Tempeh, Ghee and Easy Soup recipe

Sweet potato soup (serves 4)

This is a super simple, fast, delicious, nourishing and easy to digest meal that will make you feel good and energized.

What you need:

 2-5 sweet potatoes

1 can of coconut milk

50g red lentils / person

1 celery stalk

(1 onion)

(A couple cloves of garlic)

Turmeric

black pepper

Cayenne pepper

What to do:

Chop the veggies and put them in a pot with the lentils. Cover with water and heat to a boil. Skim off any foam, and add spices and crushed tomatoes. After 10-15 min add the coconut milk. Blend the soup to a creamy consistency. Enjoy alone or with a nice salad with avocado and fried strips of Tempeh.

A few words on tempeh: 

Tempeh is a traditional indonesian food made from fermented soy. The good properties of soy is that it contains all amino acids and is thus a very good source of protein. Unfermented soy is problematic because it has some very hard to digest compounds that mimic estrogen in the body, and if too much is consumed it will have an adverse effect on the endocrine system, making us too estrogenic with symptoms of moodiness, increased risk of cancer, feminine characteristics in men such as man boobs and low sex drive. etc. But when soy is fermented it loses all it’s negative effects and become a very nutritious and easy to digest source of vegetable protein. Soy also has the advantage of raising IGf-1 (insuline like growth factor-1) levels in the blood. Igf-1 is an anabolic hormone which means it will cause growth and regeneration of tissues. Too much can be troublesome, as can be the case when too much animal products are consumed habitually on a regular basis. On a vegan diet, especially long term, it might be a challenge to get the body to an enough anabolic state where it renews itself properly, we might feel unsettled and nervous and not sleep as good as we used to, and we might have a really hard time to put on healthy body mass. So for anyone on a vegan diet, and also for anybody who wants to get some of their protein from a plant source I strongly recommend tempeh as it’s super satisfying, easy to make and delicious.

Try it for breakfast with avoadoes and greens, or with your oats and/or smoothie if you’re into those in the mornings.

Here’s how to do it:

Get a pack of soy tempeh (there’s also other kinds out there such as grain and pea, but i prefer soy because of it’s amino acid content) cut as many strips as you’d like to eat and maybe a few extra to snack on later or to have with your next meal, Place the strips in a low dish and cover generously with olive oil, Tamari and a little applecidervinegar. The tempeh will soak all these in, without it will be quite dry. Let the strips soak in the juices for some minutes and then simply fry them in some coconut oil, or even better, grass fed ghee. To add some more building food to your vegan or vegetarian diet, add some fried tempeh strips to any meal of the day, or as a little satisfying snack if you need one, great with just some avocado, sauerkraut and some nice mustard. Mmm mmm mmm.

And some words on Ghee

Ghee is simply put pure butterfat, as in butter with all the water and protein removed. Usually it’s the protein in milk, especially an amino acid called casein that’s responsible for many of the adverse effect we might experience from milk products such as achy and swollen joints due to inflammation. In Ayurveda Ghee is considered a very sacred and medicinal substance, basically the essence of the essence of a humble, good willed and peaceful animal, the holy cow. Ghee is said to have the ability to penetrate tissue and go deep into to the body, carrying nutrients and medicinal substances deep into our cells. Ghee also has a lot of Ojas, an Ayurvedic term meaning essence, or crude life-force. In Chinese medicine this same concept is referred to as Jing. Generally all healthy animal fats contain a lot of ojas/jing. nuts and seeds, especially almonds are a good source of ojas, nut we must always remember to at least soak them in water overnight before consuming them. Back to ghee. If you are on a vegan diet i strongly recommend to make an exception when it comes to ghee as you will benefit greatly long term by having a few spoonfuls every day. Grass fed ghee contains the omega-3 fatty acids epa and dha which are anti- inflammatory and  crucial for a healthy brain and nervous system as well as healthy hormonal functioning and balance. Grass fed ghee also has fat soluble vitamins d, a and k2 which are crucial for strong and healthy bones and teeth. ghee made from conventional dairy will have much much less of all these compounds, so get grass fed ghee or make it yourself from grass ped butter, the Irish brand Kerrygold is one of the best I know.

Here’s how to do it:

Get your butter in a skillet or pot and heat it up on the lowest heat possible. As it melts it will begin to boil. Let it simmer and bubble and as white foam start to collect keep skimming it off. After some time the ghee will turn clear and you will start to see the bottom of the pot. Skim off any arising foam as well as you can. Pour the ghee through a cheesecloth or coffeestrainer and let cool down. discard the stuff you skimmed off. In India they mix it with sugar and give to kids and it might be pretty caramel and delicious. Probably not the healthiest thing for a westerner tho. The process of making ghee is great to turn into a prayer, ceremony and meditation, Infuse it with all your goodwill and healing intention for yourself and the world. Store it in a glass jar in room temperature out of light, it will stay good easily for about two-three weeks so make a batch that will last this long. Add a spoon or two to all your meals and see how full, satiated and happy it will make you feel. Bless the cows who transformed the essence of the earth in to this hormonal health nectar.

