You may have heard that Ayurveda shuns salads in winter. But could there be a way to enjoy a delicious fresh salad, and reap the good benefits?
Yes. Two things can help a salad pass the Ayurveda test:
1) Use seasonal ingredients.
2) Cook it!
Cook your salad?
Generally, Ayurveda considers salads to be cold, dry, rough and difficult to digest. In winter, when it is already cold, dry and often rough (think chapped lips and skin), a raw salad just feeds the seasonal dosha.
Roasting your veggies not only heats the food to warm your body and stimulate digestion, but it brings out the sweetness. With a bright citrus dressing, it’s almost like a salad of sweet sunshine – a welcome invitation to cultivate the inner light, on a dark winter day.
Here, where I live in Southern California, the temperature remains mild during winter and these vegetables are in season: fennel, beets, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens, kale, and carrots, just to name a few.
These are hearty vegetables which stand up well to a roast. Cooking these vegetables, of course, enhances their inner agni, making them easier to digest, and delicious too!
Roasted Winter Salad
Makes enough for 2
Ingredients
1 medium fennel bulb stalks and fronds removed, thinly sliced
3/4 pound brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
1 beet, or two carrots, very finely diced or spiralized
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil + drizzle
A good salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small orange, or meyer lemon
2 sprigs rosemary
Herbs on hand, mint, parsley, basil, dill are great
Options: lentils, pomegranate, provencal olives, pine nuts, pistachios pumpkin seeds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Spread the vegetables out on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.
While this is roasting, make the dressing by zesting the citrus and squeezing its juice into a small bowl. Whisk in olive oil to taste. It should be slightly sweet and very citrus-y bright to balance the woody roast.
When the vegetables are beginning to brown, remove from the oven. Pour the dressing over and mix lightly.
To serve, portion into two bowls and toss with lentils, pomegranate, pepitas, fresh herbs, or your choice of topping. Serve warm.
Want to see the steps? Check out my IG Reel on my Instagram feed food.a.love.story available from January 12th.
An important principle of Ayurveda Integrative Nutrition is to use foods that are local, fresh, seasonal, and make sense for the current constitution of each client. In AIN, you’ll learn how to help craft delicious meals and nutrition plans that meet your clients wherever they’re at, taking into account their environment, season, vikruti, and lifestyle.
My Ayurveda Integrative Nutrition Training teaches you to heal your digestive fire so you can help others light theirs and together light the world!
Eat, Serve, Heal: Ignite Your Health Today
It’s a painful and sometimes deadly epidemic. We simply are not digesting what we consume, which leads to crippling cramps, acid reflux, weight gain, metabolic disorders, and sometimes hospitalization and even death.
73% of Americans have complained of digestive disorders to their health care professional – and that number is rising. Many suffer grinding discomfort on a daily basis, hoping it will simply go away.
Your gut health impacts your brain health, heart health, skin health and mental health as well as your day to day energy, clarity, immunity, and longevity. The answer to this epidemic lies in Ayurveda, the world’s oldest comprehensive system of healing and a sister science to Yoga.
Ayurveda has long known that digestive health is essential for all health, and that all disease is related to weak digestion. Yet, how to eat, and how to live for digestive health is not taught in medical school. It’s barely even taught in Ayurveda trainings! Until now.
Ignite your health and help others do the same. We begin January 20: Join us today with a 25% discount, using the code ainlove25, good until Friday midnight. ✨