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Itâs summerâat least it feels like it after a week of 88 to 90 degree weather here in Raleigh, North Carolinaâso bring on the cool specialties like this Roasted Beet and Fennel Soup. Cool soups are a perfect way to refresh yourself when youâre over-heated.
Did you notice that I said âcoolâ rather than âchilledâ? Letâs zoom in on that thought.
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Today I offer you a different twist on a must-have traditional dish for January 1: Curried Black-Eyed Peas. In the Southern United States, to eat black-eyed peas with greens on New Yearâs Day is considered a culinary talisman to bring good luck and good fortune in the coming year. Sadly, the dish is thought to have been brought to the US from West Africa through the slave trade, but it survives today as a symbol of hoped-for fortune and abundance to comeâand because itâs delicious.
Although my previous black-eyed pea recipes reflect Southern cooking, I decided to add a new twist to this celebratory dish and offer you a version that reflects traditional Ayurvedic cooking through a mĂŠlange of spices. You can decide whether the dish packs a hot punch or is simply flavorful with the artful use of spices.
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This Sweet Potato Soup with Pecan Butter may be the easiest soup recipe Iâve ever created with the inspiration of Goddess Annapurnaâand it may also be the most delicious! You can make it in about 20 minutes if youâre handy with a knife and have Easy Vegetable Soup Stock on hand. If not, you may want to plan to make the stock over the weekend before a Valentineâs dinnerâŚor before any meal when you want to savor something a little different and quite exquisite.
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If you want something thatâs completely satisfying for lunch or dinner, try these extra-special Chickpea Patties. You may find that two or even one of them are all you need to feel deliciously sated, though you may want a vegetable side dish for a more well-rounded meal.
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Warm greetings to my gentle readers who have patiently awaited a new recipe while I took some time off this summer. Iâd like to reward you with a quick and easy dish to cool you off during these hot summer daysâa satisfying and totally yummy Tofu Salad that even omnivores will enjoy (much to their surprise)!
You can serve this as a side dish to a summer soup, on a bed of salad greens, or as the added protein on a colorful vegetable plate. Hmmm…Iâm envisioning sweet potato fries, quick asparagus or green beans, and corn on the cob with a half-cup of tofu salad in the center. If you love a sandwich for lunch, pile some tofu salad on your favorite bread. (The salad’s moisture will be a good balance to bread that has become dry, making it easier to digest.)
Summer guidance from Ayurveda
When the âdog daysâ of summer arrive in August (or, sadly, much earlier across the globe this year) it is important to eat cooling foods that help your metabolism avoid overheating. Youâll also feel cooler on hot days if you choose cooling foods over those that are naturally heating.
Did you know that symptoms such as irritability, headaches, itchiness and sleeplessness (if you wake 2 to 4 a.m. and have difficulty going back to sleep) are often linked with too much heat in the body? This is the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, which may also be your intuitive understanding. Fortunately, food is our friend when we pay attention to a foodâs qualities and the ways these impact our bodies, minds, and emotions.
What are cooling foods?
As you may know, Ayurveda classifies foods in several ways, including whether a food is inherently heating or cooling.
You shouldnât be surprised to see Ayuvedaâs list of cooling foods because we turn to them instinctively when the weather turns hot. Some of the most cooling foods include these:
Balanced cooking
Yes, on its own, tofu is naturally cooling. Combine it with other cooling foods such as fennel or celery, cilantro, and mint and youâll create a perfect summer dish loaded with protein. However, this combination of foods is so cooling that I added some garlic to the recipe, not only for flavor but for a little balancing heat to aid digestion.
Other foods like dates, figs, cruciferous vegetables, and avocado may not seem to be obviously cooling. This is especially true of avocado because many people make guacamole by adding intensely heating ingredients such as raw onions and jalapenos to avocadoâmaking most guacamole something to avoid during the summer! Certain legumes are also cooling, but they are more easily digested when theyâre cooked with generous amounts of warming herbs and spices such as fresh garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric, and other Indian spices including fenugreek and black mustard seeds.
