Late Summer Salsa

From Jenny’s Garden

Tomorrow Bhava and I will be teaching at the Karma Yoga for a Cause Fundraiser to benefit Shakti Rising. It is such an honor to be invited to present our teachings on Yoga and the Divine Feminine and to Chant the Body Sacred at this event. Shakti’s recovery programs help so many women hurt by trauma and abuse learn to restore their spirit, reclaim their power, remember the light within, and become leaders of emerging women-centered services and societies that benefit all.

All people everywhere ~ men, women, adults, children ~ benefit when women learn to love themselves. And to love one another, too, so today I am sending out love to Jenny Barrett, the creator and Maha Shakti Power Generator behind this event.

The “Shakti Butterfly”

Last Sunday we met up with Jenny and other friends at the San Diego Botanic Gardens to see where we would be teaching and  run through the day’s program. As we were leaving, Jenny gave us each a few vegetables picked that morning from her home garden. I received a small tomato, a long green pepper and the cutest little orange pepper that looked like a baby bell but bit like a sharp-toothed hoary dragon!

Of course, I went home and made Salsa which was especially handy as I had kichari preparing in the Slow Cooker, something I like to wrap with a teaspoon of yogurt and a few arugula leaves in flour tortillas to make burritos for the children.

It was fun to forage for the ingredients for this Salsa, using only what was on hand, and eating with the season by preparing foods that had been (mostly) picked that day. It was also simple to make.

First, I picked and shredded Cilantro from our garden…

Chopped an apple from the Japanese farmer who sells crunchy Fujis at our local Market…

Sliced and diced a cucumber brought to us from Suzie’s Farm….

Minced the peppers, removing their seeds…

Then I ran for a fire extinguisher as this was the hottest little pepper north of the Tijuana River!

Finally, I cut up the tomato and stirred it all together in a bowl with a squeeze of lime, a pinch of Himalayan salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

Thanks to the surprisingly potent pungency of the baby orange pepper, this Salsa was exceptionally spicy, so I renamed it “Salsa Chutney.”  Like a chutney, it compliments almost any dish, but only a small amount is needed.

It is the peppery pungency of Salsa that helps digest beans and rice, and any heavy meal that might include meat, fish, grains, dairy. Heat, including the heating action of a pungent taste, draws circulation to the abdomen which increases the digestive power.

Refreshing ingredients like apple, cucumber, and cilantro balance the heat of the peppers, keeping blood, muscle, bone, neurological and immune tissue cool, strong and intact.

In late Summer, we need to release the heat that has accumulated in our tissues over the three months of warm weather, because too much heat applied to anything will burn, deplete and ultimately destroy. For that reason, Mother Nature, in her loving wisdom, gives us apples, plums, gooseberries, grapes, nectarines, sweet melons, sweetcorn, zucchini, celeriac, green beans, green leafy vegetables and other cooling foods to restore balance.

It is really important to pay attention now and eat seasonally. Autumn sees nature wither and die back, bringing with it challenges to our health, so it is crucial to be here now, so to speak, with your meals. Late September’s Harvest is the key to readying you now for a healthy Autumn.

Late Summer Salsa Chutney Recipe

1 small Tomato
1/2 Cucumber
1 Pepper of your choice: bell, jalapeño, serrano…
1 Apple
1 bunch Cilantro
1 Lime
Olive Oil
Himalayan Salt

Chop the vegetables and apple into small bit-size pieces. Stir together in a bowl. Season with lime juice, salt, even a bit of Sambal if your peppers are not as hot as Jenny’s. Drizzle with oil and serve.

CookingwithSorrel.com

Karma Yoga for a Cause will be catered by Sorrel and Fall Weiss whose gorgeous, natural foods are captured and celebrated on their website, cookingwithsorrel.com.

And so with extraordinary teachers, inspiring events, friends from all over and the beguiling sisters Sorrel and Fally catering, we know we are all going to be very well nourished! I hope you can join us.

Even if you can’t, wherever you are, I wish you a beautiful late Summer Sunday.

In honor of the love present everywhere in nature and in support of the love blazing in your heart ~ Namaste!

The 21 Day Challenge

We had our annual Spring Detox Workshop on Sunday, the day of the Spring Equinox, which is always a joyful way to begin the season. It is like a celebration of emergence ~ from the darkness of winter, from the deep interior, from the cave of the heart ~ into a world of light, to a communal dance in a human garden of blossoming radiance.

