Bold, Spicy, Indian Cuisine Book Review

I’ve worked at Kripalu (the largest yoga center in the country) for seven years, so I have enjoyed my share of Indian food. I love the flavors of India – spicy curries, sweet-piquant chutneys, yogurt and lots of creative plant-based proteins. Indian cuisine in its original form is naturally healthful – filled with plants (often vegetarian) and aromatic spices.
I also love the work of the American Diabetes Association (bias alert – they published Yoga & Diabetes, which I co-authored). They have put together a collection of beautiful cookbooks that reflect a fresh range of ways of cooking and eating for health. If you have not yet looked at their growing collection – check them out! You don’t have to have a diabetes diagnosis to enjoy them – they are simply accessible healthful fare for everyone.
May Abraham Fridel’s Indian Cuisine Diabetes Cookbook has an authenticity and accessibility that are the hallmarks of a great cookbook. It practically smells like cumin – must be the beautiful red-brown of the two-color interior and beautiful four-color photos of select dishes. If you love the smells and tastes of India food and want to bring a bit of that into your own kitchen, this is a book for you.
The book begins with an overview of the philosophy behind India cooking, including the ancient nature-based wisdom of Ayurveda, a sister science of yoga.
There is a Spice Guide, a Pantry List, and some How-To Recipes to introduce you to the staples of healthful Indian Cuisine.
This is the book I will consult the next time I make Dal (spiced lentils). There are three easy tasty recipes and tons of advice to guide me. There’s a healthy version of my favorite Indian dish, Palak Paneer (cheese in spinach sauce) – this one uses tofu instead of cheese and skips the heavy cream that often turns that healthy sounding dish into something that while filled with nutrients is also calorie-dense. There is a chapter on street food and one on elegant dishes, a chapter on curries, a chapter on grilling, a chapter on Indian flatbreads, one pot meals, sides including slaws and salads, and drinks (I love me some lassi – India’s yogurt smoothie).
Ms. Friedel is a food literacy advocate, philanthropist and the founder and CEO of an organic spice company (www.passionforspices.com). She clearly knows of what she speaks when it comes to the flavors and spices of India.
I’m grateful for her offering, happy to add it to my cookbook shelf and look forward to continuing to sample and to learn about Indian cuisine.

Fantastic Homemade Fries

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Herb Pesto Recipe: Wild Plant Medicine

Pesto is a base recipe for food as medicine. The herbs you use for pesto are concentrated sources of health-enhancing nutrients. Through the seasons, you can make several batches for use on cooked vegetables, grains, really anything and everything.

Pesto is also a great recipe to begin exploring a little wild plant medicine.

When I speak of wild plants, I’m talking about plants you collect from your (unsprayed with chemicals!) lawn or the edge of a forest. I’m talking about dandelion greens, garlic mustard, mugwort and the like. Many of these wild plants are strongly flavored – I think of them as the wild game of the plant world – and just a little wild food does a human good. So, in pesto, I will mix familiar herbs like basil with a bit of the stronger wild stuff like dandelion or garlic mustard, depending upon what’s tender and not overwhelming (dandelions, for example, get more and more bitter as the season progresses).

Here is a base recipe for pesto I use and modify based on what’s available. Sometimes I use cheese, often not (I love to eat a lot of it, and cheese is not the most health-enhancing food for me, so I use just a smidgen). I can use creamy pine nuts, toasted walnuts, or sweet almonds depending on the herbs I have, the flavors I’d like to play with, and what I’m hankering for.
Here it is:

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Herbal Pesto Recipe

Pesto is a base recipe for food as medicine. The herbs you use for pesto are concentrated sources of health-enhancing nutrients.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

Keyword Basil, Herbal Water, Recipes, Plant Medicine, Pesto

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 1/2 cups fresh leafy green herbs basil, cilantro, thyme, parsley or your favorite
1/2 cup wild savory herbs garlic basil, dandelion
2 garlic cloves peeled and center woody section removed
1/2 cup nuts or seeds pepitas, walnuts, almonds
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Pour oil into a blender, add garlic, nuts, and herbs in thirds and blend to that lovely pesto loose paste-like consistency.
Add salt.

Notes

Classic pesto contains basil and pine nuts and a half-cup of Parmesan in the above recipe. Use your imagination and what you have on hand. Variations are endless!

Remember, when it comes to wild food and botanical medicines – safety first!

Asian Chili Beef Recipe

Asian Chili Beef

You won’t find many beef recipes on my site, but my Asian Chili Beef is a good one! Red meat has been independently associated with an increased risk for cancer. But if you choose a clean high-quality beef, like grass-fed tenderloin, for an occasional meal, it is likely (though we don’t really know because the studies haven’t been done) that you’ll minimize your risk while benefiting from the nutrient-richness of beef.

The plants in this recipe – the cilantro, chili, onions, and coconut, all dance nicely with beef (in flavor and nutrition) in a sweet-and-spicy Asian flavor marinate that becomes a sauce. So, in these last chilly nights of late winter, as we wait for warmer months to come, here’s a way of having a rich and flavorful meal that is healthful too.

If this recipe appeals but beef is too rich for you, you can use the same marinade for tofu, fish, or chicken. These will all cook much faster, but will still give you the sweet-and-spicy Asian tang. Yum!

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Asian Chili Beef Recipe

My Asian Chili Beef is a way of having a rich and flavorful meal that is healthful too. The plants in this recipe – the cilantro, chili, onions, and coconut all dance nicely with beef (in flavor and nutrition) in a sweet-and-spicy Asian flavor marinate that becomes a sauce.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Soup