There are many reasons that our agni—or digestive fire, in Sanskrti/Ayurveda-speak—can get confused, weak, or even raging out of control such that our true hunger signals don’t come through. We also have little agnis everywhere, in all of our tissue systems and our sense organs,read more
I sort of feel about kitchari the way Mary Oliver feels about mangoes. It’s a magical food—easy and delicious, and in the words of my first Ayurvedic counselor, “you should just eat as much of it as you want.” The basics of kitchari might seemread more
Ayurveda recommends kitchari, a simple dish of rice and dahl, as part of a regular healthy diet as well as part of a seasonal reset. Whether you’re enjoying it for just one meal or for a monodiet (eating the same food all day), kitchari isread more
“I mean, I expected it to be good, but this sauce is f*ing amazing.” I was not anticipating this response from my best friend, for whom I had recently prepared this meal on a chilly Friday night after a long week at work, each ofread more
When my younger sister and I were growing up, one of our many family traditions included an Easter egg hunt. My mother would stay up late to hide the neon and pastel plastic eggs, literally bursting with candy, around the house. My mother has manyread more
“How do you cook your beans?” Maybe not the best pick-up line, but this question is an excellent way to get to know someone . . . well, their digestion at least, which according to Ayurveda says a whole lot about a person’s current stateread more
Being told something is good for you as a kid is often a mighty good reason to run far away from it. Beans were always one of those foods for me—pretty boring, oddly shaped, and depending on their origin slimy and smelly and just unappealingread more
Images of an angry British man flashed in my head all while making this recipe. I never quite understood why the contestants on Hell’s Kitchen couldn’t make risotto—they’re chefs, aren’t they?—until I researched a few recipes and realized the intricate dance of fat, heat, andread more
One of the reasons I think I’m good at baking–besides genetics–is that, unlike cooking, it relies on precision. One quickly learns that a “pinch” of salt is really just that, and you better have the right sized fingers to avoid an unpalatable cake. The time-tested exampleread more
There’s a new evil in the health world these days: sugar. It’s joined the other evil S-words of Smoking and Sitting as things that will kill you, and so many people I know are on the no- or low-sugar bandwagon. I for one have never beenread more
