According to Ayurveda, Spring (kapha season) is the time to start incorporating more fresh greens and raw vegetables into our daily meal plans.  But if your digestive fire (agni) is low, you’re a vata type, or have had increased stress…….you may have difficulty digesting and assimilating these types of foods.  Raw foods do pack a powerhouse of enzymes and nutrients, but they also require a good strong digestive fire to break them down.

So how can you increase your greens and aide your digestion at the same time?  This recipe fits the bill!  Loaded with lots of digestive spices, and made into a soup, the vegetables are easy to digest because the blender has already broken them down into an easy to digest form, but also retains the nutrients.

And, it tastes delicious……isn’t that why we love to eat?  We love to stimulate our senses and taste buds!

Green Curry Soup

Servings: Two
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups filtered or spring water

1 cup tightly packed chopped spinach

1 cup chopped broccoli stalks

1/2 cup chopped leeks

1 avocado

1 carrot

4 – 6 soaked sundried tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp miso paste

1 tsp himalayan or celtic sea salt

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp cumin

2 tsp tumeric

1 tbsp tamari or nama shoyu

1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Preparation:
Blend the water, spinach, broccoli and leeks in a blender until smooth.  (I recommend a Vita-mix blender, for the best textured soup.  Visit: https://secure.vitamix.com/acb/stores/4/?COUPON=06-004346&store=1 ).

Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. You can adjust the spices to taste.

This can be served chilled in the summer or in winter it’s nice to warm it up a little. If you are warming it on the stove, to preserve the enzymes, keep it on the lowest heat, stir constantly and make sure it doesn’t go over body temperature by dipping your finger in. It should be just warm, not steaming hot.

I like to garnish with a dab of organic plain yogurt or flaxseed oil and top with some crunchy kale chips.

Raw sauces and dressings are a great way to add flavor to your meals and they are packed with vital nutrients and enzymes.  Just what we need to rev up our taste buds and meatbolism after a long winter.  These are some of my newest favorites.

Creamy Red Pepper Miso Dressing

There are many reasons to eat a local and seasonal diet.  It supports local farmers and also what is most easily digested and assimilated by your body at that specific time of year.   This results in better, more complete nutrition, fueling your body with the nutrients it needs.

This recipe is perfect for Fall…….I just happened to have an abundant harvest of Butternut squash from my garden so it is the perfect time to find new ways to use it.  Of course, here in Western New York even though it is closing in on Vata season, we’ve had a lot of rain which makes it appropriate to balance Kapha needs as well.  The seasonings can be adjusted to your “dosha” (constitution)……Kaphas would most likely want to add a little fresh ginger. 

For many Vata types it is difficult to tolerate “raw” foods, but this recipe gives the benefit of raw, living foods with an abudance of enzymes, without straining “agni”, your digestive fires.  It provides the sweetness that balances Vata,   without processed or refined sugars.  Kapha types could even add a little cayenne or chili pepper for a spicey twist.

The variations are limitless.   Have Fun, Play with your food!

Butternut Squash Cookies

4 Cups peeled Butternut Squash, chopped into medium sized chunks

1 cup raisins

juice of one orange

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons raw honey  

Blendthe chopped squash in a food processor and transfer to a bowl.  Blend the raisins and orange juice in a food processor and add to the squash mixture.  Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix thouroughly.  Drop by tablespoon fulls onto a lined dehydrator tray.  Flatten each cookie till they are 1/4 inch thick.  Set dehydrator to 100 degrees and leave in for 12-15 hours.

Processing note:  The first time I made this recipe I didn’t own a Vita-mix  blender so I  processed everything in my food processor.  I had a small Ronco dehydrator, without a thermostat or timer.  Don’t let the appliances stop you from trying this recipe.  Although I highly recommend investing in your health with a Vita-mix blender, ( http://snipurl.com/sbrdt ) and an Excalibur dehydrator, you can still successfully make the recipe without these items.  I lined the Ronco dehydrator with parchment paper.  Processing the foods in the Vitamix makes for a very smooth and thin mixture, so I added some ground golden flax seeds to thicken the mixture.  When processing in a food processor it makes for a chunkier “dough” and a chewier cookie.  Either way they are delicious and nutritious.  The Vita-mix and Excalibur allow for the highest quality and nutritional integrity in living whole food nutrition.

