Ayurveda Kitchari Recipe

This is a classic Ayurveda recipe that grounds you, calms you, and sustains you all at the same time. I’ve added the healthy bitterness of greens to cooling herbs and spices to mellow the mental heat of a busy day. When you feel like your mind is orbiting a bunch of tasks or appointments, have a leisurely sit-down with a bowl of this, and I guarantee you will feel much calmer.

Cleansing, Calming Ayurveda Kitchari with GINGER AND Greens

Ingredients:

6 cups water

1 cup basmati rice

1/2 cup yellow split mung beans, soaked overnight or at least a few hours

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

pinch of hing

1 inch of fresh ginger, grated

1 carrot, chopped into half inch dice

2 cups kale, Swiss chard, or collards, coarsely chopped into strips

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

for the tempering (optional):

1-2 Tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, whole

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, whole

1/2 tsp fennel seeds, whole

In a large saucepan, boil 6 cups of the water on high heat.

Rinse the rice and mung beans twice or until the water runs clear. Add them to the boiling water along with the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, thing, ginger, and carrot and keep on high heat until the liquid boils again. Immediately turn the heat down and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes without stirring. Remove the lid, place the chopped greens on top to steam. Simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, to make the tempering, warm the ghee in a small skillet on medium heat. Add the whole cumin, coriander and fennel seeds and cook until the seeds pop, about 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and pour over the kitchari. Add the salt, stir well, and let stand, covered, for a few minutes.

Kitchari should have a soupy, soft consistency. Serve it in bowls, as you would a stew.

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This recipe is inspired by a kitchari recipe from my second Ayurveda book, Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm, Clear Mind: 100 Simple Sattvic Recipes from Shambhala Publications.

Golden Milk Recipe

This evening tonic is well known in the Yoga and Ayurveda traditions for a long list of benefits, namely as an anti-inflammatory, bone nourisher, and immune booster. This synergistic combination of turmeric, coconut, ginger, and pepper is supported by ancient knowledge and by modern research as well. You will find it not only healing, but comforting. If you think drinking an entire cup of milk, even warm and spiced, is a bit heavy, use half milk and half water.

All-Healing Golden Milk

1 cup whole cow’s milk or almond milk
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp coconut oil
Pinch of black pepper
½–1 tsp raw honey (optional)

In a small saucepan, warm the milk uncovered over medium-high heat for 2–4 minutes, or until you see steam rising out of the pan. Add all the other ingredients, except the honey, and whisk by hand or with an immersion blender until combined.

Pour into a mug, sweeten with honey (if using), and drink immediately.
 
 

-From Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell © 2018 by Kate O’Donnell. Photographs © 2018 by Cara Brostrom. R

eprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com

Quarantine Notes from Maine

One of the things I’ve been called in the last few years is a “thought leader.” I’m feeling compelled to do something (anything) during this quarantine and it seems appropriate to share some of the Ayurvedic perspective on immunity, community, and what the science might have for us in this time that may be helpful. This comes not from a desire to make money online and keep up my brand (which is a compelling ride I went on for a while let me tell you) but from a desire to offer something, to connect, to be a part of a shared journey where we are all in the same boat.

 I’ve heard from some of you in gratitude for the Ayurveda and Yoga in your lives as these systems offer support, structure, and how-tos for maintaining health in body and mind during a time where many of us have lost our touchstones, our routines, our livelihoods, and perhaps many other things we haven’t seen to yet. I’m not called to wax positive and put up a good front. I’m called to wax philosophical, but I’ll refrain and keep it practical and concise as that is always my promise to my readers and to my students. Let us look to how we can maintain health and avoid disease in this interesting time.

