The official launch party for the Lucid Food cookbook happens tomorrow. The book is blasting off!

I’ve spent the past week securing event details, and the past couple of days shopping and cooking for the party. It will take place at Jimmy’s No 43, a favorite East Village restaurant/bar that supports sustainability and the local food scene. The last event I attended there was a tasting of locally made honey – in New York City! The event is a fundraiser for Just Food, the heroic non-profit that is changing New Yorker’s relationship to food by supporting community gardeners in neighborhoods where there’s a lack of fresh food, offering free classes on healthy cooking throughout the city, and working to change food policy through legislation. I’m so proud to be partnering with them!

In the last couple of days, ticket sales to the event have shot up, so I’ve been hunkering down with the Lucid Food crew, cooking up a storm. I’m taking a quick break to give you an update and a look at tomorrow’s menu (all recipes from the cookbook except for the chili):

• Sun-dried Tomato Puree on Crostini with Arugula

• Inarizushi (stuffed tofu pockets)

• Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili

• Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Black Walnuts & Whipped Cream

Between cooking, returning emails, and food shopping, I only had time to take a couple of photos. Above is tofu that I baked in a marinade of mustard, soy, sesame oil, honey, and miso. After it cooled, I diced it up and added it to the brown rice filling for the tofu pockets. The rice filling includes kimchi, chopped peanuts, grated carrots and cabbage, sauteed shiitakes, along with sugar and rice vinegar for seasoning. This filling is a little different than the recipe in the cookbook, but like all of the recipes, this one is meant to be riffed on, and these were the ingredients that tickled my fancy today.

If you’re planning on coming tomorrow, thank you in advance for supporting the book, and Just Food. It’s shaping up to be a special night. We hope that for a few hours our lovely little room, decorated with flowers and full of the smells of fragrant food, bring you solace from the midwinter cold, and a joyful opportunity to eat your ideals!