Radiohead + a recipe!

Attending a Radiohead concert is always a good idea! And seeing as no NYC dates were posted for this year's tour until recently, I wanted to make sure I could see them somewhere in the U.S. on this tour. (Of course, I'm not opposed to traveling for a concert or two, but this trip seemed a little extravagant, even to me!) So I trekked out west for less than 24 hours to see this show at the Toyota Center. And it was fabulous! Honorable mention to my buddy Chris Slack who was kind enough to purchase the tickets and make all the travel arrangements for this extravaganza.

Here's our view of the stage - we were quite a bit closer than this pic indicates. The show was a blend of mostly new songs with a few old tunes scattered here and there. I love how this band is able to recreate their studio sound on stage with a few added live show nuances. They are just remarkable on stage, and I can't properly gush enough about how much I love this band.

I'll stop there and describe the scene which included a massive light set-up behind the band. It was very Muse-like if you ask me, and I certainly don't disapprove of such a thing! Muse is consistently voted one of the best live acts in the U.K. year after year after year. And having seen a show or two of theirs, I'd have to agree. But I digress, Radiohead's stage set-up was very interesting. There were 12 video screens on pulleys that were "floating" above the band showing different shots of the band performing. The whole scene was mesmerizing between the lights, the cameras, & the music. I literally stood there and wondered how I could possibly get a job doing that kind of video production someday. (You catching that, Universe? Manashi needs to work for Radiohead someday.)

And of course, I had to buy swag on my way out. I was leaving with just the ridiculously overpriced bag in my hand, but then I decided I needed that moderately overpriced red t-shirt too. So there's the recap of my frivolous weekend away from NYC to see Radiohead. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

On a completely different note, as the title of this post indicates, I did manage to eek out a new recipe in the past two weeks. I'm kind of proud of this one. It came out really well. And it finally allowed me to finish up that stupid never-ending head of cabbage that was living in my fridge forever.

South Indian Style Cabbage
4 cups cabbage, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Put oil in a large saucepan and let it heat up over medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds (and be careful, it's going to splatter), red pepper, curry leaves, and onion. Put a lid on it for 1-2 minutes, and then it's probably safe to stir the goods. Add the cabbage & turmeric, salt & pepper, and then stir everything to combine. Keep stirring the cabbage every 2-3 minutes while it cooks through, and if you feel like it, turn the heat down and put a lid on it. I kept stirring mine every few minutes till the cabbage cooked all the way through. About halfway through, I added the vinegar. At the end, add the coconut & sunflower seeds, and then mix it all together. This is what it looked like with my poor photography skills. It tasted fantastic! And I'd recommend brown rice, flatbread (roti or naan) to accompany this dish. I'll surely make it again someday, when I'm less sick of cabbage. Sidenote: This dish is totally vegan for anyone following that diet out there.