I have been tempted to cope with an excess of three things:

1.     Eating.

2.     Sleeping.

3.     Streaming and screening.

It would be easy to think now is the time to live the monk’s life and read those classical texts, meditate and do yoga for hours, and eat light spring foods. I’m left with my lack of desire for much of that as the weeks march on. That’s the hard part of quarantine! I need a little sensory stimulation over here! I’m reminded of Ayurveda’s general love of “balance”. Finding a balance of indulgence in coping vices, and steady efforts towards truly healthy routines, is what I’m aiming for. So here’s a few ideas from your thought leader here…

Notice how screen time effects you and keep it to x number of hours for A: work and B: TV. Keeping in mind the total number of hours. I’ve been balancing computer time with 30 minute walks in between sessions. Rain or shine. Nothing special just walk the neighborhood loop. Again. On a nice day, maybe drive to an outdoor haven and take an hour or two.

Stay active. Especially in the morning as Ayurveda describes this being the best time of day for detoxification of the body. Then hydrate. Do not start the screen time until after.

Unless you are exhausted and taking this time to recuperate (in which case sleep until you feel better), set an alarm and keep a consistent wake-up time. This will keep you from losing track, staying up too late and sleeping too late. Follow the cycles of the sun and I promise you will be healthier. Its natural.

Balance comfort foods with cleansing foods. If you are feeling anxious, it is common to have weird food cravings. Sweets, heavy meals, snacky things like chips and popcorn. Make an effort to also enjoy foods that cleanse the body such as broccoli, celery, leafy greens, fresh fruits, lemons. I’ve been into the white bean and asparagus soup. Be sure to sit down while eating and favor hot meals.

Ayurveda’s general tenet for avoiding disease lies in the ratio of strength of person (that’s your immunity) to strength of disease. There are a few things we can do to stay strong:

·      Exercise daily, just to 50% capacity. Keep the blood and the mucous moving.

·      Sip hot water and eat hot foods like soup (colds and flus do NOT like this, but they love cold drinks).

·      Get plenty of rest, at the appropriate time of night. Between 10PM-6AM is the magic time. Give or take, no need to be perfect about it.

·      Eat foods that are easy to digest. Meals not snacks, avoid overeating at one sitting. Overwhelming the digestion makes it harder for your body to fight off bugs.

Kind of common sensical I know, but in these strange times it is very easy for the mind to chase its own tail and things can seem confusing. I offer these reminders for myself as much as for you.

Hang in there,

Kate

Why I Started the Business and Practice of Ayurveda Professional Program

Have you spent a ton of money on Ayurvedic education and are looking for how to stay current with the practice in your own life, and to apply the knowledge to help others? I began an Ayurvedic Health Counselor Mentorship program because I graduated from an AHC school in the US ten years ago and felt terribly out-on-my-own immediately. I was teaching public classes and seeing clients and felt very unsure of how to handle some of my cases, how to keep myself organized in terms of booking, finances, and client intake forms and follow-ups. In addition, I observed the difficulty of my fellow students in staying involved with Ayurvedic practice, both personally and professionally, soon after graduating. One is so focused, and has so much support during school, then it’s suddenly over and practice starts getting real, really fast.

            This mentorship program spans 4 months of on-line calls where students can present cases for feedback, and get guidance and support for how to teach Ayurveda principles to the public, to build a client base, how to deal with money, and how to run the back end of an Ayurveda practice. You might present a workshop or training curriculum for review, or propose an idea for an online course and refine your approach with guidance from Kate, with ten years of practice consulting and teaching in a grass-roots style. In addition, you’ll gain a cohort of others building their practices just as you are, like-minded friends and colleagues to keep in touch with and bounce things off of.

            I’d love to support you on your journey, and there’s still room in the 2020 course. You can read more about it here: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/the-business-of-ayurveda

Early bird discount through Sept 15.

OM, Kate

Roasted Cauliflower & Kale Salad

The creation of this warm salad at home will transport you to a bistro, much like the one in New York City that inspired this recipe. That one had cheese and garlic on it, which I have replaced with tahini and hemp seeds, for a rajas-relieving version. What a nice way to eat cauliflower and kale!

Roasted Cauliflower & Kale Salad

1 small head cauliflower, chopped into small florets (about 5 cups)

1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsp ghee, melted
1 bunch kale, destemmed and chopped into small pieces (about 4 cups)
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
1 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp tahini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cauliflower in a mixing bowl, sprinkle with the turmeric and the salt, then toss with melted ghee. Transfer to a baking dish and roast for 25–30 minutes, tossing once after about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven when the florets are lightly browned.