After circulating, stretching, compressing and twisting the body for two hours we settled into a deep restorative Yoga Nidra to extend the detoxification to mind and heart. By the end, thirty of us committed to keeping our minds pure by keeping the television off, and to keeping the heart alive by spending more time in nature.

We also committed to the annual Spring Detox 21 Day Challenge, which I have posted here. It is a simple plan for eating clean, natural, seasonal foods that help the body eliminate winter’s accumulation. We love company so if you would like to join us, please do. Just click the “Like” button below, or email me to let us know you are in.

Lately, with all the health-store, take-home boxes of Detox, many people tell me they are following a plan they bought. While I am sure that is helpful, I want to remind you that it can be easier. Spring is the time for internal cleansing. Nature knows that, and so provides at this time all the foods that best support detoxification. If you eat the harvest from your own, your neighbor’s, or your local farmer’s garden, you will naturally have a comfortable, nourishing cleanse.

Radishes and Ranunculi at the Farmer’s Market

It is hard to make money off that simple, potent truth, so it is not advertised. But liberating ourselves from commercially driven habits makes this Detox all the more empowering, and helps cleanse the mind and our beliefs, which is the beginning point for all true, enduring health.

So, let your food be your medicine. Allow nature to take care of you. After all, you are nature. Eating according to nature’s seasonal bounty stimulates the natural intelligence in you to adapt, heal, nourish, cleanse, revitalize and really come alive in this season of joy.

The 21 Day Challenge

Before you begin ~ it is always best to consult with an Ayurvedic professional to tailor your diet to your particular constitution. If you have a chronic illness, are very thin, or feel depleted, please consult your health-care professional before beginning any cleanse.

Ginger Tea

Drink warm water with fresh squeezed lemon juice first thing in the morning and throughout the day to increase cellular detoxification.

Eat fresh nourishing foods, including whole grains, beans and vegetables lightly cooked with small amounts of healthy oils such as olive oil, safflower oil, or ghee.

To stoke your digestive fire, sip ginger tea with your meals and spice your food with warm pungent herbs such as ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, basil, oregano, pepper, and chilies.

Check out your local Farmer’s Market to see what is in season now. This is a great time to explore the immense variety of Spring vegetables and learn  delicious ways they can be prepared.

While at the Market, load up on everything green as Spring Greens are the most detoxifying of foods. Greens are bitter, astringent and, those that ripen in Spring are often fiery, pungent. They are easy and quick to cook and colorfully complement a bowl of beans for a slimming, yet strengthening, protein-packed, power lunch.

Sprouted Beans & Sunflower Greens at the Farmer’s Market yesterday

Include grains with your meals but lighten up with cereals like barley, millet (as in couscous), buckwheat groats, rye and quinoa. Barley is an excellent cleanser of the digestive system and urinary tract. Buckwheat is considered a “light grain,” but is actually a fruit, with more protein than any of the other “grains.”

A piece of fruit, warmed or at room temperature, makes a great snack. The citrus fruits now in season have enough sour taste to stoke the metabolic fires, while their bitter peel are loaded with anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory zest. You can grate the rind and whisk it into salad dressings or sprinkle over cooked greens.

Be sure to eat fruit on its own – one type at a time, an hour away from meals. Otherwise it ferments in the gut, jamming digestion and increasing the toxic load. On the other hand, cooked fruit, such as a Spiced Citrus Compote that marries the fruits of Spring, is easy on digestion, and even stimulates elimination in the morning. Cooking fresh fruit into your grains for breakfast, with a dash of cinnamon or cardamom, is a powerful, and delicious, way to start the day.

Spiced Citrus Compote with White Cardamom

Avoid meat, sugar, fried, processed, canned, frozen and microwaved foods. Reduce your intake of dairy products and heavy grains such as wheat, oats, rice. These foods decrease the metabolic fire, slow digestion and clog the circulatory channels.

Herbs

Aloe Juice: Aloe encourages elimination so drink half a glass first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It is a great Spring tonic for its deep tissue cleanse, liver support and cellular rejuvenation.

Tulsi’s Spring Blossom

Tulsi: For congestion, heaviness, brain fog and the like, drink a cup of warm Tulsi Tea every day. I love Organic India not only for the quality of their teas, but also for the integrity and charitable nature of the company.

Dandelion: For liver detoxification drink Detox Tea in the evenings.  I love this tea for its copious amounts of dandelion root and other bitter herbs that somehow still tastes sweet, not to mention comforting.

Triphala: Triphala reduces Ama in the body restoring balance and optimal physiology. Because it strengthens the colon it is often used to encourage regularity. Take 2 tablets in the evening before bed. If there is Ama, Triphala can give detox reactions, in which case, reduce to one tablet only for a week and then resume the two daily.

