Let’s talk lentils. Easy and quick to cook (20-30 minutes and don’t need soaking like other beans and pulses), lentils are the short cut to more plant protein in your diet. Nutrient dense, they are also rich in fiber, folate, and other nutrients. They are low digestive gas-producers relative to other beans and pulses. I’ve heard that if you drop them into boiling water they produce less gas but I have not yet put that to the test. I also like to use a thumb-sized piece of the seaweed kombu in the water – it adds minerals and reduces gas.
Lentils absorb the flavors in which they are cooked, so what you cook them with is key to what you have in the end; tasteless mush or tasty mush. It’s all in the seasoning.
Here’s a recipe I developed over the holidays, using French green lentils, but feel free to substitute any lentil you can get your hands on.
10 min to prep
40 min to cook
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lentils (I used French green lentils)
1 1/2 Tbsp ghee
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped, or 1/2 c tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp cumin or curry spice
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
3-4 c water
Directions
Place chopped onion and ghee in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add other ingredients and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low and simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are soft.
Makes about 3 cups.
Serve warm with rice, steamed vegetables, or roasted winter squash.
Would you like a recipe that can, in one fell swoop, transition you joyfully to a more plant-based diet? Cashew cream just might be that recipe. It is a fantastic vegan substitute for dairy cream and creamy cheeses like ricotta or cream cheese. It makes a killer alfredo sauce for over vegetables. It is absolutely divine in a lasagna, as a whole or partial substitute for ricotta. Best of all, it is very very easy to make (though you do need to soak the nuts overnight).
Whip up a batch and you’ll see what I mean.
Cashew Cream Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
water for soaking
1/2-3/4 c additional water
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper
Directions
Soak cashews in water overnight. Drain and rinse. Place all ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth and the desired consistency is reached. Use less water if you are aiming for a thicker cheesier consistency, and more water if you are aiming for a creamier consistency.
Variations: add garlic, ginger, scallions or other herbs and spices to taste.
Enjoy!
My Ayurvedic brothers and sisters may balk at a raw lemony kale salad (though acid in lemons does “cook”) in winter, but how much I love this salad in this season reminds me that we do need to hold food rules more lightly than hard-and-fast. In Ayurveda, winter is the time of warming stews and cooked vegetables, which makes perfect sense. I have found, in my own experimentation of Ayurveda, that tending my constitution with food works best when I enjoy the whole foods I’m drawn to and then use spices to address my constitution.
For all nutritional guidance, each of us is one point on a spectrum for any particular tenet; we will each react a little differently. Ultimately, to find what works for you, when you encounter a guideline that gives you that ping of recognition “this might be good for me!” see how you feel when you really practice it. You might use a food journal to connect what you eat with how you are feeling and reacting. If you are puzzled by the process, happily there is an army of professionals who can help you out (including me).
This salad always bursts with life, color, and nutrition. In this season of sugar, here’s an antidote!
Lemony Kale Salad Recipe
Ingredients
1 bunch lacinata kale, sliced thin
1/2 orange or red pepper, cubed
2 scallions, sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
For the dressing
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp thyme
1 small clove garlic
salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a small jar and shake to blend. Place the sliced kale in a bowl, add a few Tbsp of dressing and yes! MASSAGE. Give it a good rub, a good toss. Or, let it sit in the dressing while you do the dishes, draw a bath or otherwise occupy yourself. Then add remaining salad ingredients and the rest of the dressing. Toss and serve.
Enjoy.
Annie
Sometimes you want something a little bit more or a little bit different than peanut butter on your apple. Here’s a spread that is sweet and gingery and delicious – Peanut Ginger Coconut Spread. Use it on fruit, with raw or blanched vegetables, or spread it on your sprouted grain bread in the morning.
Sometimes you want something a little bit more or a little bit different than peanut butter on your apple. Here’s a spread that is sweet and gingery and delicious. Use it on fruit, with raw or blanched vegetables, or spread it on your sprouted grain bread in the morning.
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack
Equipment
1 Medium Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
1/2cupgood quality organic peanut butter - smooth or chunky, your choice
6 or 7ouncesPlain Greek yogurt - I used 2%
1Tbsphoney
1tspvanilla
2Tbspfresh gingerdiced
1tspturmeric
1/4cupgrated coconutunsweetened
Instructions
Blend all ingredients together in a bowl. Spread on things. Eat.
