Conscious Eating Part 46

Balances K, neutral for V, unbalances P All Seasons, best Winter 3 cups eggplant, peeled and chopped cup parsley, minced 4 Tbs raw tahini 1 tsp c.u.min seed tsp hing 1 clove garlic Juice of 1 lemon Celtic salt to taste Blend and serve. Serves 3-4.

Perfect Pesto

Balances V, slightly unbalances P and K All Seasons, best Fall-slightly heating 1 cups walnuts, soaked 1 cup sweet basil cup pinenuts, soaked 3 large cloves garlic or tsp sun-dried garlic h.o.m.ogenize ingredients in the Champion Juicer with blank plate or in a food processor with the S-blade.

Remarks: The raw pesto is great to use on vegetable slices such as cuc.u.mber, carrot, or beet. Another delightful approach is to fill a green or red bell pepper with pesto and add sprouts.

Tomato Pesto

Balances V, slightly unbalances P and K All Seasons, best Fall-slightly heating cup dehydrated or sun-dried tomatoes, soaked Perfect Pesto (above) h.o.m.ogenize tomatoes with ingredients in Perfect Pesto using the Champion Juicer or a food processor.

Caponata

Balances K, unbalances V and P Winter 5-6 cups eggplant, chopped 4 celery stalks, sliced 3 tomatoes, chopped 2 large green or red peppers, chopped 1 cup black olives, sliced cup pinenuts, soaked 3-4 Tbs red wine vinegar 1 Tbs garlic, minced 1 Tbs capers, rinsed tsp salt Pepper to taste Virgin olive oil as a marinade 1 tsp ginger, crushed Soak the eggplant in virgin olive oil and crushed ginger for 48 hours. Mix the eggplant with the other ingredients, saving the marinade to be used in another dish of your creation. Serves 4-6.

Tapenade

Neutral for V, unbalances P and K Spring, Summer, and Fall 8 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 15 olives, pitted 1 garlic clove 3 sprigs basil 2 tsp olive oil Mix in a food processor. Serve with Herbed Essene Bread (see Grain Recipes: Essene Breads) or zucchini slices.

Guacamole

Balances V, neutral for P, unbalances K All Seasons 2 ripe avocados 1 large tomato, diced cup cilantro, chopped tsp c.u.min tsp hing Juice of 1 lemon Celtic salt to taste Blend all ingredients except tomatoes, which should be mixed in by hand.

Almond-Guacamole Dip

Balances V, unbalances P and K All Seasons, best Fall and Spring cup almonds, soaked and blanched 1 avocado 1 tomato, cubed 2 Tbs basil - tsp cayenne Juice of 1 lemon Cilantro as garnish h.o.m.ogenize in the Champion Juicer using the blank plate or in a food processor using the S-blade.

Fiesta Spread

Balances V, P, and K All Seasons 1 cup garbanzo beans, sprouted 2 tomatoes 1 avocado 3 Tbs fresh cilantro tsp cayenne 2 cloves garlic Blend and serve.

Remarks: The avocado is more balancing for V and P, and unbalances K. The tomato is mildly unbalancing for V, P, and K, but some of its effects are neutralized by the cilantro.

Spinach-Avocado Dip

Balances V, P, and K All Seasons 3 cups spinach, chopped 1 avocado tomato 2 Tbs lemon juice tsp dill tsp nutmeg tsp hing Blend and serve.

Remarks: Spinach is cooling, light, and dry, with a warming effect on the body. In small amounts, it is tolerated by V and P, but will aggravate these doshas if eaten in excess. Spinach-Avocado Dip is another Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center favorite.

Tomato Salsa

Neutral for V, slightly unbalances K, unbalances P Fall, Winter, and Spring 4 ripe tomatoes, diced cup cilantro, chopped 1 tsp hing 1 tsp cayenne 1 small clove garlic Juice of 1 lemon Juice of 1 lime Celtic salt to taste Mix and serve.

Coconut-Spinach Dip

Balances V, P, K All Seasons 2 cups spinach cup coconut cup sunflower seeds or almonds, soaked (and blanched) 1 orange, peeled 5 dates, pitted Cayenne and Celtic salt to taste Blend and enjoy. Serves 4-6.