21 Day Challenge Meal Suggestions

These are just ideas, not a fixed menu. Be playful. Work with what you find at the market. Get creative with color, texture, tastes and spices. Dance in the kitchen. Love your food. It tastes better that way.

Breakfast

Blooming Buckwheat

A porridge made of a light grain such as quinoa, buckwheat or barley. I love Bob’s Red Mill for warm breakfast cereals. This recipe on their website for Barley Hash looks great and has all the perfect ingredients for a Spring season start to the day.

Home-made Chapati with wheat and barley flour, topped with honey and cinnamon.

1/2 cup of granola with warm milk.

Lunch

A Feast of Seasonal Greens, like asparagus, artichokes, mustard greens, avocado, and sprouts of every kind, with seasonal color like radishes.

A gorgeous medley of steamed, stewed or sautéed vegetables with tofu or paneer and a light grain such as quinoa.

A plate of Beans and Greens, such as Pinto Beans with Kale.

Udon: Buckwheat Noodles with Vegetables & Miso

Dinner

Barley Soup, Miso Soup, Green Vegetable Soup, Lentil and Spinach Soup, Whole Bean Chile, Kichari

Snacks

Puffed rice, rice cakes with honey and cinnamon, collard greens rolled with hummus & red pepper, a piece of fresh fruit, sprouted bread toasted with honey and cinnamon, a  small handful of seeds (sunflower or pumpkin), popcorn.

