Yoga...

This winter I discovered what I believe is Stapleton’s hidden jewel: The Phoenix Yoga Studio in Town Center. In fact, it might be the only redeemable thing about this bizzaro, freaky 'hood I live in. I had done yoga over the past two decades a middling amount -- from college where I practiced in a lobby of a local theatre to my early working life doing it in a sterile gymnasium to prenatal yoga in a fancy, overpriced, tv-blaring, iron-body-type sports club. None of these places ever made yoga more than another form of ho-hum exercise. And then one day in mid-December I walked into Phoenix Yoga for my first class and walked out profoundly changed. The serenity of the light-filled, mellow, peach and lilac toned walls enveloped me as I sank clumsily into one pose after another. Unlike other yoga I had done, the peace and clarity present in Phoenix Yoga is powerful. It came as a needed respite from the nonstop chattering of children, the endless drone of neighbors asking “so, who’s your builder?!”, the ringing of the phone, etc. I’m still as lost and often quite clumsy as I attempt my practice, but I’ve found my oasis in Stapleton.

And as millions of others before have found that the more you practice yoga, the more your body wants to do anything it can to assist the process. One of those things is eating lighter. I’m not talking about a fruit-only diet or anything extreme, just simply becoming more conscious of the food we put in our body and how it affects us. A few months ago, pre-yoga conversion, I created this meal that we now have on average twice a week in our house. I call it California Roll in a Bowl or Cucumber Roll in a Bowl or Shrimp Roll in a Bowl -- you get the picture. And, although I’m 100% certain that I’m not the first to have thought of this easy-Japanese style dinner, I am certain that I have created a new standard of comfort food for my family.

One of my other latest conversions has been to the world of rice cookers. I always thought they were only for serious Asian food lovers/cooks, but what I found was that it’s an amazing time-saving device that produces incredible rice every time. If you can, check out the Asian supermarkets on Federal or go to Han Au Rheum in Aurora to not only get a great deal, but also to pick up some basic “____ in a Bowl” staples at half the price of the fancy gourmet/natural food stores.

Basic Recipe for California Roll in a Bowl
Serves 2

2 cups brown rice
4 oz. steamed shrimp, salmon, crab or tofu (or none at all)
2 sheets nori
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
½ cucumber, diced
½ carrot, grated or julienned
½ avocado, diced
Pickled ginger
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Sesame oil

To prepare:

In two soup or cereal bowls divide rice equally. Divide protein, if using, on top of rice. Top with cucumber, carrot, and avocado, equally divided. Crumble one nori sheet and sprinkle sesame seeds over everything. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.

Staples to purchase at Asian supermarkets: large bags of rice (I recently got a 10lb bag of brown rice for only $7), nori sheets, sesame seeds, wasabi, pickled ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil. If you have all of these things in your cupboard you are more than ¾ of the way to having “____ in a Bowl” nearly any night of the week.

And lastly, why brown rice? Here’s the skinny. Compared to enriched, processed white rice, unenriched, unprocessed brown rice has 349% more fiber, 203% more Vitamin E, 185% more B6 and 219% more magnesium and 19% more protein. ‘nuf said?