Guest Blogger: Stacey Adams
Photo (c) Stacey Adams
Happy Meatless Monday and
Veterans Day or Remembrance Day. Today’s guest blogger is Stacey Adams, a
Florida licensed massage therapist, herbalist, mom and natural health blogger. She's here to share about
the ancient Hindu healing system of Ayurveda, food's relationship to healing and a vegan vegetarian recipe to
help us apply it. - BYH
The goal of Ayurveda is to live a healthy and happy
life that is in line with an individual's unique constitution. This is done
through diet. As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat."
Ayurveda takes this one step further. The teachings decree that not only is the
physical body affected by what is consumed, but so are the dispositions of the
mind, emotions and spirit.
When referring to food from an Ayurvedic stand-point, the first
thing that is considered is the taste experienced on the tongue, or
"rasa." There are six tastes: sweet, sour, pungent, salty, bitter and
astringent. The doshas have certain tastes dominant to each nature. All six
tastes should be incorporated into each meal, as it assists to balance the
whole. All three doshas are found in all constitutions. It is the proportions
of each taste that must be adjusted for the dominance of doshas in each person.
Another thing considered in the Ayurvedic diet is the heating or
cooling qualities of food, or "virya." This consideration is not only
important to balance the doshas themselves, but also important when considering
the season in which food is being eaten. Consumption of more cooling foods
during the heated days of summer, and warming foods during the cold nights of
winter just makes sense.
One more quality considered for food by Ayurveda are the sensory
or tactile qualities of food, or "guna". Whether a food is calming or
stimulating, light or heavy, dry or moist, (among many others) can determine
whether that food is going to have a positive or negative effect on the
constitution. (Tiwari, pp. 57-63) All things considered, there still are some
foods that are generally considered to be Tri-doshic when eaten upon occasion
by anyone. This generally means imbalance is less likely to occur for any of
the doshas if certain things are eaten. It is for this tri-doshic stand-point that
I am providing the following recipe. Hope you like it as much as all the
different doshas did in this house!
Pan-tastic
Potato Supper
Photo (c) Stacey Adams
- for a
chilly fall or winter day-
Yield : about 4 servings
Ingredients:
2 Cups Fresh Green Beans -
Snapped into bite-size pieces.
Steam-cook lightly, but still maintain firmness and bright green color.
4 medium red or white
potatoes - Boil these until soft enough to pierce, but still firm.
Drain, but set aside 1/3 cup of the potato water.
Cut potatoes into bite-sized cubes.
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon sunflower
kernels
2 Tablespoon canola or
sunflower oil
2 pinches sea salt
1/2 Tablespoon lemon zest
pepper
1 Tablespoon ground sumac
1 Tablespoon ghee or coconut
oil
Instructions:
In a large, tall-sided pan,
(a wok works great!) heat 1 Tablespoon oil, salt, parsley and sunflower kernels
and saute for a couple minutes.
Add in the beans, lemon zest
pepper and potato water. Stir well. Simmer for another couple of minutes.
Add the cubed potatoes,
remaining 1 Tablespoon oil left and the ghee or coconut oil. Mix everything
together, coating the potatoes well. After 5 to 7 minutes, potatoes should be
cooked through, but still firm.
Sprinkle sumac all over and mix once more.
Serve warm and enjoy! :)
Stacey Adams is a Bodyworker, Healer, Herbal formulator, Perpetual
student and Mom. She is also the owner and operator of The Woman of the Woods
Health Portal. Connect with Stacey on
G+.
Source: Tiwari, Maya. Ayurveda
A Life of Balance
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