Rhythm Cycles

My weekend was wild and wacky and full of adventure. Fortunately it was the good kind of wacky and wild that includes a lot of singing. It is funny how even unconsciously, we operate in rhythm cycles. Exactly two months ago, I wrote this newsletter talking about how I had sung for two kirtan events in one weekend. Both weekends included a car trip, where I was lucky enough to be a passenger (let's go car nap!) to a city in Southern NC. I had even used the same photo at the bottom of it. ​I am appropriately tired after such a busy weekend, and thus I don't have deep things to say. I am keeping that photo down below as a conversation piece, a springboard for telling you all that if you want to join me for a music & food celebration, Samadhi, the band that I am in, will be at Triangle Yoga for a kirtan and potluck this Saturday, March 5th from 7 - 8:30 pm. Just in case you are new to me and my newsletter, kirtan is a devotional, call and response form of singing, origianating in India. I talk about it often because I do it often. We also have some exciting food coming up this week. Scroll on down to check it out!

This Week's Menu: Entree #1 - Zucchini Kofta in Tomato Coconut Sauce The order of the universe is being disturbed! I promised you all that I would rotate our standard recipes through on a 6-week cycle. Yet it is only 3 weeks out, and here I am offering kofta again! See what had happened was... Well actually, I am going to come clean with y'all. I have a retirement party to cater on Wednesday, and the customer requested kofta. So instead of killing my helper and myself outright by trying to make two entirely separate menus, I decided to collapse the catering and the weekly meals together. Meaning that what you see here is the menu that my catering client ordered. Even though I can't invite you to the party, I can totally invite you to partake of the yummy menu we created for it. For those of you who are kofta fans, know that you have a beautiful, annonymous, new retiree (send her the love, people!) to thank for the untimely reappearance of this rich dish. *GF, soy-free

(photo journeykitchen.com)

Entree #2 - Bengali Royal Rice Well you know, kofta without fancy rice is like peas without carrots, fries without ketchup, grilled without cheese... At least when there is a party afoot, you have to make sure that your rice can stand up to the majesty of the kofta. This rice is about as fancy as rice can get. Made with a bevy of mouth-watering spices, nuts, raisins, and cubed pan-fried tofu, this rice is complete as a stand-alone meal, though she is also happy when draped over the arm of succulent dishes like kofta. *GF, can be made without tofu upon request

(photo simplevegcooking.com)

Entree #3 - General Tso's Chickpeas It was this entree that landed me this catering job in the first place. Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, as my customer has been a regular for quite some time. Still, the week after I made these chickpeas, she let me know how very much she liked them and then asked me to cater her long-awaited retirement party. The only thing I wondered was how to tie the Asian and Indian dishes she requested into a cohesive theme. Then I realized that I don't have to make up a theme. I will say that I am cooking Rasa-style. Rasa is a restaurant in Chapel Hill, of which I have heard many good things (review coming later), that specializes in Indo-Chinese fusion cuisine. I am all about fusion, baby. *GF

(photo yupitsvegan.com)

Side Dishes: Brown Rice - $1/serving (1 cup) Asian Slaw with Peanut Dressing - $6/lb. I happened upon this blog last week, while looking for an entree. I knew that I would be making General Tso's Chickpeas this week, and thus was so excited to find an Asian salad that was as beautiful as it was thematic. The finely shredded veggies, the pops of color and flavor from the edamame and the cilantro, the crunchy flecks of sunflower seeds, it all just looks like confetti for your mouth! One thing you must know is that I am as much a connosueir of fine lines as I am of fine dining. The author of the blog where I found this reicpe compared the appearance of this salad to party confetti. Since this is actually for a party, I couldn't let that metaphor slip by unborrowed. *GF

(photo aspicyperspective.com)

Chocolate Tofu "Creme" Pie - $4/slice, $20/pie. It is back! I have made this chocolate pie so many times, that I wonder if you all are tired of it. But then again I remember how incredibly good it is that I have been known to eat some of the leftovers for breakfast. Because it has coconut cream, tofu, dates, and walnuts in it, in addition to the chocolate, I can easily rationalize that it is a perfectly respectable morning food. It must be higher in nutrition than your average colorfully packaged commercial breakfast cereal, right?! *GF

(photo minimalistbaker.com)

#singing #rhythm #Samadhi #TriangleYoga #potluck #kirtan #ZucchiniKoftainTomatoCoconutSauce #BengaliRoyalRice #spices #nuts #raisins #cubedpanfriedtofu #GeneralTsosChickpeas #brownrice #AsianSlawwithPeanutDressing #veggies #edamame #cilantro #sunflowerseeds #ChocolateTofuCremePie #coconutcream #tofu #dates #walnuts