Place the kale in the same mixing bowl, and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Massage the oil and juice into the kale until coated; the leaves should begin to soften. Let stand for 10 minutes or longer to soften to taste. If in doubt, massage the oil more vigorously into the kale, and let stand for a full 30 minutes.

Add the warm cauliflower, hemp seeds, and pepper to the kale. Toss. Transfer the mixture to serving bowls, and drizzle each bowl with tahini. Serve warm.

Kale Notes: Substitute baby kale if you’d like to cut out the massaging step and eat sooner.

Recipe excerpt from Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell © 2018 by Kate O’Donnell. Photographs © 2018 by Cara Brostrom. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com

Butternut Kitchari

This is a fall favorite of mine. The roasted squash stirs into the body of the kichari for a sweet, creamy, orange festival in a bowl. Make sure you cook this stew to an absolute puree for the best results.

Butternut Kitchari

1 small butternut squash
Coconut oil
¾ cup split mung beans, soaked overnight or at least a few hours
¾ cup basmati rice
4 cups water
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp turmeric
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp salt
¼ cup coconut, large flakes, for garnish

To roast the squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, rub a few drops of coconut oil onto the cut faces, and place face-up on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven.

In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of the water and the coconut milk to a boil on high heat. Set the other cup of water aside to add during cooking as needed.

Rinse the mung beans and rice well. Add the rice, beans, spice mix, turmeric, and ginger to the boiling water. Keep on high heat until the liquid boils again. Turn the heat down to low.
Scoop the squash out of the skin with a large spoon and add, in chunks, to the pot. The chunks will break down as it cooks. Simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes or more, adding the reserved 1 cup water as needed. It’s finished when the rice and mung beans are soft; the liquid is loose and soupy; and the butternut squash chunks are have fallen apart. Turn off the heat, and stir in the salt. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

In a frying pan, toast the coconut flakes on medium heat, stirring until they begin to brown. Remove from the heat immediately. Spoon the kichari into individual bowls, and garnish each bowl with 1 Tbsp coconut flakes.

Recipe excerpt from Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell © 2018 by Kate O’Donnell. Photographs © 2018 by Cara Brostrom.

Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com

Nourishing Carrot & Dal Soup

While I do love creamy carrot ginger soup, I rarely take the time to make it because I’m still hungry after I eat it. An all-carrot base is too light for me. This soup is my answer to the hunger challenge. The quick-cooking split mung beans add creamy texture as well as protein, and they are nourishing for all body types and all seasons.

Nourishing Carrot & Dal Soup

1 cup split mung beans, soaked in water overnight
1 Tbsp ghee
1 cup chopped carrot
4 peppercorns
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups water
½ cup almond, hemp, or cow’s milk
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish (optional)
Fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish (optional)

Drain and rinse the soaked mung beans.

Warm the ghee in a large saucepan. Sauté the carrots, peppercorns, and spice mix in the ghee until you can smell the spices, stirring to coat all pieces with ghee. Add the beans, and sauté for 1–2 minutes, stirring until coated. Add the water and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add the milk and salt and simmer 5 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth. You can also do this in a blender carafe, but the mixture must cool a bit first. The milk should help it cool.

Pour into bowls and garnish with freshly cracked pepper and fresh cilantro or parsley, if desired.

Note: Ginger-carrot lovers can simply add 1 Tbsp grated ginger to the cook pot.

Recipe excerpt rom Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell © 2018 by Kate O’Donnell. Photographs © 2018 by Cara Brostrom. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO

Chocolate Layered Ojas Bars

Dates, pecans, almonds, and coconut are all foods known to support ojas, the nutrient cream of the body. This substance is our storehouse of deep energy and immunity, and it is a major player in building energy, long-term health, and stability of mind. Here, dense, naturally fatty foods combine with spices to ensure that your digestive fires are lit and the nutrition makes its way into the deep tissues of your body. These grounding ojas bars are an excellent way to replenish your energy supply if you are drained from too much activity.

