Eighth Tango Stop - Salt Lake City, UT

Carmen:
It was dry, sunny, and hot when we arrive at Barbara Zakarian's house, a fellow tango dancer who lives a few blocks from the Mormon Temple in downtown Salt Lake city. She had a wonderful house for dancing and rehearsing, and we were treated to a delicious home cooked meal made by Barbara before we drove out to the milonga which was in a south suburb of Salt Lake City called Murray. Luckily for us, Barbara's son was going on a "vegan for a week" diet, so she treated us to a chick pea vegetable curry stew with couscous.



The milonga was at the Murray Dance Studio a two-sided dance center that we ended up sharing with a group of ballet dancers. (It was fun to see the chemistry when ballet dancers interact with tango dancers.) Salt Lake City was our first city on the tour where none of us had been before, so it was great to see so many people show up for the lesson, about 30 people, and for the milonga, about 50 people. Although tango has been going in Salt Lake about 10 years, there were many people new to tango, and it was great that we could be a part of so many people's first time dancing.



Barbara Zakarian's Saffron Curried Chick Pea Stew with Veggies

Julienne the following:
2 sweet potatoes
2 turnips
4 carrots
2 zucchini

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Saffron threads
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
1 lemon halved and then quartered

1 can tomato juice
2 cans of chick peas

Saute turmeric and cumin seeds in olive oil, add onions, saute for 3 minutes, then add vegetables and saute for 5 minutes more. Add tomato sauce and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft but not mushy. Add chick peas and saffron threads. Season with salt to taste and serve with lemon wedges.

Serve over couscous.