Food for the Body

Thoughts about eating well to feed your body and spirit.

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    Sprouts, Orchids, and Arctic Winds

    ByElizabeth

    This morning I misted the orchids.  None are blooming right now, but an orange catteleya I received as a gift several years ago is budding, as is my favorite epidendrum, which offers up a host of delicate, greenish, spidery blooms every February. It brightens my day to spend a little time tending the house plants when it is most wintry outside.

    I rinsed sprouts.  I have both bean sprouts and a salad mixture going.  I started new batches of sprouts as soon as I returned from NYC.  I was grateful for the offerings at the grocery store, but pine for at least a little something truly fresh.  I’d had a little chard, parsley, and chives that made it through the snow storm.  Much to my surprise, I even managed to salvage enough from the garden to include in an omelet after the ice storm the other morning, but the day-time subfreezing temperatures and icy winds have finished off the outdoor garden until March.  I think I am going to get some burlap and start some micro-greens in addition to salad and bean sprouts.

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    Happy New Year (and vegan Hoppin’ John variant)

    ByElizabeth

    Having grown up in the New York metropolitan area without much in the way of traditions of any kind, I was not familiar with Hoppin’ John.  I am fairly certain that the first time I heard of it was from a college friend whose family has been in South Carolina since before the Revolution.  As it is not part of my tradition, I do not feel bound to any particular recipe (I am sure it is sacrilege in some circles to leave out the ham/bacon) or to eating it at any particular time of day (e.g., immediately after the clock strikes 12 midnight).  It would not be Hoppin’ John, though, if I did not know its tradition and know where I was deviating from tradition.  (Though this would entail a much longer blog than is within my time frame today, this balance of freedom from tradition and needing to know and honor tradition is very much an issue for the Western yoga practitioner.)

    1.  Soak a cup of dried black-eyed peas for at least several hours or overnight.

    2.  Dice one small onion or 1/2 large onion (about a cup), a few celery stalks, including the leaves, and mince a couple of cloves of garlic.

    3.  Heat a few tablespoons of a flavorless oil (peanut, corn, or safflower) in a pressure cooker (my preferred method for saving energy and time) or a stock/stew pot.

    4.  Saute seasoning vegetables along with a few hot peppers until onion is translucent.  I used the last habanero from my harvest and so left it whole.  You can use fresh or dried chilis in an amount to your taste/tolerance for spiciness.

    5.  Stir in a cup of brown rice until rice is coated with oil.

    6.  Pour in 1/4-1/2 cup of white wine and stir until absorbed (as if making risotto).  [You could use stock instead.  If you are using white rice, skip this step, which serves to partially cook the brown rice, so that it will take the same amount of time as the black-eyed peas.]

    7.  Crumble in some dried thyme (preferably from your own garden) and a bay leaf or two.

    8.  Drain and rinse the soaked black-eyed peas and stir into the cooking pot until all ingredients are combined.

    9.  Add one 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes and 2 1/2 – 3 cups of vegetable stock or water.  How much liquid depends on (a) whether you want a soupy consistency or one more like pilaf or risotto; (b) how liquid are the tomatoes; (c) whether you are using a pressure cooker (less liquid needed) or cooking in a pot.

    10.  If using a pressure cooker, cover and bring to full pressure, then lower heat and cook at full pressure for 28 minutes.  Allow natural pressure release (about 15-20 minutes additional).  If cooking in a regular pot, bring to a boil, stir, then lower heat and cook for an hour or more until rice and peas are tender, stirring occasionally.

    11.  While rice and peas are cooking, mince a few cloves of garlic.

    12.  Rinse and chop several handfuls of greens (collard or curly kale are best; don’t use spinach or chard, they are too tender).  Heat oil and garlic together.  When garlic start sizzle, add damp greens and saute until greens are wilted and dry.

    13.  When rice and peas have finished cooking, stir in sauteed greens and bring back up to full heat.  Adjust seasonings, adding more salt and your favorite hot sauce to taste (or allow guests to add their own hot sauce at the table).

    I don’t know whether having eaten this will bring me luck and prosperity, but I’ve started the year with lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber, flavor, and cooking, which for me means health, love, technique, tradition, flexibility, and joy!  Try this, make your own, read all about Hoppin’ John, or call a friend from the South who must eat Hoppin’ John on the New Year and learn about the tradition and what it means.

