winter sun granola bars.

Virginia Woolf famously said, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well” – so I felt it was very important to make some delicious granola bars for the students that came to my yoga/Ayurveda workshop this wintry weekend.  We started with a gentle yoga class, took a break for snacks and tea, …

retreat-worthy: beet and black rice salad.

The key to successfully cooking for other people while they are on a meditation retreat is to think thoughts of love and compassion, so as to channel those same qualities into the food you make, hence providing nourishment that dares to delve into a world beyond physical.  With this intention in mind, I like to …

lentil loaf.

The Internet is rife with hyperbole, but the other day I finally, finally, made a lentil loaf.  Seriously.  I have a page ripped out from a magazine with a recipe for a Curried-Lentil Quinoa Loaf stuck in my food journal (because I’m cool like that), and the footer on the page says, “October 2010.”  Four years. …

retreat-worthy: shiitake mushroom and veggie soup

Another soup, just in time for the cold weather!  This recipe is derived from the version in Amrita Sondhi’s The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook.  My mom used to cook with dried shiitake mushrooms all the time, and I hadn’t until now – turns out it’s really simple!  You just let them soak in room temperature water for at …

retreat-worthy food: moroccan-inspired couscous

Next up: Moroccan-inspired couscous, or to be more exact, Ottolenghi-inspired couscous.  Besides having written several truly gorgeous and inspiring cookbooks, Yotam Ottolenghi runs several restaurants in London, UK, that venerate vegetables and tastes that reflect his Middle Eastern upbringing.  This recipe is based off of the “Ultimate Winter Couscous” in his book, Plenty.  It was part of …

retreat-worthy food: granola

I just finished cooking for 21 students at a weekend meditation silent retreat that was led by my yoga teacher, Jonathan Austman!  It was a great honour to nourish people as they dedicated themselves to their practice.  All the food was vegetarian (actually it was mostly vegan), and made according to Ayurvedic principles.  Some students may …

raw! seaweed! sprouts! YEAH!

Hot summer days (and even the not so hot ones) beg for light, easy to digest meals: a sense of freshness and clarity is what I seek when I push myself away from the table.  So when I remembered the idea of using seaweed as a wrap, I set to work: to start, I began sprouting some …

hello, wild rice thing.

Spring is a tough time of year to dress for; I see people still wearing their winter parkas, while others are tottling around in t-shirts, baring their tender winter skin to the sun.  Similarly, it is hard to decide on what to eat: I’ve had my fill of slow-cooked stews and soups, but nibbling down some …