EXPLORE


MIX FOODS OF VARIOUS COLORS AND TEXTURES, BE SURPRISED AT HOW GOOD THEY TASTE - Begin with an abundance of green leaves.  Some are delicious raw while others must be cooked for better flavor - experiment.  Learn to use foods in proportion to each other.  Select and chop 4 cups of leafy greens, cut up 4 or 5 vegetables and fruits, empty a can of legumes plus a can of diced tomatoes, add a handful of nuts or seeds, mix and season with your choice of olive oil, lemon, ginger, mustard, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and serve on a generous bed of cooked whole grains.


CANNED GOODS LIKE TOMATOES AND BEANS ARE OK-  Tomatoes picked and canned in their prime retain taste and nutrition.  Begin with the convenience and great variety of canned beans, then try and cook your own.


COOKING WHOLE GRAINS IS NOT THAT TIME CONSUMING - All grains require cooking in abundant liquid since they soak a lot of it in. It is better to use too much liquid than not enough while you get experience. You can discard the extra water in the end. Refer to time tables. Use a timer. But most of all, experiment! Large grains like brown rice and whole wheat need to cook for 45 to 90 minutes.  Smaller grains like cut oats, quinoa, or amaranth may take 20 minutes. Season them with salt, lemon, and herbs for a savory dish. Or add cinnamon, raw sugar, and vanilla for a sweet breakfast or desert.


HEALTH AND DISEASE ARE LINKED TO OUR CHOICE OF FOOD -  We know this already.  If we meditate on this notion we cultivate a taste for some foods while we lose the taste for others.


A BOWLFUL OF PLANTS CAN BECOME A UNIQUE AND WHOLESOME MEAL - Let variety and color be your guide. Remember that a food can appear different and still be the same food. For example: white bread, pizza, white pasta, bagels, pretzels, muffins, crackers, cookies, cakes- are all made from the least nutritious part of the wheat kernel (endosperm) which is then ground into white flour. These foods only seem different because of added ingredients such as salt, milk, oil, sugar, and other flavorings. Nutritionally they are the same. Emphasize variety.


LET THE EXPLORATION BEGIN - Begin right where you are. Just begin.


COOKED WHOLE GRAINS ARE VERY TASTY-  Adventure into the great variety and taste of whole grains -  brown rices, rye, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, hulled barley, wild rice.   Cook them separately.  Mix some for visual effect, e.g. 1 cup brown rice and 1/3 cup wild rice.  Sprinkle cooked amaranth over a plate of black beans.


PREPARING FOOD TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY CELEBRATES THE JOY OF LIFE - Make your cooking space bright, clean, and inviting to welcome your work.  Coming together to prepare food requires love and a supple disposition.  Allow the creative spirit to be present.  While in your kitchen give others permission to express themselves.  Learn to lead without coercion or impingement.  Envision friends and family working side by side, having pleasant conversations, getting to know each other more intimately, encouraging the flow of life!


EATING MINDFULLY REQUIRES THINKING AHEAD - with time it will become second nature - If you never seem to have the ingredients necessary for a green meal; if when you think of having a tasty soup you are already hungry and pressed for time; if when you want to make something full of colors and flavors your refrigerator is mainly brown and white, you need a plan.  Clean out your pantry of old attitudes.  Clean out your cupboards of old, inherited, or seldom used space-occupying contraptions.  Pull out three recipes you would like to perfect.  Take the time to think up a plan.  Then implement it.  Check the recipes on this website.                                                          


©2008 Ana M. Negrón MD