Since a good part of yoga is about bodies, and our bodies are made of food, eating well is a yogi necessity. Traditionally, most yogis have been vegetarian, vegan, or at least trying to be, based on the yogic philosophy of ahimsa—a commitment not to harm.
Veggie is a beautiful way of eating, and to all of those who believe in it, practice it, and stick with it: I salute you! However, after experimenting with my diet for almost two decades now, I cannot support the idea that every body will respond positively to strict vegetarianism. Especially not in the manner that many people practice it—heavy on grains, light on protein, truck loads of soy. I spent about a year as this kind of vegetarian when I was younger, and it made me gain weight, get sick more, lose hair, lose my period, and generally become really cranky. The usual assumption about the connection between diet and vitality is that if something is wrong with you, you should probably stop eating _______ or _______. Try an elimination diet! How about a juice cleanse?! Detox time! When vegetarianism wasn’t working for me, I opted for a raw vegan diet, which led to a solid month of abject digestion misery that ended with me crying for an hour then breaking down and eating a big hunk of cheese.
By trying not to cause harm to other creatures with my vegetarian diet, I ended up causing a whole lot of harm to my body and my general relationship with food (more on eating disorders later). Maybe, I thought, it was time to stop worrying so much about making cuts to my diet and start making conscious additions. For me, that meant sustainable fishies and local, humanely-raised (positively spoiled rotten!), grass-fed meats took over my fridge in the place of wheat germ and soy goop. Instead of trying to decide what to get rid of, I started focusing on what to keep.
Over the years, I adopted a more paleo/low carb approach because I found that this way of eating allows me to cause less harm and to honor my body and the lives of other creatures. Eating locally and organically, as well as trying to stick to foods that could have been hunted and gathered, has been the best lifestyle for controlling my weight, belly issues, and psycho eating disorder tendencies. So that’s what I try to do.
I thought I would share with you one of my favorite recipes: Sriracha Tom Kha. It’s not super traditional, but it’s quick, delicious, healthy, and the ingredients aren’t too hard to find.
Makes 4-6 generous servings, costs about $20, takes about 20 minutes to make, will happily live in your fridge for several days, tastes great reheated. Throw it together in the morning while you wait for your coffee to brew, then have lunch for days! I also eat it for breakfast. I ate it for breakfast this morning.
You’ll need:
Chicken stock—4 cups—preferably homemade because it tastes better and is crazy stupid good for you. You can also use one box of the store-bought broth, then immediately Google how to make your own chicken stock.
A handful of mushrooms—baby bella, porcini, whatever you like.
Chicken—I use two breasts, but if you like chicken thighs, using them will save you money. Or just buy a whole chicken from a local farmer!
FULL FAT coconut milk—one can. Do not get “lite.” Lite is just regular watered down, but it costs the same, which is crap. You want those good MCT fats anyway!
Curry paste—I get red curry and use half the jar. Make sure you’re getting the little jar of paste, not the big, liquidy, sugary jar of sauce.
Tumeric—The super yellow magic spice. It has incredible anti-inflammatory properties, so use as much as you want! I’ll regularly use two or three tablespoons.
Other spices at your discretion—curry powder, coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, mustard seeds, etc. Start with a teaspoon, but add as much as tastes good to you. Spices are a great, easy way to boost flavor and nutrients!
Fish sauce—it’s usually near the curry paste in the ~exotic~ grocery store aisle. It has a strong flavor, so start with a teaspoon.
Chopped cilantro to taste.
SRIRACHA!
Steps:
- Turn your burner on medium high or high, and use your favorite good-sized pot.
- Pour in your chicken stock and coconut milk so they can be heating up while you chop things.
- Chop your mushrooms and chicken fairly small, dump them in. Stir them regularly so the chicken doesn’t stick to itself or the bottom of the pot.
- Add the fun stuff: curry paste, spices, fish sauce, and a conservative amount of Sriracha. You can add more later.
- Stir it around sometimes and wait for it to come to a boil. Once it’s boiled for a minute or two, your chicken should be fully cooked (cut a piece in half to check), and so should your mushrooms.
- Ladle into your bowl and give it a taste. This is the time to add more Sriracha.
- Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top. It tastes best to add the cilantro last; otherwise, it will wilt to the point of disintegrating. If I’m taking my soup to work, I take a few sprigs of cilantro separately.
You’re done! Enjoy!
Once it cools, you can put it in several containers to grab for lunch, or you can do like me and just put the lid on the pot and stick the whole thing in the fridge.
Warning: do not let this go bad in your fridge. It’s too delicious and healthy for that nonsense, and AFTER A WEEK OR SO, IT WILL PRODUCE AN EXTREMELY FOUL ODOR WORSE THAN ANY OTHER FRIDGE TRASH. You will be tempted to throw the pot itself away, maybe even throw your refrigerator away. Maybe even burn your house down and salt the earth before fleeing to Mexico. Moral of the story: honor your food by trying not to waste it (instead, share it before it goes south!), and don’t double the recipe unless you’re feeding a village.
Thanks for reading! I’d like to continue posting about food on Fridays, and I even have a few guest chefs lined up, including Heather Garrison, owner of Basq Restaurant and Catering. What food topics would you like to read about?
Climb on, snails.
Thanks for reading! I’d like to continue posting about food on Fridays, and I even have a few guest chefs lined up, including Heather Garrison, owner of Basq Restaurant and Catering. What food topics would you like to read about?
Climb on, snails.
Adventures in Solitude 