Eating pulses in the summer

In the summer, a refreshing and appetizing way to eat pulses is in salads. Here you have the recipe of a delicious lentils salad with slightly boiled vegetables and alfalfa sprouts. 

One important thing to take into account is that sprouted foods (germinated grains, seeds and beans) should not be eaten raw because when raw, they have certain substances - substances which  are produced by the sprouts themselves as a way of protection again the infestation of microorganisms-  that prevent the body from absorbing a big amount of the vitamins and minerals they contain. Therefore, before eating sprouts, you have to saute or slightly boil them.  

Lentils salad with  thyme dressing 

Ingredients for two people:

200 grams of boiled lentils

A zucchini cut into matchsticks

1 carrot cut into small cubes

4 table spoons of boiled corn

2 radishes cut into small cubes

Sprouted alfalfa seeds (previously blanched)

Ingredients for  the dressing:

3 table spoons of sesame oil

1 table spoon of roasted sesame oil

3 table spoons of Umeboshi vinegar

A pinch of ground cumin

Dried thyme

Directions:

Mix well all the ingredients of the dressing with a bit of water. Mix the lentils with the dressing and let it macerate for at least three hours. Boil  the carrot and the zucchini for 1 minute and rinse with cold water. Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Summer energy and food

Needless to say, we do not eat in the same way throughout the year. In summer we feel more open  and lively. We become  more sociable and feel like doing activities outdoors. We need energy to cope with this more active rhythm and to be in tune with the energy around us. Our food should be light, colorful, with refreshing flavors and crunchy textures. We  should eat simple and appetizing dishes that, at the same time,   nurture our bodies.

What foods 
should we favor
in the summer?  

• Grains: long grain rice or Basmati rice, barley, quinoa, bulgur, cous-cous, polenta and whole grain pasta.
• Soups: Cold soups and  vegetable creams.
• Proteins: pulses in salads and patés and also fish.
• Vegetables: All kinds of seasonal vegetables.  
• Seasonings and flavors: try different seasonings to enhance your colorful salads. Use fresh herbs, umeboshi or rice vinegar, mustard, garlic, ginger, citrus, good quality olive oil, etc. 
• Seaweed: Dulse, Wakame, Nori.
• Fruit: seasonal fruits in fruit salads, jellies, sherbets and mousses. 

In the summer we need a light, active, refreshing energy that opens us up while nurturing us at the same time. We will reduce the cooking time, pressure and fire in our preparations as well as flours and baked foods.

Is macrobiotics all about food?

George Ohsawa

Macrobiotics is not only about food, what to eat and what to avoid, and a series of techniques to attain physical health. For George Ohsawa, the founder of Macrobiotic diet and `philosophy, the aim of macrobiotics was to improve our consciousness. All of us have the potential to be a better, more balanced and harmonious us and the purpose of macrobiotics is to have the physical and mental health that can take us to achieve our true potential.  The point is not food in itself, but how food influences and affects us in our process to achieve this greater consciousness.

The path towards it is a continuous task in which all our energetic bodies- physical, emotional and mental-  cooperate. Whatever affects the one, affects the others and therefore we should be able to understand the energetic needs of the three of them.  Nature is animated by energy in constant movement. In relation to that, macrobiotics could be defined as the study of the patterns of this energy movement.  If we understand how energy moves, we will not spend our lives going against it with a series of behaviors that sooner or later will bring about illness.

When I talk about alchemy in our kitchen and our lives, I am referring to the power we have to generate long term, surprising and powerful effects that bring quality, freedom and balance. We need to learn about the effects of different foods and their consequences. Once we are informed, we will be able to knowingly and freely choose what we want to create in our lives. And since we are all unique and constantly changing and moving with life, we will observe ourselves and our environment to be able to adjust to life’s changes.

So, going back to the question of the beginning, macrobiotics is for sure not a series of instructions about what to eat and what to avoid, but about learning how to use food to our advantage. Food is not the destination, it is only the way. If you want to know what you have to eat, you will have to determine first what you want to achieve. And here we have to make it clear that food is only part, although a big part, of the picture.  Food will help us enormously to attain the better us I was talking about before, but it will work in collaboration with other things.   