Daal and Kitchari Recipe

Hey all. Wanted to share with you my own versions of these classic veg dishes, they were among the first ones i started to do myself back in 2006 and they have been evolving together with me since. enjoy the kitchen magic you are about to create :)

Daal. (4 servings)

First of all, develop and learn to trust your feeling and intuition around cooking. Maintain a heart awareness in yourself, bring in all the ingredients, and the cooking food in this heartspace. Never do anything without it. Let it be your kitchen meditation. Incorporate a prayer and an intention of wellbeing and happiness for those you are cooking for as well as yourself. Surrender the process to the most high. Have trust and faith. as human beings we’r creators and an alchemists by nature and we can all make healing and delicious food.

Here’s what you need:

Red lentils 200g

Celery 1-2 sticks

Carrots 3

fresh fennel 0,5-1

Fresh ginger. Thumb size piece

(onions) 1

(garlic) 2-4 cloves

Grassfed Ghee or cold pressed Coconut oil 0,5-1dl

Crushed tomatoes 1 can

Tomato paste. 3-6 tablespoons

Grass fed dairy cream or coconut cream 1-2dl

Spices:

Cumin seeds

fennel Seeds

Turmeric powder

Paprika powder

Black pepper

Cinnamon

coriander seeds

Or any other spices you feel like trying, don’t be afraid to paint outside the lines. If you want strict, sattvic (balanced) Leave out onion and garlic.

And here’s what you do

Wash the lentils well, change water at least three times. This is an absolutely crucial step as dry lentils tend to be very dirty. Put in all your care in the washing, like washing the face of a baby. Heat up water in a kettle or a pot to a boil.

slice and dice Carrots, Fennel, Onions, Garlic and ginger.

Heat up the oil in a skillet. Add the whole spice seeds and fry for a moment before adding in all the stuff you just chopped. Let simmer on low heat for about ten minutes under lid, stir every few minutes.

Add tomato paste and dry spices, feel the right amount intuitively maintaining all the time an awareness of your own heart, connecting it to the ingredients and the food in making, incorporate an intention and a prayer of well wishes and care for those about to eat your food, yourself included. 

Let the mixture heat up while stirring. Add lentils, and a little more oil if too dry, don’t be afraid to put too much fat, it will make everything delicious.

Let lentils heat up and soak in the energy of your spicy paste and then add the crushed tomato. Mix in and heat up before pouring in the boiling water. Let the water level be slightly higher than the lentils. When boiling cover the pot and turn heat low.

Stir occasionally and add a little boiling water if the daal is too dry. Take care not to put too much water tho unless a watery daal is your cup of tea. Cook Silently for about half an hour. Enjoy with Rice, quinoa, steamed veggies, salad or whatever else you desire. I Love You.

Kitchari (4 servings)

A classic, Ayurvedic dish that’s balancing for all doshas and is used in cleanses because it digests very cleanly without leaving any toxins in the digestive tract. Traditionally is used split, yellow mung beans and basmati rice, but I like to use brown rice and whole mung beans. I like to soak these together over night, or even better soak overnight and then pour off the water and let the rice and beans sit in the pot under the lid for an additional 12-48h for sprouting. Kitchari will be done enough in 45-60min, but if you can let it go on low heat for up to three hours, this will really increase the potency of the food and make all the nutrients more readily available and easy to absorb.

Here’s what you need:

Brown rice 200g

Mung beans 150g

Carrots

(Onion)

(Garlic)

Fennel

Fresh ginger

Grassfed ghee or coconut oil

(Or any other veggies or root veggies you feel like incorporating. Soft, fresh veggies like broccoli or zucchini should be added late, about 10-20min before serving, while ie. Beetroot all the way from the beginning) If you want strict sattvic for balance and deeper meditation please leave out onion and garlic.

Dry Spices.

Fennel seed

Cumin seed

Turmeric

Black pepper

Coriander seed

And here’s what to do.

Soak and sprout rice and beans, wash first in three waters.

Heat a few liters of water in a pot or kettle.Chop up what needs to be chopped.

