Spring has arrived in Fonte de Baixo this week. The vegetables grow with new vigour in the warm sunshine.
In Ayurveda this time of the year is the end of the Kapha season. Kapha is composed of earth and water and keeps our immune system strong throughout the winter. It promotes healing, provides moisture to the skin and digestive tract and gives vitality to the lungs and heart. Kapha is promoting growth and with it many of us put on some extra weight or develop excess mucus in form of colds and coughs.
Spring is a time of new beginnings and a release of the energy stored during the winter. As the sun becomes stronger we naturally feel the urge to get rid of the accumulated toxins, excess fat and tiredness.
Forget about the fitness studio! Avoid radical diets and artificial supplements! Do not set yourself targets and give yourself a hard time if you do not keep up your programme! Instead enjoy the awakening of nature with all your senses. Make your own spring tonics out of dark leafy greens, which are already growing in abundance. This will stimulate the liver and kidneys to move out the accumulated debris of the cold wet months and make you feel lighter and cleaner.
Everything you need is in front of your doorstep. Nature provides us with what we need when we need it. Here are some suggestions and recipes you might want to try. They cost no money and are more effective than any pill you can buy in the shops.
As the days get longer, get up a little earlier and stretch your body.
Take a walk every day, watch young plants unfold, listen to the birds, smell the earth.
Get to know your local “weeds”. They contain more vitamins and minerals any vegetables from the supermarket.
Gather nettle tops (Do wear gloves!) and wild garlic to make a delicious bowl of soup every day. The high iron content alleviates tiredness.
Find young leaves of sorrel, dandelion and wild cress together with the first flowers like daisies and primroses for a fresh salad.
Sprout your own seeds. Alfalfa and mustard seeds are perfect for this time of the year. It is really easy to do - even if you live in the middle of a city. The vitamin content quadruples in the sprouting process in just a couple of days.
Wild Spring Salad
Gather any dark green leaves in season, e.g. dandelions, cress, sorrel, chick weed as well as early meadow flowers. Wash well and chop up coarsely. For the dressing combine 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp honey and a little salt and pepper.
Add sprouted alfalfa, cress, mustard or sunflower seeds if you like.
Nettle Soup
Wearing rubber gloves pick two good handful of nettle tops or leaves, avoiding the hard stems. Wash and drain in a colander.
Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan and add 1 large chopped onion. Soften for 5 min. Add 1 l of vegetable stock and the nettles. Simmer for about 15 min. Remove from the heat.
Crumble 2 rice cakes into the soup, puree with a hand held blender and season with salt and pepper.
In Ayurveda this time of the year is the end of the Kapha season. Kapha is composed of earth and water and keeps our immune system strong throughout the winter. It promotes healing, provides moisture to the skin and digestive tract and gives vitality to the lungs and heart. Kapha is promoting growth and with it many of us put on some extra weight or develop excess mucus in form of colds and coughs.
Spring is a time of new beginnings and a release of the energy stored during the winter. As the sun becomes stronger we naturally feel the urge to get rid of the accumulated toxins, excess fat and tiredness.
Forget about the fitness studio! Avoid radical diets and artificial supplements! Do not set yourself targets and give yourself a hard time if you do not keep up your programme! Instead enjoy the awakening of nature with all your senses. Make your own spring tonics out of dark leafy greens, which are already growing in abundance. This will stimulate the liver and kidneys to move out the accumulated debris of the cold wet months and make you feel lighter and cleaner.
Everything you need is in front of your doorstep. Nature provides us with what we need when we need it. Here are some suggestions and recipes you might want to try. They cost no money and are more effective than any pill you can buy in the shops.
As the days get longer, get up a little earlier and stretch your body.
Take a walk every day, watch young plants unfold, listen to the birds, smell the earth.
Get to know your local “weeds”. They contain more vitamins and minerals any vegetables from the supermarket.
Gather nettle tops (Do wear gloves!) and wild garlic to make a delicious bowl of soup every day. The high iron content alleviates tiredness.
Find young leaves of sorrel, dandelion and wild cress together with the first flowers like daisies and primroses for a fresh salad.
Sprout your own seeds. Alfalfa and mustard seeds are perfect for this time of the year. It is really easy to do - even if you live in the middle of a city. The vitamin content quadruples in the sprouting process in just a couple of days.
Wild Spring Salad
Gather any dark green leaves in season, e.g. dandelions, cress, sorrel, chick weed as well as early meadow flowers. Wash well and chop up coarsely. For the dressing combine 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp honey and a little salt and pepper.
Add sprouted alfalfa, cress, mustard or sunflower seeds if you like.
Nettle Soup
Wearing rubber gloves pick two good handful of nettle tops or leaves, avoiding the hard stems. Wash and drain in a colander.
Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan and add 1 large chopped onion. Soften for 5 min. Add 1 l of vegetable stock and the nettles. Simmer for about 15 min. Remove from the heat.
Crumble 2 rice cakes into the soup, puree with a hand held blender and season with salt and pepper.
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