Spring, glorious spring, with its air of fresh possibilities, is the perfect time to do some cleaning and cleansing. Gather up everything green you see in the grocery store and make yourself a big pot of Spring Greens Gumbo. You’ll have so much energy that the spring housecleaning will feel like a summer breeze. Spring [...]
Tag Archives: vegetarian
Posted on April 22nd, 2013 by Valerie Reiss in Healthy Living
The Joy of Eating
Almost right away, our teacher asks us to draw a “memorable food experience.” Nothing gets adults past their fear of anything, even drawing, faster than food. Gripping crayons passed around in paper cups, we sketch elaborate Thanksgiving tables, giant pots of comforting stew, and quite a few lobsters. When our teacher, Kripalu nutritionist Kathie Madonna [...]
Posted on April 12th, 2013 by Thrive in Kripalu Kitchen
Kripalu Recipes: Amaranth and Quinoa Salad
This dish comes straight from Kripalu’s natural-foods kitchen, which promotes healthy lifestyles and well-being through delicious nutrition. Whole grains are an excellent source of fiber and the B-vitamin complex, which is good for the nervous system. They are also a grounding food, supporting calm and balance. Both amaranth and quinoa are ancient grains that were [...]
Posted on March 22nd, 2013 by Annie B. Kay, MS, RD, RYT in Nutrition
Eat Clean for Less
Clean organic produce is more widely available than ever before, yet whenever I check out at my whole foods grocery, I imagine my father (a rural farmer cash-on-the-barrel sort of guy) fainting dead away at the grand total. The price of grass-fed meat, high-quality dairy, and organic produce can be daunting, after all. If you desire [...]
Posted on March 8th, 2013 by Thrive in Kripalu Kitchen
Vegan Gravy and Buddha Sauce for Late-Winter Meals
By this time of year, we’re all ready for some warmth. Here at Kripalu, we serve a selection of tasty, healthy staples that keep everyone nourished through the winter. Many of these are available at our Buddha Bar, which provides macrobiotic and vegan options daily, including organic grains, steamed vegetables, and legumes. Here are two [...]
Posted on February 15th, 2013 by Deb Morgan in Kripalu Kitchen
Warming Winter Soups
With real winter weather settling in, I decided that a hearty stew dinner was in order last weekend for a gathering with family and friends. As I get many requests for our Harvest Stew and Creamy White Bean and Roasted Fennel Soup recipes, I decided to make both! Not only did the soups turn out [...]
Posted on December 7th, 2012 by Deb Morgan in Kripalu Kitchen
Healthy Holiday Cookies
My kids grew up in a natural-foodie household—that’s all they ever knew. Brown rice, tofu, stir-fry veggies, and a variety of comfort-foods-gone-natural were their bread and butter, so to speak. Given that I was pretty successful at making it all taste good, everyone was generally eager for dinnertime to roll around.
Until, that is, I’d bring out the desserts. Eschewing white flour, white sugar, butter, and eggs (and lacking any talent in working with their whole-grain vegan counterparts), my desserts in those days left a lot to be desired. I remember the fateful day when I produced yet another dense under-sweetened square I was trying to pass off as a cake, and my daughter looked at me and said, “Mom, just stop trying.”
Happiness and Fruit
Seems obvious: Who doesn’t get at least a little bit excited by a heaping bowl of fresh-cut fruit (especially if someone else has done the cutting for us)? But now science confirms that happiness and mental health rise with the number of servings of fruits and vegetables we eat each day.
Researchers at the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College studied 80,000 people living in the United Kingdom, and compared their fruit and veggie intake with their life satisfaction, mental well-being, presence of mental disorders, self-reported health, happiness, nervousness, and how often they “feel low,” factoring in such variables as the rest of their diets, alcohol, and many demographic, social, and economic factors. In an overwhelming number of cases, people who ate the World Health Organization-recommended five servings per day were happier than those who didn’t, and those who ate seven per day were happiest.
Posted on November 14th, 2012 by Alyssa Giacobbe in Nutrition
How to Have a Nutritious Thanksgiving
With all the focus on overindulgence—of food and family—we often forget that Thanksgiving is, at heart, a day for giving thanks and being grateful. That said, let’s get back to the food. Some of us choose to “let go,” and eat whatever we want, giving ourselves myriad excuses: It’s tradition, it’s etiquette, it’s just so delicious! But Thanksgiving offers a bounty of ways to enjoy fresh, local vegetables, so while it’s okay to treat yourself, it’s also entirely possible to indulge but not overeat—and, even, put together an optimally nutritious Thanksgiving dinner that sacrifices neither taste nor holiday spirit.
Still, if you can, try to avoid flour and bread products, says John Bagnulo,PhD, MPH, who teaches nutrition in Kripalu’s Healthy Living programs. “This will significantly help reduce the tendency to overeat,” says John. “Grains and flour raise levels of leptin—the hormone that controls appetite and cravings—more than any other food after sugar.” We asked John to share his ideal grain- and cruelty-free Thanksgiving meal.
Posted on November 9th, 2012 by Deb Morgan in Kripalu Kitchen
Culinary Inspiration
I sit at my kitchen table smiling as I gaze lovingly at my newly acquired collection of cookbooks. With titles such as Jerusalem, Turquoise: A Chef’s Travels in Turkey, Mourad New Moroccan, and A Mediterranean Feast , each recipe- and photo-filled volume must weigh at least five pounds. These books are souvenirs that I brought back from my visit this past weekend to the Culinary Institute of America’s annual Worlds of Flavors conference near San Francisco. This year’s theme was Arc of Flavors: Re-imagining Culinary Exchange, from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Asia, and indeed we explored much of the world and its fabulous flavors.
The conference was quite the experience: Imagine 700 chefs watching 70 other chefs and restaurateurs from about 30 countries sharing their interpretations of the food and cooking styles of their region. And then we ate. And ate. And ate!
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