Creative & Healthy Seasonal Cooking
Description
As summer arrives, this immersive weekend invites you to celebrate the season through fresh flavors, practical learning, and hands-on cooking. Discover creative ways to work with seasonal produce and turn it into nourishing meals for yourself, your family, or a larger group. You’ll explore how to make plant-based versions of familiar dishes that are both quick to prepare and full of flavor—proving that healthy food can be delicious, and delicious food can also be healthy.
Spend time in the kitchen with Chef Eytan Kurland and receive direct, hands-on guidance throughout the program. You’ll refine your chopping, sautéing, and roasting skills while learning some of the simple secrets behind favorite Dharmakaya dishes. Just as importantly, you’ll learn how to bring these methods and recipes into your everyday life. Whether you come alone or with a friend, this program is designed for anyone who wants to prepare meals as wholesome and satisfying as those served at the Center. Participation is limited to 10 people.
The experience is open to all, and no cooking background is needed—only curiosity and a desire to learn.
BRING A FRIEND DISCOUNT : If you invite someone who would enjoy the program but has not previously attended the Center, you will both receive 10% off your entire program package. To qualify, two reservations must be made, and at least one participant must be new to a Dharmakaya Center class.
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE : Partial scholarships are available for this program.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
If you already love vegetarian food—or simply want to better understand how it can support long-term health—you’ll learn how to prepare vegetarian and vegan dishes that are exciting, satisfying, and full of taste. Working together, you’ll focus on techniques that bring out deep flavor while keeping the food vibrant and nourishing.
- Prepare classic dishes using alternative ingredients for different dietary needs
- Practice tools and techniques that make cooking more efficient and enjoyable
- Learn how to incorporate elements of these dishes into other recipes with ease
- Bonus: Create simple spice blends for an instant flavor boost and take home samples
By the end of the weekend, you’ll leave with new recipes, fresh techniques, and a stronger creative approach to ingredients and flavor pairings.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Intimate setting
- All recipes included in course materials
- Interactive sessions with hands-on training
- Shamatha and guided meditations
- Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients, prepared by you
- Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora, and fauna
- Option to extend your stay on Personal Retreat
SCHEDULE
(subject to change)
Friday, June 12
- 3:00 PM Check in
- 4:00-6:00 PM Welcome and Introduction
- Dinner Preparation with Guided Instruction
- 6:00-7:00 PM Dinner
- 7:30-8:30 PM Menu Recap and Open Discussion
Saturday, June 13
- 7:30-8:00 AM Morning Salutations and Meditation
- 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast
- 9:00-10:00 AM Simplicity: Harnessing fresh, seasonal flavors
- 10:00 AM-12:00 PM Lunch Preparation with Guided Instruction
- 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
- 1:00-2:30 PM Decadence: Creating healthy desserts using allergen-free ingredients and natural sweeteners
- 2:30-4:00 PM Free Time
- 4:00-6:00 PM Dinner Preparation with Guided Instruction
- 6:00-7:00 PM Dinner
- 7:30-8:30 PM Menu Recap and Open Discussion
Sunday, June 14
- 7:30-8:00 AM Morning Salutations and Meditation
- 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast
- 9:00 AM-10:00 AM Zest: Incorporating exciting flavors in daily cooking
- 10:00 AM-12:00 PM Lunch Preparation with Guided Instruction
- 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
- 1:00 PM Checkout and Departure
Teacher
Chef Eytan Kurland
Eytan has nearly twenty years of professional cooking experience, with extensive expertise in healthy, vegetarian, farm-to-table cuisine. A world traveler, he has trained in spiritual and retreat centers around the globe, as well as on organic farms, in New York City restaurants, and in roles as a caterer and private chef. He is passionate about creating clean, nutritious food that is inventive, delicious, and deeply nourishing for an active life and spiritual practice. His work is consistently praised by Dharmakaya retreatants, and he credits his grandmother—herself a cooking instructor and gifted host—as a major inspiration.
Accommodation Options
Private Room: Couple
This registration fee is for two people. This comfortable room has one double bed, and may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. With ample room for meditation, it features a desk and small table suitable for a meditation object. All rooms are furnished with linens, pillows, blankets, coverlets, and towels, as well as a meditation cushion and zabuton. The room shares a bath with one or two other rooms. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total meals for a couple room); there is also a tea station on each hall.
Junior Suite: Single
These large rooms have one double bed, a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day; there is also an in-room tea station.
Junior Suite: Couple
This reservation fee is for two people and includes three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total for a couple). This large room has one double bed, which may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. In addition, it has a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire.
Teachers
Eytan brings nearly twenty years of professional cooking experience, with a strong focus on healthy vegetarian, farm-to-table cuisine. As a seasoned world traveler, he has trained in retreat and spiritual centers around the world, on organic farms, in New York City restaurants, and through his work as a caterer and private chef. His approach to food is rooted in nourishment, creativity,...
Read morePlace
191 Cragsmoor Rd, Pine Bush, NY 12566, USA
Pine Bush
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Fri, Jun 12