Chocolate Layered Ojas Bars

Base Layer
4 Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup raw pecans
½ cup raw almonds
2 Tbsp coconut oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger

Chocolate Layer
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup cacao powder
3 Tbsp maple syrup

Optional Toppings
2 Tbsp toasted coconut flakes
2 Tbsp chopped dried cranberries
2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Line the bottom of a 4 × 8-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse together the dates, pecans, almonds, 2 Tbsp coconut oil, salt, and Sweet Spice Mix until the mixture begins to stick together and form a ball. Press the date-nut mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Next, prepare the chocolate layer. Melt the coconut oil by standing the jar in hot water. In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup coconut oil, cacao, and maple syrup until smooth.

Working quickly, pour the chocolate coconut mixture over the base layer, tilting the pan from side to side so the chocolate is an even covering. Sprinkle with the topping of your choice (coconut flakes, dried cranberries, or slivered almonds). Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until very firm.

Remove the loaf and parchment from the pan, and using a sharp knife on a cutting board, cut the frozen treat into small squares. Refrigerate the squares between layers of parchment papers in a sealed container for up to 14 days.

For a decadent treat, eat one square at a time and enjoy!

Recipe excerpt from Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm Clear Mind by Kate O’Donnell © 2018 by Kate O’Donnell. Photographs © 2018 by Cara Brostrom. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com

What is a Fundamentals of Ayurveda Training?

Our fourth class at Boston Ayurveda School begins this Friday March 15. This course meets once each month for six months. We learn Ayurvedic theory, practice yoga, cooking, and create community that supports a healthy lifestyle. This 165-hr program is also the start of an Ayurvedic Health Counselor professional track, which requires an additional 500 hours. We are happy to be offering a professional training as well as continuing mentorship for our graduates. If you get started this March, you will have the option to continue on this fall, or next year.

It's kind of a new thing. It's about getting a basic foundation for understanding an epic, ancient wisdom-tradition. This amount of study helps one to see the big picture, and slowly build from there. The sister arts, yoga and ayurveda, are so vast, a practice so interconnected, learning about one helps you understand the other, and practicing them together in the daily life is a set-up for life-long success. Be introduced to the classic texts, and know there is a deep root to what you are learning. Know this root will continue growing in you at an appropriate pace.

The word training implies a focused time spent refining a specific activity. A 200-hr ayurveda training implies devoting 200 hours of your life to studying and practicing the tradition of ayurveda.

In a course of this length you will study things like dosha, sub-dosha, Sankhya philosophy, enough Sanskrit to pronounce things correctly, digestion, nutrition, and anatomy of the body according to Ayurvedic terminology. Example: the body has 7 tissue layers, fed by the digestive tract in this order

Rasa- plasma

Rakta- blood

Mamsa- muscle

Meda- fat

Asthi- bone

Majja- nerve

Shukra/Artava- reproductive

Therefore, if the reproductive tissue is deficient for some time, the nervous system, and then the bones will suffer. You might begin to understand connections like this in your body from participating in a Fundamentals of Ayurveda training, and you will learn tools for managing early states of imbalance. You will also learn to apply this language to personal yoga practice, and promote balance through pranayama and yoga.

More importantly, you will practice Ayurveda in your own life. You will be required to scrape your tongue, oil your skin, and do some breathing and movement techniques as close to everyday as you can get (what?? Scroll down for videos on scraping and oiling). You will be encouraged to live Ayurveda in your own way throughout the training, and you will be asked to log changes in your body and mind, and be counseled in how to understand these changes.

Example: You may realize that you have a deficiency in a tissue layer, and learn a few recipes for foods that will feed that layer. Then, you will cook it, and eat it, and see if you begin to feel a difference.

Please do not do yourself, or the tradition, the disservice of expecting to practice or teach Ayurveda professionally after 200 hours of experience. The very beginning level of practice, Ayurvedic Health Consultant, requires 650 hours of study, and like yoga, is only appropriate after taking time to allow the tradition to live inside you first. Adding the burden of professional practice before leaving space for true embodiment will create stress. I encourage you to consider a Fundamentals training an investment in your own health and realization. Should you desire further education, 200 hours of training can be applied to affiliate 650 hour programs in the US. The standardizing body for ayurvedic practice in the USA, NAMA is a good place to learn more about the profession.