Heat up oil in a pot. Add the whole spice seeds and stir fry for a moment before adding in the stuff you just chopped. Turn heat low and cover the pot. Add the rice and beans, cover with boiling water and start simmering. Skim off any foam arising to the surface. Let simmer on low heat for up to 3h, stir often enough so the kitchari won’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add boiling water if needed. Eat as desired with salad, sauerkraut, sprouts etc. I sometimes make a big pot of kitchari and stick it in the fridge and then keep on eating it for the next days heated up in the pan as I go about my business. Easy cos I don’t have to worry about meal prep for this period. Much Love and Enjoy.

September 2018 California

Greetings from Northern California. Fall is starting to be felt in the air.

I will begin by sharing the feelings arising in me about publishing this post. Fear of being judged, the text not being good or conscious enough, having too much ego, being small minded just writing about my own selfish experience when I could or should be writing about how we all should make the world a better place for the next generation. And here I am writing about eating meat and drinking tea. With that said I come back to myself love and that this is the real me, and my real experience this time around. I write more for myself than for anybody else. To move energy, to look at my experience from a different angle, to share to and write. And maybe, and hopefully somebody else will find at least a little interesting, or get some value from it. 

I flew in here the day before yesterday. Very smooth flow with immigration and took the Bart train downtown and walked to my hotel. Had a little cold going on and went out later to get some echinacea tincture from a small health food store. 

Woke  up early the next morning which was yesterday and went out into chinatown and this very local Dim Sum place filled with Chinese people speaking Chinese and drinking tea and having various dishes for breakfast. 

So I was sitting there feeling happy and drinking a pot of nice tea and having spare ribs for breakfast. Eating meat and animal fat again after two weeks of vegetarianism feels great. I feel much more stable in body and mind and my teeth feel much stronger. All respect to people who want to end animal suffering, I'm all for that too but I do think we're omnivores and personally my wellbeing is greater when i consciously eat enough animal products to stay my best. This is a topic worth gong into with more detail, around food combining and genetic expression etc. but that will be another blog, right now I want to stay on the traveling.

After Dim Sum and tea in two different restaurants which were very moderately priced by the way, I paid only about 10 in each, I went to check out some herb shops. Wild American ginseng was my primary desire but I ended up getting some sliced Korean Ginseng, wild Cordyceps and deer antler slices as well. I'd forgot how excited I get around these rare and precious herbs. Still looking forward to try them out as tonic herbs of this class shouldn't be consumed when one has a cold because they will close up the surface of the body system so that it won't be able to expel what need to be expelled.

I then decided to go to my friend Naeem's to pick up my motorbike stored in his garage for the past month. Him and his girlfriend had just had a little baby boy so felt special to visit them also for this reason. I ended up having a smoke with Neem and his homie which was surprisingly nice even if I don't really smoke weed anymore. Drank a lot of tea and had a super interesting conversation with his retired mother who is a very strong and special lady with a very mixed heritage of white, black and native American.

When starting to take off my bike jacket was nowhere to be found. We literally turned the whole garage upside down, took out a lot of stuff searching. But eventually had to give up. An interesting situation I didn't want to, and still don't want to blame anyone. But the jacket had to go somewhere. It might be possible It was left outside by me a month earlier, or maybe one of the tenants took it. Anyway, I decided to let it go, that jacket wasn't really me anyway. So rode on with my hiking jacket which works well enough even if it doesn't have any protective armor.

I was destined to Hopland a 100 miles north, the sun was setting and it was warm enough. Felt really good to be riding again. My odometer cable had broke a month before so it was a bit challenging to keep track on how many miles I rode. I also was riding with full throttle so gas was spent quicker than usual. I ran out of gas just about 10miles short of my destination. What to do but to start waving at passing cars, and lucky enough literally the fourth car passing stopped, and Brian and his wife and baby girl took me to a gas station where I got a gas can and gas and could continue on to my air bn'b. The place turned out to be a real gem, a small cob hut on this solar powered permaculture farm. As it is early morning when I'm writing this I still haven't really explored it much so Can't say more than that i feel very blessed to be here, sitting in this natural, well ventilated space with rounded forms inside.

So toady my plan is to ride around 240 miles along the coast and through the mountains to go back to hayfork and the farm that's been my base and home for three months and will be so for three more. Looking forward to the mountains, to get to nourish myself and rest. And of course to cook for the California tantra festival in about a week. wow. that's very soon. Exciting. My purest intention is for the food to be balanced, delicious, healthy and healing for everybody eating. And the kitchenwork to be fun, harmonious and crazy for everybody participating.

I feel very greatful and blessed for everything in life at the moment. My month in Europe and all the friends I got to connect to. My health and knowledge to keep healthy as best as I can. Good tea and herbs. And my freedom to live my life like I do. It's so amazing and humbling that I better just shut up about it now. I Love you, I thank You, I'm Sorry and I forgive you. Namaste.