Evening: “Detox” or Tulsi Tea.

~~~

While Spring Cleaning, focus on what is positive in your life. Raise yourself up, feed your mind, elevate your spirit with inspiring activities, and allow yourself to enjoy the changes. Don’t forget you have amazing power.  Allow yourself to rise up and blossom this Springtime. Radiate your Beauty. Let yourself shine!

My next “Ayurvedic Nutrition and Cooking Class,” on April 3rd, is devoted to Detoxification. You will find all the information here ~ Spring Detox: A Class on Ayurvedic Nutrition & Cooking

Food as Medicine

Ayurveda recognizes that the key to optimal health is a strong digestive fire. In this coldest and darkest time of the year, we need to be vigilant about strengthening that Agni, our inner fire of digestion and metabolism, to maintain the immune system’s robust vigor.

To that end, I am hosting a unique, experiential class on the subject later this month. Stoking the Fires: Ayurveda, Nutrition and Cooking for Winter Wellness is part of our continuing series on Kitchen Wisdom, in which we share with you the concepts and techniques of eating for optimal health.

All of my Ayurvedic Cooking Classes cover nutrition, food choices and preparation, spices, teas, tonics, and tips in a joyful, interactive, intimate evening. This January class will also describe the 6 Tastes and their application, the miraculous medicine inherent in your spices, and the ideal  recipes for wellness, warmth and comfort in this cold, blustery season.

The workshop includes lecture, preparations, cooking, tasting, and a rich, sumptuous, shared meal. Our class Winter Wellness Menu is above.

If you live in our region, I invite you to join us Friday, January 28 from 6-9 pm. Details are on our website.

Stoking the Fires

Remember when Grandma would make a home remedy of hot lemon and honey whenever someone was sick? Some grandmothers might have added ginger, others a dash of cinnamon, some a pinch of black pepper, and the bold even added a shot of Brandy!

Grandmother’s medicine is a lot like Ayurveda. It is based on Intuitive Intelligence, and includes a lot of what I call Kitchen Wisdom, with healing ingredients you can find in almost any kitchen.

For instance, Grandma knew that in the winter, when it is chilly, often windy and dry, the very best way to prevent or treat a cold, is to keep warm and hydrated. From this simple premise came chicken soup, the hot toddy, spicy teas, and as my friend Jane from Bournemouth, England says, “A po’ o’ lemon.”

A wonderful “Grandmother Recipe” that we drink at home and that exemplifies the best of Ayurveda ~ botanical, simple, accessible, and highly effective ~  is the  Lemony Ginger Tonic.

To make two servings, put one half-inch slice of fresh ginger root into a blender. Add the juice of one whole lemon, 2 cups of water, 2 heaping teaspoons of raw honey (our favorite is Honey Gardens’ “Northern Raw” ), three shakes of cinnamon, two shakes of turmeric and one shake of cayenne powder. Blend thoroughly and pour into glasses.

Lemony Ginger Tonic can be heated and served warm, but in that case do not add the honey until you have poured your Tonic into the mug and allowed it to cool to drinking temperature. Honey should not be heated past 120 degrees.

This drink can be taken first thing in the morning to kindle the inner fires and hydrate the tissues, with meals to stoke the digestive fires, throughout the day to keep metabolic fires blazing and stay warm, any time to banish the blues when the days are gray, at the onset of a cold to clear the respiratory passage, and every day to strengthen your immune system.

Cinnamon is antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-clotting, balancing to blood sugar and energizing to the brain. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, blood and liver cleanser with a history of reducing tumors. Cayenne, or Capsicum, is a powerful antibacterial, pain-relieving, fat and mucus busting, cholesterol-lowering, blood pressure-regulating, cancer fighter. All three of these everyday spices are amongst the most highly researched herbs in the U.S. today, for their multiple use and safe potency in healing.

To your Good Health ~ Santé!

Are you Vegan?

In our own home we are “Ayurvedis” and Yogis, if we are anything. This means that we eat mostly a vegetarian diet with the emphasis on locally grown, seasonal, organic, whole foods, balanced in terms of the six tastes and the Doshas. We are not fundamentalists, we don’t believe in denial as a methodology, nor do we claim to be Masters. We enjoy life, for all its beauty and all its bounty, but we try to be conscious about it, to make conscious choices, so that the health, energy, passion, joy, and abundance that we enjoy can be shared by all.

My intention in creating Food: A Love Story is to share that wisdom with you, in the simplest, most accessible manner, so that you are encouraged to love yourself Ayurvedically.

Photo: Getty

Traditionally, Ayurveda has called for milk and ghee as important staples of any diet. I remember an Ayurvedic Doctor in India telling me, “As you know, we love the cow. Cows are sacred for us not only in mythology, but  as a practical matter. We value her gifts and use everything she gives – milk, ghee, even dung for fire!”

In India cows are (mostly) free-ranging, grass-eating, and as a sacred animal, are treated with loving reverence. Milk, according to custom, is only taken in the Spring during calving season, AFTER the calves have had their fill. The milk for human consumption, then, is fresh, whole, organic, non-homogenized and collected according to the principle of Ahimsa, or non-harming.

According to Maharishi Ayurveda, “Milk provides special and unique nutrition that cannot be derived from any other type of food. When digested properly, milk nourishes all the tissues, promotes balanced emotions, and helps to balance all the doshas. It is one of the most important foods to promote Ojas.

According to Ayurveda, Ojas is a refined substance the body produces from the most subtle level of proper digestion. Ojas brings strength, strong immunity, happiness, and contentment. Therefore milk is a very important food to include regularly in one’s diet especially if you follow a vegetarian lifestyle.”

What to do, then, if you are Vegan?

If you avoid dairy, building Ojas will need to be a priority. Fortunately, there are Ojas-building foods of the non-dairy variety. Generally, those are the foods that are naturally “sweet” in taste. Examples are grains, pulses (split-mung dhal, lentils, split beans), root vegetables, seeds, dates, figs, raisins, olives and nuts (we are loving chestnuts lately for a “meaty,” incredibly tonifying snack – look for my soon-to-be-posted recipes for Chestnut Hummus and Chestnut Pesto).

By the way, canned, frozen, processed and microwaved foods must be avoided, as well as eating on the run, in front of the telly or while angry or stressed. All are highly Ojas-depleting!

In my recipes, Vegans can replace ghee with safflower or coconut oil for sautéing. A Vegan option like Earth Balance substitutes ghee for spreading on toast, dolloping on a dish as a final flourish, even for cooking. Coconut milk is a good stand-in for cream or milk, and is so delicious added to stews and stir-fry, it is always my first choice.  Milk can also be replaced with a grain or nut “milk” like Rice Milk, Almond Milk, Oat Milk, etc. For instance, in the Ojas Rasayana recipe under Basics, I recommend Almond Milk as the best substitute for cow’s milk.

I would warn, however, against soy milk as we just don’t know these days where all the soy is coming from, and GMO is definitely not Ayurvedic! Besides, most people get plenty of soy in their diet from its many forms and appearances across the spectrum of “health” food.

Think of Ojas as another way to describe what love does to us physically and mentally. It makes us stable, patient, inspired, confident, happy. It strengthens the immune system, improves organ function, increases clarity and fires up the brain.

So, Vegans, whether you are in love or not, love is in your food, so be sure to get enough healthy oils, enjoy your grounding staples, and relax with sweet, warm, comfort food. Indulge in Ojas-building foods and let love nourish you.