November 13, 2012 Dinner - Luke’s Vegetarian stir fry.

November 13, 2012 Dinner - Luke’s Vegetarian stir fry.

Luke invited a group of friends for dinner and a breath work session.  He made a pot of quinoa and guacamole and we put out the pickled cucumber, daikon and shallot salad (pickled in Japanese rice wine and mirin) and he stir fried medium tofu, refried black bean, broccoli, diced asparagus and chicken stock in a wok. 

We discussed the dish and Luke said he was trying to re-create a dish he had eaten in N.Y. that used whole black beans.  Instead, the use of refried black bean created a more homogenous mass because the refried beans soaked up the liquid into a gooey thick mass dominated by the thick refried beans.  The flavor was delicious but the appearance was decidedly murky and mushy.  It was a shame because I had bought whole black beans at Costco the night before, so he could have made the dish as he intended but he grabbed the refried beans instead of the whole beans.

 The bottom line was that the dinner was delicious. The food was light and did not weigh us down because it was a pleasing combination of fresh vegetables and tofu and quinoa. 

We then went to Luke’s room for a great twenty to thirty minute session of lying on the blankets on the floor and breathing, which elevated all of our spirits both physically and spiritually as we breathed to open up any constrictions in our body with the energy of our breath and send the energy we liberated up through our heart and other chackras and out through the top of our head to enliven our spiritual body. 

We probably should have evenings like this more often, where we balance body and breath work with a light delicious meal.

Suzette and I agreed that Luke is a great teacher, because he is sensitive to the needs of his students and takes a light hearted and fun approach to teaching.

Bon Appètit