch!! Beautiful!!!!
Now...on to some nourishing culinary awareness for your moment!
Starting with Monday 11/8/10:
Weather: Sunny yet a little wet. A storm had just passed and all was cold and wet. Fall is here and winter is on its way. Time to return to Earth by grounding out between the seasons. Focus returns to Earth/Spleen/Stomach to tonify lung qi and immunity before qi retreats in winter.
Body needs: Drying damp, warming cold, bring qi in and down rooting into the core and way from extremities. (The acroyogis will be focused on moving qi to their extremities to find awareness and balance within the edges of their physical bodies. Their strength in focused in the core. Yet since the system is aerial, rooting the qi in and down with the food allows for a fresh return to source during every practice.)
The meal: Spiced Ginger Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut and Brown Rice, Deep Greens Salad with Massaged Kale, Avocado, Lemon, Fennel, Frisee, Dandelion Greens, and shaved Beets.
Recipes: Feeding 6-10
1 medium small Butternut squash, peeled, diced roughly (drying, nourishing spleen qi)
1/3 cup ginger, peeled, chopped fine (warming, builds agni/digestive fire spleen qi)
1 medium onion diced (warming, benefits lungs)
1 bulb Fennel, diced (warming, benefits spleen)
3 Carrots, peeled, diced (neutral/slightly cooling, benefits spleen)
1/2 cup goji berries (nourishes kidney)
1 can coconut milk (warming, roots qi nourishes nerves)
2 tbls coconut oil
2 qt water or stock
Cinnamon (warming, moves blood)
Nutmeg
Star anise
Clove
In a lg pot, add coconut oil and onions. Saute on high heat until translucent and beginning to brown (bring out the natural sugars and earth element). Once browning add squash, fennel, carrots, ginger. Saute until ingredients begin to caramelize constantly stirring as to not let ingredients stick and burn. Add coconut milk and stock/water to cover ingredients. Bring up to a boil. Turn down, add gojis, and simmer until squash and carrots are soft. 15-30 minutes depending on size. Add spices to taste including salt and pepper. I am a fan of star anise so I use a little more. Some may like nutmeg more. Use your empassioned expression. Blend. Taste. Adjust seasoning. to achieve and balance the taste, you may need to add a splash of acidity. I prefer lemon or grapefruit with this dish. Apple cider vin works wonderfully as well. Sometimes a dash of sweetness is needed as well. I add in more goji and blend.
The salad is a mix of all ingredients listed and chopped or shaved for easy eating. The idea was to bring in bitter greens to spark digestive fire/activate the triple burner, cool the liver, tonify the heart. Bitter greens do WONDERS for the body. Often times we over work our liver eating at funny hours or even eating too much. This causes heat/stagnancy and within the TCM perspective, that heat follows directly in line to the heart creating anxiety and overbearing the spleen. The bitter allows the heart to relax as digestive fire is stoked and the liver doesnt have to work so hard. Plus there is an amazing amount of nutrient value in bitter greens. The Chlorophyl alone helps clean and oxygenate the blood and allows the liver to release stored toxins instead of always focusing on working.
Seasonal. Fresh. Love your body. Focus your mind. Free your spirit.
Tuesdays menu will come tomorrow!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Wanderlust!
This last weekend was one of those dates on the calendar that you look forward to all year. A weekend where you just get nourished on many levels, even if you were a production team member. I knew very little about the event until a week or so before. It is on my calendar for next year already!
It was the 2nd year of an amazing event called Wanderlust held up in Squaw Valley, Ca. The premise of the event is to bring the dedicated yoga communities together in one spectacular place showcasing Some of todays most progressive and heart opening inspirational teachers and mix in a little live music. Talk about nourishing the body, mind, and spirit!
I had the fortune of being up there for the last day of the event. I chose to stay committed to my Taoist medicine and seminary classes that thursday and saturday so sunday was my only opportunity. After my first yoga class in the Anusara Pavilion and last class of the entire event, I was wishing I had been there all weekend. Now, lets also keep in mind that even though I have a personal daily yoga practice in my mornings to get my body charged for my day, That class was the first class I had been to in over 2 years. My last class was with an AMAZING teacher named Paul Reynolds on the island of Kauai.
So there I was at 6000 ft elevation engulfed by the warm mountain breeze, surrounded by almost 200 present conscious practicing yogis and yoginis, laughing my way through asana as my heart opened and overflowed, my body stretched beyond the limits I thought I had, and my spirit rested sweetly in the collective connection with the Divine. I say this all and I am still not sure it captures the feeling. I literally laughed with joy all through the session! Next came a little Thai massage lesson session and a bouncing rawkus dance to inspire the change we are all choosing to embody as we take the road less traveled on the way to the Divine.