“Summer” Teriyaki Noodles       
A light and cooling summer recipe using zucchini for the “noodles”, instead of pasta, you’ll love it!  It’s quick, easy and yummy.  If you haven’t tried any living, raw food recipes, this is a great one to start with.  It’s the perfect blend of flavors and nutrients to keep you cool this summer, but well fueled for fun and activity.  Hemp seeds are a wonderful source of protein.

Serves 4

3 Tablespoons hemp oil
2 Tablespoons red wine
2 teaspoons tamari, (or soy sauce)
2 Tablespoons miso
2 Tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup hemp seeds
3 zucchinis
2 red bell peppers

In a small bowl, whisk together the hemp oil,
wine, tamari, miso, agave nectar, and ginger
until well blended.  Stir in 2 tablespoons
hemp seeds.

Using a japanese spiraler, mandolin slicer,
or vegetable peeler, make fettucini-style
noodles out of the zucchini.  In a large bowl,
add noodles and red pepper, pour on dressing,
toss gently.

Sprinkle with remaining hemp seeds and serve.

(Teriyaki not your thing?  you can
get creative, make up your own sauce
ideas to top the zucchini noodles.
I like fresh tomatoes, basil,
garlic and olive oil).

Let me help you on your Ayurvedic eating adventure……it’s much simpler than it seems.  Here is a well balanced tridoshic recipe……make it as a smoothie, a fruit bowl, or a chilled soup.  You can change the spices to make it “dosha-friendly”, Pitta types can add ice in the blender, Vata and Kapha types will probably enjoy at room temp, unless the heat is on where you live.  Want to get your kids to eat it?  Pop it in the dehydrator and Voila! Fruit Leather.

Cardamom Plum Delight

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients: 

4 plums
1 banana
sprinkle cardamom
sprinkle allspice
dash sea-salt, (opt)
sprinkle almonds, or nut of choice

Preparation: 

Puree plums and banana in food processor until liquefied (if you want it thicker, add another half or whole banana). Sprinkle a very light bit of cardamom over the top, then a bit of allspice, then salt, if desired. Pulse briefly to combine. Taste and adjust, if necessary.

The almonds complement the plum perfectly, adding good fats and a little protein!  Cardamom aides digestion relieving acidity and gas, and bloating.

SInce we’re in the middle of Kapha season now
I thought it best to throw in a Kapha treat. 
This is always a favorite “raw” recipes.

If you aren’t familiar with raw/living foods,
no worry….it’s not as scary as it sounds.
It means the foods are LIVE with enzymes
because they haven’t been destroyed by heat.
(more on the benefits of enzymes coming soon).

Many raw foods are made in a dehydrator,
but if you don’t have one you can use your
oven on the lowest possible temperature.

Raw foods are not to be heated above
104-110 degrees in order to keep the
enzymes alive.  Put your oven on the
lowest possible setting and leave the door open 
a notch to circulate air flow.

The oats and agave nectar make this a perfect
choice for Kapha types.  The coconut adds
good fats, and the cacoa powder
and nibs are loaded with
antioxidants.  All in all, a healthy treat.
The oats and cacoa are both good for your
heart and lower cholesterol.

ENJOY!
INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup raw, rolled oats
1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 coconut cream, (or I use light coconut milk)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/4 raw cacoa powder
1/4 cacoa nibs
1 tbsp vanilla extract.
PREPARATION
Mix all the ingredients together.  You can adjust
the amounts to your own likes, there’s no right
or wrong with this, you can hardly make a mistake!

Scoop mounds, about a tablespoon,
onto dehydrator trays, flatten to desired cookie
shape with spoon or fingers. Dehydrate to
desired consistency,
or if using an oven, scoop onto
cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

The longer the drying process the crunchier
they’ll be, if you like a chewy cookie
add more liquid and dehydrate for less time.

Spring can be a challenging season for anyone that suffers from allergies or hayfever. This was really true when I lived in Austin.  Many there lived in misery because of allergies to the Cedarwood Trees.  (they all wanted the trees cut down, I wanted Gary o come from Young Living and tap them for essential oils).

In Ayurveda, Spring is Kapha season, and kaphas tend to swing out of balance with excess moisture, allergies, and asthma.  Food choices can restore harmony and balance to the body.  This recipe combines ingredients that heal and support the immune system.

