Stop Looking and Start Finding

I rarely find items when I felt pressured or anxious about them.  One time, I was about to go for a chiropractic appointment but I couldn’t locate my car keys; I was frantically looking and looking and I ended up finally calling and canceling my appointment.  A little while later when I stopped looking, I found my keychain resting in the deadbolt of the back door.  From this experience and many others, I have come to acknowledge that the anxiety that we feel hinders our intuition and sight for finding misplaced items.  Have you ever tried to remember someone’s name?  For me it comes so much easier when I deliberately stop thinking about that person.  Also, when I really want to figure something out or I want a solution fast, thinking about the problem over and over does not help with the solution; it isn’t until I change the subject and do something enjoyable and relaxing that I find an answer. There’s a reason why people tell you to “sleep on it.”

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.       
~Irish Proverb

Indian Cooking made easy!

A typical elaborate Indian meal will consist of dal (soup), subzee (vegetable dish), spiced rice, spiced yogurt, and chapaties (flat bread).  Authentic Indian cooking style takes quite a bit of time and requires many ingredients.  Over the years, I have taken typical North Indian cuisine and simplified it so that it is healthy, tasty, and easy.  Below are a few dishes to get started with:

Gajar Subzee (Curried Carrots)

14 med size carrots (chopped in small cubes)

2 inch ginger chunk (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 T Safflower oil (or of your choice)

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 cup water

Dry roast the mustard seeds in a wide medium stainless steel pot.  When they start to pop, add the ginger, salt and oil.  When the ginger is browned, add chopped carrots and turmeric powder and cook with the lid for about 10 min on medium heat.  Now add the water and cook for another 10-15 mins without the lid, stirring occasionally. Serves 5-7. 

Split Mung Bean Dal (Soup)

1 cup split mung beans (or use split yellow lentils)

5 cups water

5 garlic cloves (minced)

3 green onions (minced)

1.5 tsp sea salt

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 green chili pepper, chopped (optional)

1 T extra virgin olive oil

  

Wash and rinse the split mung beans.  Add them to a pot with the water, garlic, sea salt, turmeric, and chili.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then let it simmer for about 45 minutes or until cooked.  Cooking time varies with different altitudes. After it is cooked, add green onions and let it sit with lid for 5 minutes.  Before serving add olive oil.  Optional: garnish with chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice if you like.  Serve over rice or enjoy as a soup. Serves 4-5.

How to prepare kichari (mung bean recipe for all seasons)

Kichari is a wonderful vegetarian protein-rich dish cooked in many Indian households and in many different ways.  My recipe of choice is given below; the ginger, garlic, onions, lime, cilantro and spices in this recipe help the beans to become more digestible and the tumeric adds the healing anti-inflammatory qualities.  Kichari is to be eaten fresh and not recommended as a left over.  In Ayurveda, fresh foods are considered to be full of prana, the life sustaining energy; when cooked foods are stored, prana is significantly reduced.  When a fruit or vegetable is eaten immediately after it is harvested, the taste is very flavorful, vibrant and energizing; this is because it is full of prana.  If you would like more energy from your food, then definitely eat foods that are freshly prepared.  Here’s my very simple kichari recipe:

1 ½ cups whole mung beans

½ cup basmati rice

10 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 inch long ginger chunk, finely chopped

½ onion, medium size chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

1  chopped jalapeno (optional if you like spicy!)

1 tsp tumeric powder

2 tsp sea salt.

12 cups water

Garnish:

3 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil or ghee (clarified butter)

½ bunch chopped cilantro

juice of fresh lime

Boil mung beans in the water for 10 mins.  Add rice, garlic, ginger, onion, and spices and cook another 30 mins at med-low or until cooked; then turn off burner, add green onions and let it sit with cover for the last 10 mins.  Before serving, garnish with olive oil, juice of fresh lime and chopped cilantro. (For added flavor and digestive enhancers: Dry roast one teaspoon of cumin or fennel seeds in a separate pan, and add them to the pot at any time.)  Makes 6 servings.

How to have a healthier spring! a few tips to reduce kapha

According to ayurveda, the season of spring is an excellent time for cleansing the body of excess “kapha,” or the earth and water energies.  Excess kapha can aggravate allergies, asthma, increase fat, slow digestion and increase colds and flus.  Decreasing the kapha will reduce the heaviness out of the body so one can feel lighter and energetic.  In Ayurveda, “like attracts like” and “opposites balance or decrease”; therefore kapha is decreased by fire, air and space or foods that warming and light in quality.

Some tips to decrease kapha:

1. Drink plenty hot water with a little juice of fresh lemon or lime.
2. Use more ginger tea and or other herbal teas. 
3. Use more fresh ginger and juice of fresh lemon or lime in meals.  
4. Eat freshly prepared food and mostly fresh vegetables (lightly cooked).
5. Cook with spices such as tumeric, cumin, fennel, coriander and black pepper.
6. Garnish with fresh herbs, such as cilantro, mint, chives, basil or parsley.
7. Reduce dairy, heavy foods, cold foods, cold drinks, left overs, desserts, fried and processed food.

A great website for learning about ayurveda is jiva.com.

Want to try some radish tops?

Our local farmers market is now open and the veggies are bright, energizing and delicious! Even the green tops of the radishes looked so good that I decided to cook them for a change along with eating the yummy crisp radishes.  I sauteed a few ginger slices in a little olive oil, added the chopped radish green tops and cooked them for 1-2 minutes; garnished them with sea salt, fresh lemon juice and some roasted sesame seeds.  They were quite tasty that I would definitely prepare them again.

How to treasure moments and find a treasure too!

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.  Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”  Joseph Campbell

Many years ago, I found myself shuffling through too many interiors of antique shops. I was on vacation in Jogjakarta, Indonesia, with my hubby, and he had suddenly become obsessed with Indonesian pottery.  As I was not passionate about antiques at the time, the shopping was an absolute bore!  By the time we were in the fourth shop, I realized that I had to quickly develop a strategy to overcome my unsatisfying shopping experience because I was definitely not interested in exploring the wild streets of Jogjakarta alone in the evening.  

The idea I decided on was to appreciate each item one by one and thoroughly observe the color, shape and style of each item.  Rather than breezing over everything, I did make a sincere effort to make a note of each item and its details, and before long I was enjoying the process.  I was about half way through the store when I came across a pleasant surprise; there was an interesting antique statue among the pottery.  Looking closer, I realized it was a beautiful marble statue of Guru Nanak, a teacher of universal truth and founder of Sikhism.  I knew that since statues of Sikh Saints were almost never seen due to an objection to idol worship, this was a rare find!  I now had my own antique to take home!  So the next time you take the extra energy to appreciate, you too, may find some wonderful treasures before your eyes! :-)

“For those who are willing to make an effort, great miracles and wonderful treasures are in store.”  Isaac Bashevis Singer

How to prepare Green Onion Tofu 


Tofu (Bean Curd) - a wonderful vegetarian superfood rich with protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin E. 


1 Pound Tofu
1 Bunch Green Onions
2 Inch piece of Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Cut the Tofu into little strips, and do the same with your green onions and ginger. Make sure you have washed the green onions and chopped the ends off, and make sure you have washed the ginger and peeled it before chopping. Add the green onion and ginger pieces to a pan (preferably cast-iron) and cook for a minute with the vegetable oil and salt. Then add your tofu strips. Stir constantly, try not to let the tofu stick. Once the dish is cooked enough, the tofu will have browned and the onions and ginger will have shrunk and browned also. Serve fresh and enjoy!