Last I would like to emphasize that macrobiotics cannot be any further from a rigid, static approach based on rules being as it is all about knowledge, freedom, flexibility and creativity.

Sugar- free Cookies

Almond and oats cookies with cranberry and blueberry jam

Ingredients: 

1 cup of ground almond. 

Half cup of fined milled oat flakes. 

Half cup of rice or oat milk. 

3 table spoons of rice syrup. 

Some drops of almond essence. 

A pinch of sea salt. 

Sugar free cranberry and blueberry jam.

Directions: 

1. Mix the almond, the oats, the milk, the salt and the rice syrup in a bowl. 

2. Add the almond essence and make. 

3. With your hands, shape the cookies  and make a hole in the center. 

4. Place the cookies  on a baking pan and fill the hole with the jam. 

5. Bake at 170º for 20 minutes. 

TRAINING IN MACROBIOTICS

TRAINING IN MACROBIOTICS

BASIC LEVEL

For people that want to be introduced to macrobiotics, a philosophy that recognizes the profound effects food, environment, activities and attitude all have in our body-mind-emotions. In the workshop of the basic level you will know what this philosophy is all about and put it into practice.  

CONTENTS:

·         What is macrobiotics and how to apply it to your everyday life.

·         Key recipes to start with.

·         Use of grains, vegetables, pulses and other basic foods in the macrobiotic diet.

·         Foods to avoid: sugar, dairy, animal protein, etc. and their effect in our organism.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Workshop 1-

Kitchen: First steps with macrobiotics: A basic menu.

Theory: Basic ingredients in the diet: grains, pulses and vegetables.  Nutritional  and macrobiotic study of these foods.  Organization in the kitchen.

Workshop 2 –

Kitchen: First steps with macrobiotics: energetic breakfasts.

Theory:  The bitter side of sugar. The myth of the dairy products. 

Workshop 3 –

Kitchen: Cutting techniques. Standard macrobiotic menu for spring.

Theory: Basic ingredients in the diet: The energy of grains. Classification of vegetables.

Workshop  4 –

Kitchen: Standard macrobiotic menu for summer.

Theory: Protein of animal or vegetable origin? Vegetable  proteins.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND DURATION:

The duration of the course is 24 hours. You can choose one of the following programs:

-          During the week workshops: Wednesdays from 3 to 7 pm. Dates: 19^th March, 26^th March, 2^nd April, 9^th April, 16^th April, 30^th April.

-          Weekend workshops: Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m. Dates: 23^rd March, 13th April, 4^th May, 1^st June. There is also the possibility of doing the one- day workshops on Saturdays.

-          Intensive program:  23^rd- 26^th April 2014 from 10:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m.

FEES:

·         During the week 4 hour workshops: 40 Euros/workshop.

·         Weekend 6 hour workshops: 60 Euros/ workshop.

·         Intensive program (Four 6 hour workshops in 4 consecutive days): 240 Euros. 

SUSHI ROLLS

MACROBIOTIC SUSHI ROLLS

Ingredients: short grain brown rice fresh or left-over, stir- fried vegetables freshly made or left over, brown rice vinegar, nori sheets, toasted sesame seeds, and shoyu, ginger, wasabi, etc. to serve.

Directions: 1. Mix rice with brown rice vinegar. 2. Spread brown rice thinly on the Nori sheet. 3. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the rice. 4. Place a line of the vegetables in the middle of the roll and roll it. 5. Slice and serve with wasabi, ginger, shoyu, mustard or any other condiment you like.

Add other ingredients to the filling such as sauteed mushrooms, tofu, etc.


If you haven' t made  sushi rolls yet, this video explains very well how to make them. I  find it  very useful to learn the technique.

What is macrobiotics?

What is macrobiotics?

Research has linked modern diet and lifestyle habits to virtually all the debilitating chronic degenerative diseases, as well as lesser health issues generally attributed to aging. And this is precisely what Macrobiotics addresses:  the dietary and lifestyle changes that can make us recover and keep health.

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health, through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals’ current health challenges, and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement. 

Not simply a “diet”, macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food, environment, activities, and attitude all have on our body-mind-emotions.