Miso is an enzyme rich, fermented  food that helps to boost the immune system with good bacteria, combating infection and removing toxins from the body.  Garlic is well known for it’s antiviral and antibacterial benefits making it an all natural super food.  Apple Cider Vinegar  is also rich in enzymes and can assist in reducing inflammation in the body, helping to calm allergies and sinus passages.

This is a simple, quick, and easy recipe, great on vegetables as well as salads.  You can adjust the ingredients to make it thicker or thinner.  Use it as a spread to add flavor to a wrap or sandwich, the possibilities are endless.

Depending on your dosha (mind/body type) you can add various herbs to promote healing of your health conditions.   For spring I recommended fresh grated Tumeric root, pepper.  (Kapha types should avoid salt as it will cause more moisture in the body).  Most Vata types can manage salt just fine.  For a sweeter version add a little Agave nectar.

this is a “raw” living foods recipe………who knew?   So simple to add raw foods to your daily meals.

Keep a fresh batch in your fridge and enjoy the outdoors this spring.

Garlic Miso Salad Dressing

In my private practice I have always found energy healing and Ayurveda to be an effective combination in working with diabetes.  Now it appears that my love of raw, living foods is also taking a front seat, effectively healing type 2 Diabetes. 

Many will ask “why don’t the doctors know this?’  Well, it’s not their fault, they are trained to manage the symptoms of illness, not prevent it…..And they get little training in nutrition, let alone living, whole, raw foods.  A plant based raw food eating plan is not just about carrots and celery sticks……it can be yummy and satisfying!!  that’s why I post so many smoothie recipes here on the blog.

They are a great, fast, inexpensive, and easy way to get more raw living foods into your day.

I have often been outspoken about the ‘Cancer Industry” here in the united states.  It is big business, whether you realize it or not.

Hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies make enormous profits from treating patients with cancer.

People don’t die from the cancer they die from the treatment.    As Deepak Chopra, MD has said, “Cancer is nothing more than a cell that has forgotten how to die.”   This seems like such a simple answer, and it is.  Our cells are constantly dying off and regenerating themselves.  A cancer cell has had something out of the ordinary happen to effect it’s cellular memory so that it continues to grow in a manner that attacks the body.

Perhaps this video can shed even more clarity.  Could prevention be as simple as sticking with an alkalizing diet to keep fungus at bay.

Whenever my brother and his wife come for a visit I am reminded of the challenges that many people face when traveling.  One of them is trying to maintain good healthy nutrition while traveling.

It can be even tougher if you are an athlete, like my brother is.  He runs about 60 miles a week.  For years I have seen him stock up on Power Bars to meet his nutritional needs while on the run.

Being an advocate of whole, living and nutrient rich foods I finally approached this subject with him a few weeks ago.  While power bars can be “the lesser of all evils”, I have continued to wonder where is the life force in these foods.  They taste like chemicals to me, so artificial.  They are prepackaged, processed and full of preservatives.

Much of my health research has gone into the damaging long term effects that these factor can have in creating inflammation and aging in our bodies.  So I have had great incentive to create a simple, quick and easy recipe for an “On the Run” ,real food, power bar.

Not to worry, they taste great and there is a chocolate version.  They are loaded with foods high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties to enhance  and sustain long term energy…….now that’s powerful.

I make up a batch, cut them in squares and throw them in the fridge or freezer.  They travel well and will fit in a purse or carry on bag. 

The Natural Health Maven “On the Run” Power Bar

1 cup dried figs

1/2 cup dates

1 cup chia seeds…(yes, Chia, like the Pet)  one of the most nutrient dense seeds on the planet!

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 sesame seeds

water

optional: you can add some raw cacoa powder, and/or cayenne pepper for a little heat and spice….or put a few drops lemon, orange,or peppermint essential oil for all natural flavor variety.

Soak figs and dates in water until softened., about 1 hour.  Drain the fruits and process in a food  processor.  Slowly add the seeds an pulse to incorporate the mixture.  You can play with the amounts …if it’s too sticky add more seeds.

Press the mixture into a pan lined with plastic wrapand chill until firm, at least 1hour.  I sometimes toss them in the freezer if I’m in a hurry……Okay, most of the time.

Cut into squares and store in the fridge or freezer.  these don’t last long in my house so they are usually fine in the fridge.

So simple and so good……superior nutrition for any one on the run.