Cooking with Chef Josh
With Joshua Gefroh
March 8 - 10, 2024
A DHARMAKAYA CENTER RETREAT
Add the Center’s signature dishes to your recipe collection when you spend the weekend perfecting your sautéing and roasting skills, understanding the secrets of our sauces, and learning how to alter recipes to accommodate food restrictions. You will be in the kitchen, both cooking and watching Chef Josh. Then you’ll go home with the knowledge, the recipes, and some mouthwatering samples. This program is for everyone who wishes they could prepare meals that are as healthy and delicious as the meals they enjoy at the Center. Class size is strictly limited to 10 people.
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“I loved the creative vegetarian cuisine. It was colorful, nutritious, amazing.”
“The food was fresh, delicious, and felt made with intention and love. It will inspire a new relationship with my meals at home.”
![](https://dharmakayacenter.secure.retreat.guru/wp-content/uploads/sites/578/2024/01/Josh-at-the-buffet-1024x666.jpeg)
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
You love vegetarian food—or maybe you just know it can protect against lifestyle-related disease—but you want to up your game. Now you can learn how to prepare many of the dishes our retreatants regularly enjoy. Instruction will include both demonstration and interactive (hands-on) components as you learn to prepare four of our signature menus. In addition, we will:
- Discuss concepts of macrobiotics and ayurvedic cooking.
- Learn how to prepare some classic items with alternative ingredients to account for food restrictions.
- Practice using various tools and techniques that make cooking more enjoyable or efficient.
Course materials will include recipes for all of the weekend meals.
MENU SPECIFICS
You will be learning to prepare the following menu items:
Session 1
Demonstration & Interactive Preparation:
- Spring Rolls
- Peanut Sauce
- Mandarin Cashew Dressing
- Bliss Bites
Demonstration-only
- Focaccia
- Quinoa
- Lentils
- Steamed Roasted Vegetables
Session 2
Demonstration & Interactive Preparation
- Seasoned Feta
- Roasted Chickpeas
- Caesar Dressing
- Croutons
- Brownies
Demonstration-only
- Fava Puree
- Mediterranean Pasta
- Multi-Grain Pilaf
- Roasted Potato & Brussel Sprouts
- Garlic Bread
![](https://dharmakayacenter.secure.retreat.guru/wp-content/uploads/sites/578/2024/01/fava-beans-300x300.jpeg)
Session 3
Demonstration & Interactive Preparation
- Sushi (maki, temaki, uramaki)
- Miso “Wasabi” Sauce
- Creamy Chilli Sauce
- Matcha Mint Cookies
Demonstration-only
- Miso Soup
- Polenta
- Red Beans
- Tofu Scramble
![](https://dharmakayacenter.secure.retreat.guru/wp-content/uploads/sites/578/2024/01/guac-300x300.jpg)
Session 4
Demonstration & Interactive Preparation
- Suncheese
- Pico de Gallo Salsa
- Tempeh Fajitas
- Guacamole
Demonstration-only
- Mexican Beans
- Leafy Greens
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Intimate setting with personal access to the teacher
- Interactive sessions with question and answer periods
- Shamatha meditations
- Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients
- Option to extend stay on Personal Retreat
- Extensive library of dharma books
- Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora and fauna
OPEN TO ALL
There are no prerequisites for this program; it is appropriate for all.
![](https://dharmakayacenter.secure.retreat.guru/wp-content/uploads/sites/578/2024/01/sushi-rolls-1024x1024.jpeg)
SCHEDULE
(subject to change)
Friday, March 8
3:00 PM | Check in |
4:00-6:00 PM | Welcome and Introduction |
Dinner Preparation | |
6:00-7:00 PM | Dinner |
7:30-8:30 PM | Menu Recap and Open Discussion |
Saturday, March 9
7:00-8:00 AM | Morning Salutations and Meditation |
8:00-9:00 AM | Breakfast |
10:00 AM-12:00 PM | Lunch Preparation |
12:00-1:00 PM | Lunch |
1:30-2:00 PM | Menu Recap and Open Discussion |
4:00-6:00 PM | Dinner Preparation |
6:00-7:00 PM | Dinner |
7:30-8:30 PM | Menu Recap and Discussion |
Sunday, March 10
7:00-8:00 AM | Morning Salutations and Meditation |
8:00-9:00 AM | Breakfast |
9:30 AM-11:30 AM | Program |
11:30 AM-12:00 PM | Menu Recap and Discussion |
12:00-1:00 PM | Lunch |
1:00 PM | Checkout and Departure |
Teacher
Joshua Gefroh is the Head Chef at the Dharmaka Center, which he joined following many years of developing his culinary skills and creativity in European retreat centers. He has created delicious meals for retreatants in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Australia, as well as across the US, and has authored two cookbooks. Josh loves cooking, eating, and exploring the world of food. Many of his favorite foods come from diverse cultural traditions rooted in vegetarian cuisine. Trained in macrobiotic cooking, he believes that good food begins with good ingredients. Yet, it is from his family’s strong tradition in home cooking that…
Learn more about Joshua Gefroh