If you are looking for Ital recipes and reasoning, I have created a special page for that, you can access it from the menu bar!
More Sistren are interested in recipes and I want to reiterate that many of my tutorials are basic steps to creating stir fry, salad, soup, or stew whether peas or provision. You can use whatever your taste is to create many meals by following the steps I do.
This post is about salad making but I have included a simple mash soup recipe which will make a perfect side or follow-up meal to salad for those who don't find salad to be filling on its own for very long.
Today I had this soup as dinner, after fruit for breakfast and a big salad for lunch and popcorn for snack.
Mash soups are great for when you are dieting or trying to lose weight because it is more of a liquid soup that you drink in mugs throughout the day. there are no real pieces of vegetables or the like - mash soup is made from mainly peas (one or more types), or a combination of peas and provision. the ingredients are either mashed or blended up to make it a drinkable soup. It is well seasoned with herbs as well.
I made a sweet soup of pumpkin, split pea, sweet potato and English potato. I added some dumplings for my daughter.
Sweet Mash Soup
I simply boiled 3/4 cup split peas until they were soft,with onion, pepper, garlic etc.
I filled the pot with water and just let it boil down, I never added water again. the soup should be boiling but on a medium flame throughout.
then I added about a quarter of a half piece of pumpkin cut in cubes, that was like two cups of big chunks. I mashed them together with the peas in the pot when they got soft as well. this was to form the soup base.
I cubed one big potato and one medium size sweet potato and added them to the mashed base boiling In the pot. As the potatoes softened I mashed them down too. The soup will have a thick texture but not many chunks.
To make the dumplings I sifted 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 corn flour, with 1 teaspoon baking powder and spoon of sugar, with a dash of salt. I used about 1/2 cup water adding gradually. Roll into balls with a little flour after dough is formed.
When I was satisfied with the texture of the soup I dropped the dumplings in. I let it cook five to ten minutes and then turned it off.
It is mellow, creamy and sweet! yum!!
But back to the salad!
The Art of Great Salad Making
I know it seems hard to make salad and eat it everyday, for some it is not filling or appetising, or too crunchy. But it doesn't have to be that way - salad is quite enjoyable! It is all in how you prepare it.
1. First you have got to make your salad interesting!
Don't just put lettuce, tomato and cucumber and expect a miracle! The more fresh ingredients the better!
Tomato, carrot, cucumber, green leafy vegetables, okra, avocado, broccoli and beet root are great bases for a salad. I make sure I have all of these in each salad (except the avocado which is coming to season any day now).
2. Change your green leafy vegetables regularly!
Don't just use lettuce all the time. Use different kinds of lettuce like romaine, try kale and spicy green leaves like arugula and watercress. Chives and thyme and basil will also add some kick.
3. Add fruit for sweetness!
Beet root or carrot is sweet but chunks of fruit are great too. I like apple, strawberry, blue berries, pear and kiwi. I usually add just one fruit. But two works just as good. Cubes peaches, mango and apricots might also be quite nice. Some like tangerine slices.
Likewise if you want spice or zing add fresh onion or a pepper.
4. Add seeds or nuts to get more nutritional value! Pumpkin seeds are a favourite of many.
5. Add a grain to increase the "heaviness" of your salad if you don't feel full (though the bigger the salad the more full you will feel. It is a meal so make it big)
Add room temperature quinoa or cous cous, bulgar wheat or even millet, and make sure when you prepare them that your water is well seasoned with curry, saffron, cumin to name a few spices.
Eating salad as a meal isn't fun when u spend all your energy trying to chew hard chunks of carrot and cucumber!
Make sure your chunks are bite size for tomato, avocado, cucumber, strawberries, brocolli, apple, pear and kiwi. For broccoli I make sure to break the heads apart so that they are small as well and I add chunks of the stalk.
For the leafy veges I also chop them finely so that they blend well with everything else.
For okra I slice it very thin and then half it - I don't usually add more than two small okra because of the slime.
For carrot and beet root I always use a grater instead of chopping them - they are just too hard to chew in any size. u can add more this way too.
7. Make a dressing!
Lime juice or lemon juice works great.
If you want creamy you can blend an avocado.
Some people like oily dressing, so using olive or sesame or coconut oil, you can blend fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, mint, chive, oregano and so on. Even add pepper if you like heat.
8. Have a great side dish like soup, or a pea stew, ground provision or fruit.
You don't have to eat your salad alone but it is good to ensure that at least once a day it is the bigger part of the meal. the more raw nutrients you get everyday, the better for your body!
While you may love cooked Ital, the best way to live is on a greater raw or fresh food intake than a cooked because you lose so much of the nutrients of the food to the heat.
You can even drink an herbal tea or a fresh juice or smoothie along with the salad.
9. Don't eat it cold, and store well to maintain freshness!
You don't have to eat it at room temp, but when the salad is not cold I find chewing all that freshness is not so hard on the teeth.
So I hope these tips will help you to eat more salad and actually full-joy it! they have helped me tremendously and now my body is set to have that for lunch everyday, leaving the heavy cooked meal until the evening time around 5-6 pm. If I eat more cooked meals in the day I find my dinner spoilt and too heavy.
Remember that treating the body well is a must if you are to balance your Irituality and Creativity. They must all harmonize for true wellness and health.
Blessed Love and Light!
Sis. Ila
