If macaroni and cheese had a holistic cousin, it would be Green Spring Kitchari
There are times in this house when macaroni and cheese, the deluxe kind, from a box, zhooshed up with steamed broccoli and black pepper is exactly what the doctor ordered. But I would be lying if I said that there weren’t just as many times when both of us – turn to each other and say “how about kitchari for dinner?” This Green Kitchari for Spring is my most recent adaptation, the perfect meal for anytime when you’ve overdone it in life, at work, in training. Anytime you’re feeling overwhelmed AND are interested in getting your body back to balance in a way that an eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese or a pint of ice cream can’t, this is what to make.
The first answer is the smooth and creamy texture, achieved when rice and moong dal are cooked together.
The second answer is that all Six Flavors are represented in this dish, which (as you’re learning) is the hallmark of a meal being not just healthful, but satisfying in a way that won’t spark cravings for “something” later.
The third answer is that kitchari is a simple-to-digest, food that also offers a complete macronutrient profile; fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
Whether you’re cleansing after panchakarma, or just recovering from a really long hard training session, this meal is where it’s at.
Easy – it’s the greens. At other times of year (fall and winter, specifically) the secondary goal behind a bowl of kitcharti (besides providing a complete meal in an easy-to-digest format) is to deliver an abundance of sweet flavors to ground and nourish the system.
As spring arrives, (IF we’ve done our good work of favoring sweet foods and balancing the qualities of Vata all winter) it’s important that we shift gears to lighten. Spring is the season of Kapha, and it arrives cool, wet, heavy, dense, cloudy and stubborn. Enjoying foods – and practices – that are warm, drying, light, clear and easy is the goal to help lift our bodies from the fog, AND to clear the excess moisture we’ve been hanging onto all winter long to keep warm. If we don’t balance well, we end up with excess mucus and moisture in the body as the weather warms, and this leads to reduced immunity, congestion, and sicknesses come spring (not to mention unwanted weight carried into summer.)
Eat your COOKED greens here, and you’re off to a great start of not only balancing your body and mind, but balancing against the seasons as well.
To enjoy a bowl of kitchari naked is missing a big part of the perk of eating it at all. To make it the “real deal,” and to make sure that you get all Six Flavors into this bowl, I strongly suggest serving it with a healthy dollop of ghee (1-2 tsp,) a squeeze of fresh lime juice, a sprinkle of fresh ginger, a little freshly chopped cilantro, a pinch of flaky sea salt and a few cracks of fresh black pepper. This is important because it provides a bit of extra critical fat, a sour punch, and amps up the pungent notes of this dish – all of which help make it satisfying, digestible, complete and SO GOOD.
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