SALAD
DAYS
Ayurvedic
Salads: the A-B-C
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Ayurveda
recommends warm, cooked salads. Raw salads are considered
cold, rough, and hard to digest.
-
Salads
should be made and eaten fresh: the longer you keep them,
the more prana or life-force their ingredients lose. Beyond
six hours, salads are as good-or not-so-good-as leftovers,
the use of which is not recommended by ayurvedic physicians
because they can cause ama or digestive toxins.
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In
general, the best time to eat salads is at noon, when digestive
capacity is maximum.
How
to Choose Your Salad Ingredients
The
best salads are made from the best, freshest ingredients.
Here's how to make sure you get the very best:
-
Don't
compromise on quality. Try to make an early-morning trip
to your local farmer's market for organic, local produce.
It's worth the trouble.
-
As
far as possible, choose vegetables and fruits that are native
to where you live. Agreed that imported produce can look
exotic and inviting. But often, such produce is artificially
ripened, making it less beneficial for you.
-
Choose
produce that is in season. Although almost all fruits and
vegetables are available year-round, it is really in keeping
with nature's rhythms to choose your salad ingredients according
to the season.
-
Don't
limit yourself to leafy greens and matchstick style veggies.
Whole grains, beans, fruits, nuts, herbs-there is an endless
variety of ingredients you can use to dish up an appetizing
ayurvedic salad.
How
To Cook Your Salads
"Cooking"
in the ayurvedic sense does not mean a quick 2-minute stir-fry
on high heat. This leaves the ingredients almost raw. A better
method is to cook your salad ingredients on medium to low
heat until they are fully cooked but not overdone.
This
helps the nutrients in vegetables and grains become easier
to digest and assimilate.
Recommended
methods of cooking in ayurveda include steaming, sauteeing,
roasting, grilling, and boiling.
-
Enhance
the flavor, aroma, and healing qualities of your salads
by adding small amounts of ghee or oil. The Vata dosha in
particular benefits from salads drizzled with oil and dressed
in unctuous sauce. Spike your salads with spices. Black
pepper, ginger, and cumin, for example, are particularly
good because they kindle the digestive fire and clear the
body's minute channels of toxins.
-
Add
salt to your salads while cooking the ingredients, not afterward.
This allows the salt to be better absorbed.
-
You
can add fresh green herbs to your salads, but it is a good
idea to toss them in when the salad is just about done:
cooking the herbs can make them lose both color and flavor.
-
If
you love stir-fried vegetables, make sure they are on the
tender side and not crunchy-raw. Vegetables that take longer
to cook should be sliced or cubed smaller, so they take
less time to be done.
Creative
Tips For Your Salad Bowl
In
her wholesome book Heaven's Banquet, Miriam Hospodar devotes
an appetizing chapter to salads. Some tips from the writer:
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A
little Maharishi Ayurveda churna sprinkled on salads enhances
flavor greatly.
-
Add
cooked, cooled beans such as aduki or black beans to a summer
salad.
-
Sweet-salty
nuts such as caramalized walnuts make great nibblers as
well as toppings for salads.
-
Both
fresh and dried beans marry well with a vinaigrette-type
dressing.
-
Always
use very good quality oil in your salads.
-
Use
lemon instead of vinegar in your salad dressings: lemon
is considered a very healing food in Ayurveda, while vinegar,
being fermented, is not favored.
-
For
oil-free salad dressings, use vegetable juice, yogurt, pureed
tomato, or panir that has been thinned with a liquid.
Dosha-wise
Salad Ingredients
Here
are some ingredients you can pick from for your cooked salads:
Beneficial
for all three doshas
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Very
young radishes (use less for Pitta)
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Cucumber
(lightly cooked is even better)
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Radishes
cooked with ghee or olive oil
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Rice
(basmati is recommended)
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Wheat
and wheat products like semolina, farina, wheat berries
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-
-
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Rice(basmati
is recommended)
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Buy
Related Products
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| All
the ayurvedic products mentioned in this article can be purchased
direct from Maharishi Ayurveda Products International. Click
here for on-line catalog. |
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Ready
to Eat Chutneys
|
Blends
of fruit, sugar and spices, chutneys are healthy ways to preserve
fruit. With their piquant taste, they can add zest to any
meal. Use as an accompaniment to grilled vegetables or in
sauces.
More
about Fruit
Chutneys |
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Six
Ayurvedic Tastes
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According
to ayurveda, including all the six tastes -- sweet, sour,
salty, bitter, pungent and astringent - in each main meal
contributes to mind/body balance and helps reduce cravings.
A simple way to incorporate most of these tastes is through
the use of seasonings -- called churnas in ayurveda. These
seasonings can be sautéed in Ghee and added to your
dishes or sprinkled on right at the table.
Learn more about
Churnas |
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Rose
Petal Preserve
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Enjoyed
by royalty, this treat made with fragrant rose petals and
cane juice crystals is a unique alternative to fruit preserves.
Traditional ayurvedic wisdom has it that rose petal jam
can help cool down the mind, body and emotions.
Read
more about Rose Petal Preserve
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Ghee:
The Golden Cooking Oil of Ayurveda
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Traditional
ayurvedic texts extol the many virtues of Ghee. Ghee is clarified
butter -- butter with all the milk solids removed. It is reported
to help transport the benefits of herbs and spices to the
different parts of the body. Ghee has a rich buttery flavor
and a royal aroma.
Try
these recipes using Ghee
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