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!!!!!

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...

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!