Agni

I went to a rejuvenating yoga/nutrition class today with Mary Sage and Jesse at One Yoga in Mineapolis.  It's a really beautiful studio and it was great to do nothing but focus on my self for a little while.  I haven't been feeling tip top lately- I've had a nasty headache that's lasted about 2 1/2 weeks.  I've had my ears and sinuses checked out, been drinking lots of water, and taking it a bit easy, but the darn headache keeps coming back every day.  During the yoga class, though, my head didn't hurt one bit.  

I think that just goes to show that there is a difference between relaxing while watching TV/knitting/doing laundry and relaxing in supta baddha konasana in a peaceful room with a eye pillow draped over my eyes.  I think I need more of the latter.  

The focus of the class was on cleansing and rejuvenating the body, specifically the digestive system.  We did some vinyasa style yoga, twists, inversions, abdominal self massage, restorative poses, and then talked about eating habits.  Fun!  When I got home I remembered a recipe I did for a Yoga Dinner Pary * a while back.  It fit perfectly with the theme of the day.

Shiitake Dashi for Agni

A dashi is a thin broth usually made with sea vegetables and mushrooms.  This dashi has ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper to stimulate digestive fire, or agni.  

4 cups water or broth

1 vegan bouillon cube, no salt added (omit if using broth)

1-2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 cup frozen or fresh shiitake mushroom slices

1/4 cup kelp/kombu , torn into small pieces

1 Tbsp. tamari

1 dash cayenne pepper

2 oz. soba noodles (GF folks: look for Eden brand- they make a 100% buckwheat version)

 

Simmer water, bouillon cube, garlic, and ginger until bouillon dissolves, about 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer until soba noodles are tender, about 6 minutes.  Season as needed with additional tamari and cayenne pepper.  Variation: Spinach, tofu, and green onions are  all delicious additions to this soup.  More soba noodles may be added to make a more filling soup.  

*A Yoga Dinner Party is an event where I come to your house, lead you and your friends through a yoga class designed to stimulate digestion, and feed you an amazing meal in accordance with yogic teachings about sattvic foods.  Just email me if you want one- It makes a great gift for friends when you're sick of buying "stuff" and would rather give an experience.  If you live outside the Twin Cities, just buy me some plane tickets and I'll bring the party to you.  Especially if you live in Dallas or Vancouver.  

My week

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. This past week included volunteering at a food bank, Mike's birthday, big news at work, and a 3 day yoga workshop. I haven't been this busy since I was in school!

Tuesday night I went with co-op folks to volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank. We took the labels off of cans of organic tomatoes and relabeled them with stickers bearing the correct ingredient lists. I think the original labels incorrectly identified the oregano and basil as being organic, so the company donated the cans to the food bank (selling them with incorrect labels = hefty fines). It was great to see the food shelves getting organic tomatoes! Although the work was a bit tedious and (I hate to say it- I hope the organic inspectors aren't reading this) pointless, I felt simultaneously relaxed and productive when I was done.

On Wednesday we found out that when our co-op's lease (at the Randolph store) is up in Dec 2009, we'll be expanding to a new location on W. 7th. It's a relief to finally have a location secured. Even if I don't usually work at that location, Mike does and I do almost all my grocery shopping at that store. I'm thrilled that next year I'll be able to walk 6 blocks to the store!
At the same time, I know lots of folks are really sad that the store won't be in exactly the same neighborhood so I can't help but empathize. Co-op members take a lot of pride and ownership in our stores (we are owners after all) so when anything changes (from moving the canned beans to moving the store) it can be pretty traumatic. Now comes the fun part of planning a new store!

On Thursday it was Mike's birthday and he chose a (gluten-free) vanilla cake with caramel filling and chocolate frosting. This was my first time making an actual cake gluten-free instead of just cupcakes, but it turned out pretty good.

Saturday morning I made breakfast and we ate outside on the deck because it was so beautiful outside. I think it got up to 60! We had yogurt-herb potatoes that were somewhere between mashed potatoes and potato salad. They had a soyogurt, green onion, and parsley dressing but were kinda mashed, so I don't know what to call them. But they were really good and tasty cold the next day as well. The tofu scramble was a bit plain because we had no veggies in the house except 2 tomatoes and an onion. But it went really well with the potatoes and gave me plenty of protein to keep up with my yoga workshop that day.
I'm on the Board for the Iyengar Yoga Association of Minnesota and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we sponsored a workshop with Neeta Datta. She has a great way of teaching- somehow she could say things that I've heard before and it just clicked with me more. The classes were strenuous, but very focused on going within your own body and keeping your mind and eyes soft. Right now my muscles aren't feeling so soft- they're feeling more sore. But it was a great weekend! On Saturday night we held a dinner for anyone attending the workshop and I made Isa's Vanilla Yogurt Pound Cake from Veganomicon with a soft ganache topping and California strawberries. Yum! I have an entire cake leftover, though, because we weren't sure how many people to expect. I know I should freeze it for a rainy day...


But today IS a rainy day!

Kitten Yoga

When Crystal and I were doing yoga on Sunday, the kitten decided to do yoga with us. Trouble's approach is to try to absorb the benefits of yoga through osmosis- by laying on people doing yoga. Here we are in savasana:
And on the meditation cushion:
Then tonight I was in Viparitta Karani on a block when Trouble jumped up on my belly and started to knead!
I think she's really into this.

And because this is a food blog, not a yoga blog, I'll post up a picture of a great classic macrobiotic dinner we had last week. This is brown rice, adzuki beans cooked with kombu and kale, and a mix of roasted yams and carrots. The leftovers were great in my lunch all week and I felt very virtuous.