Yogi recipe: vegetable spreads

February 8, 2013 by Ambika Yoga Leave a comment

This week, I’ve started an evening course (5 times, once every 3 weeks) on food sovereignty @ Rencontre des Continents in Brussels. We don’t really ask ourselves a lot of questions as to where our daily food comes from (from production, to transformation & distribution), but we should. The course will elaborate on the impacts of our everyday decisions as to what we put on our plate and how these have direct effects on the planet & people. The course strives to provide  us with knowledge & tools in order to make ethical and well-informed decisions every time we consume (literally) in order to have a much needed (collective) positive impact on the ecosystem of food.

All the students brought some food to share (potluck style) & luckily there was no meat or fish at all! Just some dairy which I could easily avoid as everyone was very informative about what they brought.

As a practical assignment we prepared different vegetable spreads. There were 4 groups of ingredients: legumes (pulses), vegetables (cooked beetroots, carrots, parsnip, leek), oils & nuts, spices, herbs & condiments (lemon, red pepper, ginger root, tamari, white sweet miso, fresh garlic & parsley), all organic! We had to prepare a vegetable spread with at least one ingredient out of all groups. It was a lot of fun, as we formed smaller groups and discussed which flavors would go well together, a lot of improvisation went on there! 1/3 of pulses & 2/3 of vegetables is recommended & the wet ingredients first to make it easier to blend (blades are at the bottom). You blend it all to a smooth texture in a simple hand blender, i.e. this one by Braun that I use.

Some combinations

• chickpeas, beetroot, cumin powder, garlic, walnuts,  olive oil, lemon juice
• brown lentils, ginger, cashew nuts, carrots & parsnip, tamari sauce, lemon juice
• silken tofu, parsley, almond paste, ginger root, tamari sauce, leeks, lemon juice
• brown lentils, silken tofu, sesame oil, cumin, ginger, garlic, carrots & parsnip, lemon juice
• kidney beans, white miso, sunflower seeds, garlic, leeks, olive oil, turmeric powder, red pepper

PS: garlic is not considered sattvic food in yoga, so I prefer to stay abstain from it.

It’s a great exercise as you simply try to combine flavors & it basically always works! It’s delicious as a spread on bread or with a green salad & a full meal as you combine all the food groups to a perfectly balanced meal (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins).

Soon I’ll share more about the theory & the other recipes we’ll create. The next session is in 3 weeks.