Later in the day, there was a jazzed pool party and a concert played by Beats Antique and the Brazilian Girls. Besides the PHENOMENAL company of my host which was heart opening in its own ways, My highlight was the moment I totally and completely connected with the pulse of the Anusara community and the Divine mid session. I was sinking deeper and deeper into my body, calming my mind, nurturing myself through those conscious movements of asana, when we began a posture I don't know the name for. We started in downward facing dog and lifted one leg up in the air, bent the knee and let it fall over the opposite side of the body. we then helped that opening along by lifting the hand on the same side of the body back behind up creating a spinal twist. The goal was to open the chest and heart soooo much that our foot touched the person next to us. I somehow got there, touched my loving neighbor with my toes and sent love her way. In the previous movements she had been able to reach me as well and did the same. Somewhere in those movements, I connected to the Divine through my heart in a way I seldom feel and I laughed. I felt free and joyous and empowered in this group yet so solidly in my body. The laughter just overflowed from me, nearly uncontrollable for the next several asanas.
Maybe it was the elevation, maybe it was the quart of amazing green juice I had drank on my way up there, maybe it was the company, maybe it was the teachers.....maybe it was me.
I created this perspective. No one else. I choose to be so present in those moments that I touched my source and was replenished. I chose to see the creative play in those moments and dance. I stayed flexible: mentally, physically, spiritually. I chose to play and I simply showed up with all of me. I could have chosen to hold on to the frustration of the highway traffic earlier in the day, or the discontentment I felt after my window controller broke off in the 90 degree weather. I could list all sorts of things that could trigger me into a state where I am more focused on my attachments to how I want something to happen instead of basking in the creativity of what is happening.
But instead I chose to see it all as different parts of the same Divine source. There is no separation once you step beyond duality. Judgement becomes irrelevant. Why does it matter that something is perceived different by the senses. Sit still and listen to the underlying pulse. There is only One. That One is complete and unconditional. It is the same everywhere, in everything. Everything then becomes the 10 thousand faces of the Divine and it is all a dance.
Who wants to Dance?! I do! and I will....come join me because there is no dance like it and it is the most rewarding dance of all!
It was the 2nd year of an amazing event called Wanderlust held up in Squaw Valley, Ca. The premise of the event is to bring the dedicated yoga communities together in one spectacular place showcasing Some of todays most progressive and heart opening inspirational teachers and mix in a little live music. Talk about nourishing the body, mind, and spirit!
I had the fortune of being up there for the last day of the event. I chose to stay committed to my Taoist medicine and seminary classes that thursday and saturday so sunday was my only opportunity. After my first yoga class in the Anusara Pavilion and last class of the entire event, I was wishing I had been there all weekend. Now, lets also keep in mind that even though I have a personal daily yoga practice in my mornings to get my body charged for my day, That class was the first class I had been to in over 2 years. My last class was with an AMAZING teacher named Paul Reynolds on the island of Kauai.
So there I was at 6000 ft elevation engulfed by the warm mountain breeze, surrounded by almost 200 present conscious practicing yogis and yoginis, laughing my way through asana as my heart opened and overflowed, my body stretched beyond the limits I thought I had, and my spirit rested sweetly in the collective connection with the Divine. I say this all and I am still not sure it captures the feeling. I literally laughed with joy all through the session! Next came a little Thai massage lesson session and a bouncing rawkus dance to inspire the change we are all choosing to embody as we take the road less traveled on the way to the Divine.
Later in the day, there was a jazzed pool party and a concert played by Beats Antique and the Brazilian Girls. Besides the PHENOMENAL company of my host which was heart opening in its own ways, My highlight was the moment I totally and completely connected with the pulse of the Anusara community and the Divine mid session. I was sinking deeper and deeper into my body, calming my mind, nurturing myself through those conscious movements of asana, when we began a posture I don't know the name for. We started in downward facing dog and lifted one leg up in the air, bent the knee and let it fall over the opposite side of the body. we then helped that opening along by lifting the hand on the same side of the body back behind up creating a spinal twist. The goal was to open the chest and heart soooo much that our foot touched the person next to us. I somehow got there, touched my loving neighbor with my toes and sent love her way. In the previous movements she had been able to reach me as well and did the same. Somewhere in those movements, I connected to the Divine through my heart in a way I seldom feel and I laughed. I felt free and joyous and empowered in this group yet so solidly in my body. The laughter just overflowed from me, nearly uncontrollable for the next several asanas.
Maybe it was the elevation, maybe it was the quart of amazing green juice I had drank on my way up there, maybe it was the company, maybe it was the teachers.....maybe it was me.
I created this perspective. No one else. I choose to be so present in those moments that I touched my source and was replenished. I chose to see the creative play in those moments and dance. I stayed flexible: mentally, physically, spiritually. I chose to play and I simply showed up with all of me. I could have chosen to hold on to the frustration of the highway traffic earlier in the day, or the discontentment I felt after my window controller broke off in the 90 degree weather. I could list all sorts of things that could trigger me into a state where I am more focused on my attachments to how I want something to happen instead of basking in the creativity of what is happening.
But instead I chose to see it all as different parts of the same Divine source. There is no separation once you step beyond duality. Judgement becomes irrelevant. Why does it matter that something is perceived different by the senses. Sit still and listen to the underlying pulse. There is only One. That One is complete and unconditional. It is the same everywhere, in everything. Everything then becomes the 10 thousand faces of the Divine and it is all a dance.
Who wants to Dance?! I do! and I will....come join me because there is no dance like it and it is the most rewarding dance of all!
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