Just as warming spices can balance overly cooling foods such as legumes, you can enlist the help of cooling herbs and spices any time you cook foods that are inherently heating. For instance, Ayurveda classifies carrots as heating, so I serve carrots with lots of cilantro, mint, and a drizzle of coconut milk to make a perfect summer soup.
Enjoy this cooling Tofu Salad throughout the summer, and always feel satisfied at the end of your vegan meal.
PS Looking for more summer dishes? Try these summer soups: Summer Sweet Potato Soup, Corn and Avocado Soup, Broccoli Carrot Soup over basmati rice, PeanutButter Cucumber Soup, Beet and Fennel Soup, Creamy Zucchini Soup in 20 minutes or less.
Nothing compares to the taste or healing power of a fresh soup stock created from pristine vegetables teeming with nutrients. If you thrill to the taste of fine food, then the boxed or canned stuff doesn’t quite cut it! I cannot tell you how many friends who have dined with us report that their rendition of my latest soup recipe didn’t measure up to what they tasted at our table. I always follow such a comment with the question, “did you make the soup stock or use a box?” Inevitably, to a person, they had skipped this vital step. This is my most unscientific research to emphasize that making fresh stock is always worth planning ahead and investing a few more minutes of your time!
This easy vegetable stock has a gentle flavor but it adds depth to any recipe. Please note that I specify Light Grey Celtic Sea Salt,
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Ayurveda teaches that all of nature, including our bodies, is always in search of balance. When our physical doshas are out of balance, they invite various forms of illness and disease into our bodies. Whenever our lifestyle is out of balance for too longâall work and no play, or vice-versaâwe can easily spiral downward into fatigue, burnout, anxiety, and depression. For all these reasons I’m proclaiming my resolution right here and now with each of you as my witnesses:
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If you like zucchini, you will love Creamy Zucchini Soup. This tasty vegan soup will help you make an easeful transition from summer to fall. And another thing about this dish that is great is that it takes no more than 20 minutes to make, start to finish!
During September and October, and even into November in some places, zucchini is being harvested before the first big frost. As the nights are getting cooler in many parts of the country, this warm, gingery vegetable soup is a perfect accompaniment to a veggie burger, a pasta entrĂŠe, or a sweet potato stuffed with black beans! As cold and flu season approaches, one
PrintA pot of fresh greens is so quick and easy to make! It’s the perfect side dish to a cool summer soup, a quinoa salad, or 
some Southern black-eyed peas. Greens are always ideal when your priority is easy cooking with a dash of healthy and delicious.
I was inspired to make this dish when one of my husband’s patients brought us a large bag of beet greens right out of her garden, but you can also use a bunch of kale or chard, though kale will take an extra 10 minutes to cook. I suggest 6 to 10 large leaves per person, at least, since they will reduce to a small serving after cooking.
You can use any type of seasoning, but a good artisan salt like Salish Alderwood Smoked Salt transforms an ordinary dish into gourmet food. If you crave a little heat, add some fresh ginger. If
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This curry leaf and cilantro chutney recipe comes from Vaidya Smita Naram. She whipped up this lovely sauce in our Vitamix in about 5 minutes while recently staying in our home. My husband, Tom, and I happily poured it over mung bean “burgers” I had made for dinner. A few days later I prepared another cup of the chutney, which we used to top off savory chickpea pancakes that Dr. Smita showed me how to make a half-hour before we drove her to the airport for her flight home to Mumbai, India.
Chutneys are relishes or sauces that are staples in Indian cuisine. They are also used in Ayurvedic cooking when freshly made. There are innumerable kinds of chutneys â some chunky, others that are more like a paste, and liquid sauces. Chutneys have a reputation for being amazingly hot to the tongue because most Indian cooks spike their chutneys with chilies. Not so with this recipe! Authentic Ayurvedic cuisine avoids the use of chilies except for people who are predominantly kapha types. Nonetheless, this chutney is guaranteed to add a bolt of flavor to any dish along with potent healing power.
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