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    Celebration and Loss (last of the arugula)

    ByElizabeth

    last arugula

    As you can see from the photo, this tender arugula was not likely to make it through the night (temperatures forecast to be in the mid-20s).  It is a cause for great celebration that it made it through last weekend’s snow storm, several nights below freezing, and provided a little spice to my salads for a couple of months.  It lasts this long because I over plant, first eat the greens as I thin them, then pick them by the leaf rather than by the root to encourage the plants to grow more vigorously, and finally start pulling them up by the handful when the danger of hard frost calls for the inevitable demise.  Tonight, I cut everything in the pot down to about a 1/2 inch.  It is possible, though not likely based on the current forecast of a cooler than normal winter, that if we got a couple of warm weeks in late January or early February that it would come back.

    I am celebrating what I have grown in this tiny space and the exquisite delight of eating greens from right outside my door this late into the year.  I am sad that the outdoor gardening season is just about over; I will miss it.  If I had more space or a firmer intention (maybe the latter will come in another year or two),  I could build a cold frame or go for plastic tunnels.  In my little micro-climate, that would probably get me through the winter.  I rather like, though, a space of time with no obligation to the outdoor garden.  A time to dream rather than work.  I know what a luxury it is to be able to rest in such a way and still have bountiful food.

  • Vegan Peanut Butter Wheatgerm Cookies

    ByElizabeth

    These cookies are loosely inspired by the peanut butter cookies from the Joy of Cooking because those were my first peanut butter cookies.

    1.  Soften a half cup of vegetable shortening (preferably organic), then cream with 1/4-1/2 cup of sucanat (sweeten to taste).  Beat in 1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup.  Add in equivalent of one egg of either “egg replacer” or flax seed emulsified with water.  Cream in peanut butter (make sure the peanut butter is organic; creamy works best in this recipe as they are crumbly cookies), a dash of salt, and a 1/2 tsp of baking soda.

    2. Mix together 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour.  Then mix the combined flours into the wet ingredients until well combined.

    3.  Blend in 1/2 cup of toasted wheat germ (flax seed meal or a combination also would work).

    4. Chill the dough for at least 1/2 hour for best results.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet while the dough is chilling.  Shape the dough into walnut sized balls (or make them smaller, but shorten the cooking time).  Make an indentation with your thumb to flatten slightly.  The dough will rise and the thumbprint will disappear during the baking process, leaving a smooth, round pillow of a cookie.

    5.  Depending on your cookware and whether you have convection (needs lower temperature) or conventional oven, bake at 335F-375F.  Starting from a cool oven (many baked goods are fine without the oven preheating; to save energy, try to start baking with something that doesn’t mind starting in a cool oven and then baking several items at the same time to take advantage of the already heated oven), bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on whether the oven was hot already, until golden.

    6.  THIS IS IMPORTANT:  these cookies crumble very easily when first taken out of the oven.  Leave them to cool for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring directly to a plate.

    Variations:  any nut or seed butter.  Hemp would be particularly good, as would almond.

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    Spirituality and Politics Do Mix (but maybe not at the Thanksgiving meal)

    ByElizabeth

    Yesterday I received a rather negative email in response to my posting a suggestion on a list serve connected to a religious organization that people write to their elected officials about the health care bill pending in the Senate.  I sent the email because my contribution to this group is to serve as the designated liaison between a lobbying group that was established by the religious organization and the religious organization.  Once of month or so, I highlight issues that are the focus of the lobbying groups email campaigns.  The email took me to task for thinking that politics has any place in connection with spiritual practice and therefore the on-line discussion should never be about politics.  The person assured me that our political views were different, although I did not actually suggest what people should write; I only said that they should write.  I have been pondering this deeply as it is a topic I have thought about, taught about, and wrestled with deeply over the years, especially during the Presidential elections.

    As one who believes that body, mind, and community are inseparable from spirit, I am unable to separate political action from spiritual action.  I believe that I have a duty to be knowledgeable about the issues challenging society as a whole, to take action within the framework of society to seek the embodiment of my spiritual beliefs (grossly oversimplified, that the rules, commitments, and support networks of society should recognize the light of all beings — human and not — and foster the seeking of that light by all), and to challenge the very framework of the discussion and rules when they obscure the light and its recognition.

    One of the reasons for discussion is to explore, to learn, to be challenged, to expand both knowledge and understanding.  That can be a hard process.  I certainly do not expect people to agree with each other at all times, but that is not the point of discussion. While I think this sort of discussion perfectly appropriate in the context of a spiritual discussion, it might be less welcome where what is being sought is an immediate sense of peace and harmony in the connection of a particular practice.  For example, if it is known that family and friends have strong disagreements about “political” issues, it might be disagreeable for digestion and the day to bring up the issues at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

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    “Holiday Madness” (and the Yamas and Niyamas of Patanjali)

    ByElizabeth

    When I googled (that should not be a verb) “holiday madness”  this morning, I got one million three hundred thousand hits.  Yikes!  Most relevant websites are about surviving shopping, over-eating, family, and travel.  Madness in such a situation is a choice.  We can choose what to consume, how much, when, and with whom.  It is a choice whether “celebration” requires consumption beyond what our financial, physical, and emotional means permit.