Tom Yum

Balances V, neutral for P and K All Seasons 1 coconut, chopped Milk of 1 coconut 3 sprigs oregano 3 sprigs cilantro 3 sprigs parsley 1 leaf basil Thai chile pepper Blend until smooth.

Coconut Chutney

Balances V, P, K All Seasons 1 apple 1 tomato 1 orange 5 dates, pitted cup coconut, shredded 1 Tbs basil 1 Tbs cilantro Juice of 1 lemon Celtic salt to taste Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Tahini-Mango Dip

Balances V, P, and K All Seasons 1 mango 3Tbs raw tahini 2 tsp ginger, grated Blend.

Remarks: Mango is balancing for V, P, and K. Tahini and ginger together unbalance P and balance V and K. Depending on how much ginger is used, this can be a cold- or warm-weather dip, although with 2 tsp ginger it is particularly good for the fall.

SEA VEGETABLE RECIPES.

Many people are unfamiliar with sea vegetables (also known as seaweed). People all over the world have been eating sea vegetables for thousands of years. Four varieties of sea vegetables have been found preserved in j.a.panese burial grounds that were 10,000 years old. The Australian Aborigines use three different types of sea vegetables. The Native American Indians include alaria (wakame-like), nori (laver), and kelp in their traditional diets. The Atlantic coastal people of Scandinavia, France, and the British Isles also have been eating sea vegetables for centuries.

The vegetarian movement in North America, particularly macrobiotics, has brought attention to the tremendous health benefits of sea vegetables. Gram for gram, they are higher in minerals and vitamins than any other cla.s.s of food. They are rich in A, B, C, E, and human-active vitamin B12. One-half ounce of alaria contains 2.15 g of human-active B12, which is 10 times more B12 than the daily minimum requirement. Dulse has the least amount of human-active B12, but the amount in one-half ounce of dulse is .29 g, which is still a little more than the minimum daily need. One-half ounce of kelp has .48 g, approximately 1-2 times the daily minimum, and laver (nori) has .74 g, or 2-3 times the daily minimum.

The minerals in sea vegetables are found in similar ratios to those in the blood. Sea vegetables produce substantial amounts of proteins, complex carbohydrates, carotenes, and chlorophyll. For example, dulse and nori have 21.5 and 28.4 grams of protein respectively per hundred grams of sea vegetable. They have approximately 2-4.5% fat, and 40 to 45 grams of carbohydrate per hundred grams of sea vegetable. Alaria (essentially identical to the j.a.panese wakame) and kelp are extremely high in calcium. All of the sea vegetables seem to be high in pota.s.sium, with kelp being the highest, followed by dulse and alaria. Alaria and kelp are high in magnesium, each having three times the RDA per 100 grams. Kelp and alaria have very high amounts of iodine. One hundred grams of kelp has approximately ten times the estimated RDA. One hundred grams of alaria and nori have approximately 8487 and 4266 iu of vitamin A per hundred grams. One hundred grams of most of the sea vegetables has about one-third the RDA of the B vitamins, one-tenth the RDA of vitamin C, and about one-third the RDA of vitamin E. As pointed out earlier, these sea vegetables also contain chelating agents that are effective for protection against the absorption of radioactive particles.

Some people must acquire a taste for sea vegetables. I find that they taste excellent in their dried raw-leaf form. Although I have never enjoyed raw granular kelp or kelp in tablet form, eating the actual kelp frond, dried or fresh, is a tasty addition to salads and soups. It is best to eat the sea vegetables in their raw form after the sea salt and occasional seash.e.l.ls and animals have been rinsed off. This takes about ten minutes of soaking and rinsing. After the raw sea vegetables are soaked, one can eat them right away or marinate them in vinegar or lemon juice. I enjoy adding a variety of masalas to the marinade.

Soaked sea vegetables balance V, are neutral to P, and neutral to slightly unbalancing to K.

SEA VEGETABLE ENTReES.

Nori Rolls