🌶 The chili

Is spring a good time for chili peppers. Well, they are sharp and dry which opposes the damp and cool spring weather nicely. They melt mucous and can speed up a sluggish gut, as well as aid circulation.

Thing is the chili is not a very moderate friend. It’s an all it nothing kind of thing. If we take the so often followed road of more-is-better we can end up in a pickle. The chili is strong medicine and can be enjoyed in small amounts in damp cool weather it doesn’t need to be taken daily.

My first spring in Maine I completely overdid it. Then dealt with aggravated heat in the summer in the form of PMS, skin blemishes, and the occasional night sweat. Ah, my friend the chili your medicinal powers are not to be underestimated! I will be more moderate this year 😇. Will reach for ginger and cumin instead.

SPRING BREAKFAST RECIPE ALERT!

What to do when oatmeal feels heavy?? I’ve got you! How about a baked grapefruit?

2 grapefruits, halved

1/2 tsp each turmeric and cinnamon

2 tsp raw honey (opt)

1. Set oven at 400. Place grapefruit halves in a baking dish, face-up.

2. Sprinkle with spices. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Serve warm with 1 teaspoon of raw honey drizzled on top of each.

Rtusandhi = climatic transition

Ayurveda describes a two-week period for this gradual transition, but honestly in New England, I find its more like a month of the old back-and-forth.

A spring “cleanse” doesn’t have to include dieting measures, but can be used more as a time set aside to observe, and flow with, this transition.  To take stock of habits, to recharge, to refresh.

Cravings change, and we notice. Our gravitation towards external activities and relationship to exercise are likely to shift. It’s a natural and beautiful thing to flow with the seasons, and we’ll be doing it together over a ten day period in the Spring Community Cleanse this April. Yay Ayurveda for teaching us how!

BARLEY!

BARLEY! Spring Food Favorite! This time of year, the tastes start changing. This month, I’ll be posting about some of those late winter/ early spring transition foods and how to use them.

Barley is a dry grain, but hearty when soaked and cooked well with plenty of water. It has a cleansing action on the bladder and uterus, and is a go-to for congestion. Find it hulled (with the indigestible husk removed) or “pearled” which means its been polished and had a lot of the bran removed. This makes it less fibrous, which can be a good move for Vata type guts (personally, I digest it better), and it does retain some insoluble fibers still. If you digest it well, go for hulled barley.

Soak overnight and boil with 4 parts water the next day and some digestive spices like ginger and cumin to make a spring kanjee like you see here.

I spent a few long trips in India in my early twenties traveling around

I spent a few long trips in India in my early twenties traveling around, pretty aimlessly, but quite sure that I wasn’t going to buy into the cultural norms in my own country and get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids. Of course, I didn’t have any life experience to give me a context for finding what I did want. I was lost.

Know the feeling??? I’d love to see your story in the comments below.

In the preservation of health, Ayurveda takes into account not only the time of day and time of year, but also the time of life a person is in. Learning this concept in my late 20s revolutionized the way I thought about my life.

Certain aspects, qualities, and even doshas are prevalent at different life stages. The Vedic view of life clearly describes four stages of evolution, which dovetail with the four components of life: physical, mental, senses, and soul.

I find this life-flow invaluable in understanding the bigger picture of the arc of a lifetime and not getting stuck in the small stuff, or fostering imbalances unawares.

Bananas - eat them alone or with other sweet fruits such as dates. And better not with food.

Because bananas are at the same time cool, heavy, dense, sweet, and slimy they have very similar qualities to Kapha! The banana is notoriously slow to digest- which is why people with strong appetites and athletes gravitate towards them as a balancing food.

The banana is part of why THE SMOOTHIE gets such a bad rep in modern Ayurveda. Learn to make your drinks without bananas, and your stomach will thank you. I had to undergo this transition many years ago, and I don’t even miss them in my occasional smoothies now. I certainly don’t miss the banana burps. Use chia seeds to make it thick instead! You’re welcome.

Try having the banana when you are very hungry, by itself. Then an hour or two later, have a meal.

Food combining is such a popular topic, and one that I’ve noticed causes a lot of anxiety.

Let’s remember this: stress and anxiety about what we are eating can be THE MOST important causative factor for sub-par digestion.

This pithy sloka from the classic texts tell us hey, its ok! Get some daily movement and preserve the agni. Then, mixing up some weird stuff in the belly ain’t no big thang.

Stay tuned as I’ll be posting about food combining for a bit...

Who’s baking??

This is one of the most often shared baking recipes from my books

Don’t forget about these carrot ginger muffins from Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Clam, Clear Mind. Wheat flour-free and veggie packed. Kids like them too.

INSTANTPOT RECIPE ALERT!

This Red Pumpkin Dal recipe flow is adapted from #everydayayurvedacookbook for the instantpot. It’s a favorite of mine and so easy when you put it in the pot in the AM, then eat when you have the lunch break. Enjoy!

Red Pumpkin Dal

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentil or split mung beans

3 cups water

1 can coconut milk

2-3 cups cubed winter squash (any and all!).

1-2 tbsp seasonal spice mix (see my cookbooks for more!)

Direction:

1.      Pressure cook for 5 minutes.

2.      Hand-blend if you want it real smooth.

3.      Serve with a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

Have you adapted any of my recipes for your IP? Please share so everyone can benefit!

Yay for Ayurveda!

My tendency has always been cold turkey but I have to say as the years go by, it’s the ones that came slow and careful that are still with me. For example, my digestion continues to improve in tiny increments every year. The first five years after parasitic infections were serious. Now I enjoy a sense that things are on a general upward trajectory, with wise choices.

Yay for Ayurveda.