You can find more info about upcoming programs in Boston here.

OM.

An Open Letter For The Community

Darshan

Students of both Ayurveda and Yoga will have studied, at least a little bit, the Shad Darshan. Shad means six, and this case, the darshans are ways of seeing, or philosophies. The thing to remember about philosophies on life is that none of them are “right” or “wrong” but maybe they are helpful in our quest to understand reality, or to make sense of the human experience somehow. It is this quest, in my own life, that fuels my study of Ayurveda and yoga. What interests me most in the past year or two is how the study and practice of these systems begins to change one’s point of view. I struggle to explain it, but I can say that I understand things about yoga and Ayurveda now, because I feel them. Maybe it just takes so many years before this starts to happen, its as though the practice opens the channels for the feeling, and then the information one might read in the classics means something, makes sense.

The word darshan pops up a lot while visiting Hindu temples. To have “darshan of Vishnu” for example, means you made it into the temple, close enough to make out the eyes of the statue. The eyes are sometimes jeweled, or painted brightly. The root of the word drsh (like Drishti, for the ashtangis) means to view. The sight of a deity in temple goes two ways: one sees holiness, and is seen by it. Like the relationship between a yoga teacher and student, or an Ayurveda practitioner and a client, there is the activity of being seen, as well as beholding. It is a holy thing. yoga and Ayurveda provide opportunities in my life on a daily basis to share this holiness. There is in being seen, and seeing simultaneously, a moment of absolute presence and significance. It’s the cosmic “here we are!” moment.

The direction I would like to go as a student and teacher is more of these moments, for everyone. Through the programs I’m designing this year, a combination of in-person and online activity, I intend to create community and opportunity to experience darshan of Ayurveda and yoga. To teach and to learn together in a way that changes us. With study and practice, evolution of the self is inescapable.

Social Media and Sattva

This summer, I took a sabbatical and I see even more clearly how the way of the social media keeps getting more demanding of those who rely on it to make a living. The amount of information and marketing out there is staggering. I don’t like to think of my peeps wading through daily feeds and seeing a glimpse of what I’m up to. A far cry from darshan! What I do like is to let you all know where and when and what, so we continue to connect with one another. But what I would like to change about how it’s working, is to send a quality newsletter- and know that my peeps will see it. I’d like to give you the opportunity to connect with me, my whens and wheres, and also my current contemplations on the sister sciences, without having to troll for it. In that effect, I will be upping my newsletter to monthly, and will try to keep it short. You can expect an original recipe, probably something I’m messing around with in my own kitchen, a deep thought or two, and of course announcements about upcoming events and things like my next project, The Sattvic Living Institute. I’ll be releasing information and opportunities a little at a time over the next year or so. Please stay connected by signing up for my newsletter.

Sacred Cyberspace

In the November newsletter, I’ll be launching an experiment in keeping you all in touch with each other, to have a place where you know you are not the only one in your sphere working the yoga and Ayurveda…a place to be uplifted and inspired by your community, your peers, when you need it most and a place to share your wins and helpful hints with people who you know will appreciate it. We unveil a private space for all Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook enthusiasts, for past cleansers, Boston Ayurveda School grads, and (hopefully) for you, in a closed facebook group Sacred Cyberspace. I do hope to make this a sacred cyberspace. Until such time as we find a place that is more sattvic than Facebook, we are going to house it there. However, I want to be clear about our intentional use of social media here. We want to connect you to each other. You can inspire each other simply by sharing what you are already doing, the ways that you have already made Ayurveda part of your life. Sharing your questions and your kitchen messes can create profound community. I know, because you inspire me. I see what you are doing and I am inspired. In this group we are not constantly producing new content to market ourselves to the world of social media’s evolving trends for attention.

Stay tuned for the link to the Sacred Cyberspace for Everyday Ayurveda closed facebook group.

OM!

Kate