Create an INTENTION to practise conscious eating, connecting to your food with all of your senses and with a grateful attitude. Here are a few mindful intentions that help to guide me.
Invite a feeling of gratitude and thanks by blessing your food before and after eating.
Nourish yourself by practising silence when eating your food.
Take the intention to always sit down to eat.
Eat only when hungry and drink only when thirsty.
Nutrients are better absorbed when meals are kept simple, not mixing too many different foods together.
Thoroughly chew your food and eat slowly.
Increase awareness and avoid drinking large quantities of liquid, especially cold when eating.
Open your heart by using candles, special dishes, flowers to create beauty around meal-time.
Never eat in an agitated or angry state and always eat in a calm, relaxed, settled and quiet atmosphere.
beetroot fennel quinoa pilaf
A favourite way of serving this is with a freshly made still warm hummus and a leafy, lemon, garden herb salad. When I am short of time, I put everything into the pot to cook with the quinoa – not as aesthetically looking, but still deliciously tasty. This could be made with rice, barley, millet or any grain of choice – double the spices when making with rice.
ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1½ cups water
1 small fennel bulb
1 medium beetroot
1 medium carrot
for the voggarane
2 Tblp ghee or oil
½ heaped tsp cumin seeds
½ heaped tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp pink peppercorns
2 Tbsp small black currants or chopped sultanas
1 tsp jaggery
1 tsp fine rock salt
preparation
1. Wash the quinoa and let sit in water for 10 minutes, drain and place in a saucepan with 1½ cups water, bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer, covered until water has evaporated. (Try to just under-cook the quinoa slightly – it gives a nice texture and nutty bite). Let sit undisturbed for 15 minutes.
2. Finely slice the fennel, cut the beetroot and carrot into small uniformed pieces. (Cutting them small allows them to become tender quicker without overcooking the fennel.) Set aside.
prepare the voggarane
3. In a pan, dry roast the cumin, coriander and peppercorns. Add to a mortar and pestle, roughly grind – set aside.
4. Heat ghee in a pan, saute the fennel for 1 minute, then add the carrot, beetroot and ground spices – cover and saute on a low heat until just tender, 12 -15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add currants, jaggery, salt and quinoa. With a fork, fluff up the quinoa as you stir to combine and garnish with finely chopped fennel fronds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
lemon leafy garden herb salad with a pine nut lemon dressing
for the salad
a mixture of small garden leaves of parsley, fennel, mustard, spinach, lettuce and coriander
edible garden flowers
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 avocado, cut into small cubes
for the dressing
¼ cup pine nuts
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
½ juice of a lemon
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
¼ cup cold press olive/flax oil
preparation
1. In a skillet, dry-roast the pine nuts and sesame seeds until golden, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool, then roughly chop 2 tablespoons and set aside.
2. In a blender, place the remaining pine nuts with the rest of the ingredients and blend on high for 1 minute. While blender is running add the oil, blend until thick and creamy and transfer to a jar and set aside.
3. Gently wash the garden flowers separately, and place on a cloth to dry. Wash and spin the salad leaves and place in a bowl with the cucumber and avocado.
4. Shake the dressing and drizzle over the salad and lightly toss. Sprinkle over the lemon rind, pine nuts and edible garden flowers.
Find a quiet place, bless, and enjoy with gratitude.
Goodness shared from Stacey
