Favorite Recipes for Health & Healing

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GINGER AS A DIGESTIVE AID

• Fresh Ginger
• Fresh Lemon or Lime
• Organic Salt

Peel and grate the ginger into an airtight container. Add Salt to taste and cover with lemon or lime juice.

Place sealed in the refrigerator and gently shake the mixture once a day for 3 days. The marinated Ginger will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Take a small amount prior to eating each meal.

You may place a small amount in hot water for a refreshing ginger tea.

Elemental OM’s favorite easy easy detox dish: KICHARI -----google for more recipes

• 1 bag mung dal, if split, you do not have to soak. If whole, soak for an hour or even overnight. Mung dal or lentils are red, yellow and green. Choose whatever color speaks to you.
• Vegatable broth or water
• Garlic, minced
• Onion, chopped
• Celery, chopped
• Carrots, chopped
• Organic Salt/Pepper, to taste
• Cumin, 2 or more Tablespoons
• Cayenne Pepper, to taste
• White or brown rice, prefer Basmati

Put mung dal (lentils) in pot and cover lentils with vegatable broth. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer. You may cover with a lid. You will have to keep checking the liquid level and adding broth or water to keep moist. Add garlic, onions, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper. Simmer on low until beans are cooked through. This should only take 40 minutes or so.

Serve with brown rice!

Gingered carrot salad:

Organic Carrots, peeled and sliced thinly

2 tbsps of olive oil with an infusion of garlic

1 teaspoon or more of fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon of poppy or sesame seeds

pepper

Mince a clove of garlic and mix it with olive oil. Set aside to marinate. Peel and slice your carrots thinly. Toss with grated ginger root and seeds. Add pepper. Strain the olive oil and poor on salad and toss.

GHEE AS A DIGESTIVE AID

1 pound of unsalted butter

Place the butter in a heavy, medium-sized pan. Turn the heat to medium until the butter melts.

Turn down the heat until the butter just boils and continue to cook at this heat. Do not cover the pot. The butter will foam and sputter while it cooks. Whitish curds will begin to form on the bottom and top of the pot.

The butter will begin to smell like popcorn after a while and turn a lovely golden color. Keep a close watch on the ghee, as it can easily burn. After a while it will become a clear, golden color. You will have to take a clean, dry spoon to move away some of the foam on top in order to see if the ghee is clear all the way through to the bottom.

When it is clear and has stopped sputtering and making noise, remove from heat. Let it cool until just warm. Pour it through a fine sieve or layers of cheesecloth into a clean, dry glass container with a tight lid. Discard the curds at the bottom of the saucepan.

The ghee is burned if it has a nutty smell and is slightly brown.

1 pound of butter takes about 15 minutes of cooking time. The more butter you are using, the more time it will take.

Ghee can be kept on the kitchen shelf, covered. It does not need refrigeration. The medicinal properties are said to improve with age. Don’t ladle out the ghee with a wet spoon or allow any water to get into the container, as this will create conditions for bacteria to grow and spoil the ghee.

Two pounds of butter will fill a quart jar with ghee.

CRANBERRY BLISS BALLS

* 1 cup pine nuts

* 1 cup sunflower seeds

* 1 cup almonds

* 2 cups dried cranberries

* 2 tablespoons or more of maple syrup

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 teaspoon or more nutmeg

* ½ cup shredded coconut flakes

Place the pine nuts, sunflower seeds and almonds in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Add the dried cranberries and pulse again three to four times. Then add the maple syrup, vanilla and nutmeg. Continue to pulse until the mixture begins to stick together. Taste for sweetness. Add more maple syrup if necessary to hold the bliss balls together.

Place the shredded coconut flakes in a flat bowl. Roll the nut and cranberry mixture into 1-inch balls, dip in maple syrup and roll them in the coconut flakes to coat. Store in an airtight container.

Play around with these, you may use any dried fruit or nut combination that you love. Consider figs, dates, raisins and other nuts. You might also consider adding Carob or a high quality dark chocolate.

New Recipe to Cleanse!!

This recipe is from the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. If you are The Wind or Vata prefer pinto beans over red kidney and make sure you do soak them overnight. Cook them down a bit more than the other doshas. The Elemental Immersions begin this week! Time to detox, destress and destroy ama (ick) in our bodies and minds.

Cajun Bean Chili

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup red kidney, small red, or pinto beans (rinsed and soaked overnight)
4 to 6 cups vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ghee or olive oil [Find our ghee recipe here]
1 cup chopped leeks, shallots, or onions
1 pinch red chili flakes
2 cloves minced garlic (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cups diced tomatoes
1½ cups thin sliced andouille chicken sausage (optional)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1½ cups marinated tempeh (cut into cubes) (Marinade recipe below)

Drain the beans. In a soup pot, bring the beans, vegetable stock, and bay leaves to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer at a rolling boil until the beans are tender, about 1 hour. Heat a sauté pan with the oil over medium heat, then add the leeks, red chili flakes, garlic, and celery. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the aminos, bell pepper, and tomatoes. If using chicken sausage, add it now.

In a small bowl, combine the turmeric, thyme, oregano, coriander, cumin, and paprika. Add the spice mixture to the vegetables, stirring to incorporate. Sauté another 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the vegetable mixture to the cooking beans about halfway into the cooking process. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and adding more stock if necessary. Add the tempeh cubes and the maple syrup just before serving and reheat gently. The stew will be finished when the beans are soft to the touch. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

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Nutritional facts per 1½ cup serving (using tempeh only)
Calories 449, Total fat 9.4 g, Saturated fat 1.9 g, Carbohydrates 61.9 g, Protein 29.6 g

Yummy

Tonight our detox meets for the 2nd time in the series, so I whipped together some yummy bliss balls for them to try. Week 2 is when you go deep into the "elimination of less favorable habits" process and your body will begin to notice that you are taking its sugar away. The beauty of the bliss ball is that when you are on the detox program, you can eat as many as you like. They get you over that craving for sugar and are totally good for you.

When I cook, I rarely follow a recipe and nothing ever comes out the same way twice. There is no measuring with bliss balls. You just throw it all together in the food processor. Today I used the following:

• Jumbo multi-colored raisins
• Mission figs (dried)
• Cranberries (dried)
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Honey (which it really didn't even need)
• Coconut
• and my special ingredient today.......Dates (they have awesome dates at Costco right now)

Basically, throw the nuts (maybe 2 cups) in the processor and process. Add to it the raisins, figs, cranberries, almonds and dates. The dates do have seeds so de-seed them. It will get gooey and stick together. You can add the honey if you want.

Roll into little balls and then roll in Coconut.

Enjoy!

Go to the website, www.elementalom.com, for another version that has better measuring instructions.