Eating with the Seasons: Winter

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Just as its natural to eat and drink cooling
things in summer, winter is the time to stimulate
your digestive fire with warming foods and herbs.

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Warming Foods and Herbs: Turnip, Rutabaga, Parsnip,
Sweet Potato, Butternut and Acorn Squash, Kabocha Squash,
Daikon Radish, Lamb, Chicken, Tempeh, Onion, Garlic, Scallion,
Ginger, Cumin, Fenugreek, Black Pepper, Curry Powder
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Balance heavy foods like meat and cheese with lightly steamed or sauteed
non-starchy vegetables like kale, collard greens, dandelion,
bok choy, cabbage, brocolli, cauliflower, burdock, mushrooms

Make heavy foods like beef or lamb "lighter" by cooking with
ginger and daikon, and/or in soup with your favorite vegetables.

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In winter avoid cold energy foods that weaken your digestive fire.
Examples are cucumbers, melons, iced drinks, large amounts of salad.
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An especially bad cooling food in cold winter is coconut water. Coconut water
is excellent in the hot weather because it is so cooling. But it is only
drunk in the hot season in South Asia, never, ever in cold or rainy weather.



Winter Miso Soup for Colds

A traditional remedy for winter colds is miso soup cooked with
fresh ginger and scallions. Its so simple.

Low boil 2 cups water with 5 slices fresh ginger root for 5 minutes.
Reduce to simmer.
Add 1 tbsp mellow white or red miso paste, more or less to taste
Add 3 tbsp chopped scallion, especially the white ends.
Add a dash of white pepper
Stir until the miso paste dissolves and simmer about 1-2 minutes.

If you want, you can boil root vegetables first and then follow the
above steps, daikon radish, burdock root, and shitake mushroom are excellent.

Think Vegetarian Chicken Soup!

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Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diego http://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com

Source: http://blog.bodymindwellnesscenter.com/2010/12/eating-with-seasons-winter.html

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