As the cooling breeze of fall blows through, it’s time to spice things up. Not only do spices add a lovely kick of flavor to fall and winter fare, but spices are filled with phytonutrients; health-enhancing compounds that give us the immune boost we need through the transition to colder months. Adding a little sweet, a little heat and a bit of spice to nuts does a body good energetically this season as well. May this sweet & spicy nuts recipe warm you inside and out. I use these nuts to top warm wilted salads, on soups, or over warm fruit for a nutrient-dense treat. It would also be delicious on top of my Vegan Maple Custard recipe.
This morning I did my seasonal overhaul of cooking ingredients – putting away the cooling flavors of summer and bringing spices and heating ingredients an easier reach from the stove. I went to the grocery to gather spices – cayenne, cinnamon, mace, allspice, nutmeg – the flavors of fall. It’s one way I honor the wheel of the year, ever turning.
Sweet & Spicy Nuts Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups raw nuts and/or seeds – I used pepitas (pumpkin seeds), almonds, cashews and a few Brazil nuts
1 1/2 Tbsp grass-fed organic unsalted butter or ghee
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, ground
1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
Directions
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and spices. Place nuts and butter in a skillet over moderate heat, stirring for about 2 minutes until butter is melted and covers the nuts. Add the spice mixture (beware those of you who know two heat settings – high or off – this can burn quickly – I know of what I speak!). Sauté on medium heat until the sugar caramelizes – 5-8 minutes. Transfer nuts to a plate or sheet of foil to cool. Store in an airtight container and use on salads, soups or cooked fruit (like a baked apple) for dessert.
This is, of course, a recipe you can adapt to include your favorite warming spices. Please share your variations, and enjoy the season!
This month in the newsletter I wrote about putting summer’s bounty by for colder months, and I also wrote a brief piece on how to use herbal preparations safely. Herbs, herbal tinctures, flower essences and other botanicals can be wonderful allies for healing, but like any medicinal substance, different preparations are of varying quality and composition and can cause unexpected side effects. Here are a few thoughts, and suggestions for staying safe as you explore.
The Wise Herbalist: please be safe
After last month’s newsletter on making flower essences, I had a thoughtful exchange with a reader concerned about the toxicity of buttercup. Flower essences don’t contain any of the plant matter (they operate like homeopathy), so not to worry. But, since I have been writing more about the use of herbs and interest is certainly growing, I thought I’d give you a little overview of herbal preparations and how they operate so as to keep you nice & safe as you venture into this newly revived mode of healing.
You can think of herbal healing as ranging from gross physical (food, pharmaceuticals and infusions like teas operate on this level) to more subtle mind-body like tinctures, where plant matter is placed in alcohol for a number of weeks, and plant oils, where plant matter is placed into an oil for a number of weeks and the oil then carries some plant matter. Then there are those that operate on the subtle energetic level (homeopathic preparations and flower essences, for example).
For preparations that work on the physical level, it’s important that you stick with things that are edible and medicinal. So, in the case of buttercup, you don’t want to make an infusion tea with it nor eat it, because it is not edible – it contains compounds that can be toxic. Same with tinctures – stick with medicinal and culinary herbs for these. Flower essences don’t contain actual plant matter – they are energetic preparations – you can make an essence out of any plant and you won’t have a toxicity reaction to it unless you have a reaction to the carrier (often brandy, but you can also use vinegar).
Now, let’s talk about essential oils. These are wonderful but very condensed and strong extractions of the oils of plants. I have an essential oil diffuser in my office with a stress ease mixture and it works like a charm. Essential oils can damage your skin if you apply them directly and many people are sensitive. They can also react with your skin when exposed to the sun – I’ve had an instance of this and it wasn’t pretty!
I’ve been giving herb walks at Kripalu and interest in wild edibles and herbs is really growing. If you have an interest in wild edibles, take your time and stick to things like dandelion, plantain and garlic mustard that are common and safe, then slowly and safely expand your knowledge from there. Like anything, there are things to be aware of, but if you approach nature with respect and curiosity (and a few of the many good references), it will be a wonderful exploration.
Enjoy the season in fun and deliciousness,
Annie
Annie B. Kay MS, RDN, E-RYT500