    The yamas and niyamas as revealed by Patanjali provide beautiful structure for thinking about the holidays.

    Yamas:

    Ahimsa–non-harming.  Don’t consume more than is harmful to yourself, those who have created what you are consuming, and the earth.

    Satya — truthfulness.  Be honest with yourself about what is right for you to celebrate and observe and what brings meaning to you as a holiday celebration.

    Asteya — non-stealing.  Consuming beyond your means, especially financially, is a form of stealing (look at what generated the recession).

    Brahmacharya — moderation (aligning with Brahma).  Enjoy the offerings of the earth in a way that uplifts rather than sickens or detracts from spirit and self.

    Aparigraha — non-greediness; non-covetousness.  Enjoy what you have without coveting or trying in a detrimental way to have what others have and you do not.

    Niyamas

    Sauca — cleanliness, purity.  Consume in a way that is healthy for yourself and the planet, that does not create illness, refuse, and waste.

    Samtosha — contentment.  Wherever you are, whatever you have, whatever is going on in your work and family life, think of that for which you are grateful, that which brings you happiness, and focus on what you have.  Contentment is a practice.

    Tapas — fire, ardor.  Be on fire to practice, to shift, to make this a life-fulfilling year of generosity and compassion.

    Svadyaya — study of text, self-study.  Take the holidays as an opportunity to deepen your understanding of yourself, society, and your spiritual beliefs and how they interrelate.

    Ishvara pranadhana — surrender, recognition of the spirit.  Let go a little.  Surrender to a sense of fullness.  Allow the abundance and recognize it as a wondrous gift. Remember the word “holiday” is really two words:  “holy day.” Make this time holy, whether or not you observe a particular religious tradition at this time of year or any other.

  • Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Quick Bread

    ByElizabeth

    This is dense, moist, sweet, and fairly healthy as Thanksgiving type treats go:

    1.  Beat together:

    1/4 cup walnut oil (or safflower or canola if you are avoiding nuts)

    1/2 cup sucanat

    1/2 cup maple syrup

    dash of salt

    2.  cream 2 cups of pureed pumpkin into oil/sweetener mixture

    3.  mix together:

    1 cup whole wheat flour

    1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

    2 1/2 tsps baking powder

    1/2 tsp baking soda

    dried powdered ginger, allspice, and cinnamon to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp each)

    4.  incorporate dry ingredients into wet until just blended

    5.  stir in chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)

    The batter will be thick.  Spoon into two oiled loaf pans and smooth the top with a large spoon or spatula.  Bake for 30-40 minutes at 325F until a skewer or knife comes out clean.  The bread will not rise much, but will have more of the appearance of a coffee cake.  If you like, you could make a strudel topping.  Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then cool further on wire racks.

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    At Your Request (Grown Up Cranberry Sauce)

    ByElizabeth

    I was first taught how to make cranberry sauce in 3rd or 4th grade.  We made the recipe off of the back of the bag, which recipe I am fairly certain is still on the bag of “conventionally grown” cranberries.  The recipe is:  One bag cranberries + one cup water + one cup sugar.  Bring all ingredients to a boil.  Maintaining a vigorous simmer, stir continuously until most of the cranberries have popped and the liquid has thickened.  Allow to cool.  OK to make in advance; store in refrigerator.  From that time on, we did not eat cranberry sauce from a can, which was a big deal in the late 60s, early 70s.

    This year’s variation is organic and uses some local ingredients.  Three generous cups (this is about the same as the typical bag of cranberries) of cranberries + one cup apple cider + 1/2 cup sucanat + a splash of cognac or brandy.  Maintaining a vigorous simmer, stir continuously until most of the cranberries have popped and the liquid has thickened.  Allow to cool.  Optional:  add another splash of cognac while cooling.  OK to make in advance; store in refrigerator.

    Variations:  (1) use pomegranate juice instead of cider; include a vanilla bean and a sliver of lemon rind while cooking.  (2) replace cognac or brandy with Calvados and include a cinnamon stick while cooking. (3) replace the cider with orange juice, the cognac with triple sec, and use turbinado sugar instead of sucanat.  The variations are many.  Just have the types of fruit, flavorings (spices and liquor) meld with eachother, and make sure there is enough sugar to gel the sauce.