A super-natural nut-free granola for warm months or all the times you don’t wanna go nuts.
Jump to RecipeI know it sounds wild to say, but when summer hits there are just a few things on my mind; finding a new black bathing suit (because I SURELY swam holes through mine the summer before,) getting the ice cream machine out and tuning it up, and making copious batches of Sunny Butter and this Nut-Free Cacao Nib Granola to last the warm weeks of the season.
That’s right, in addition to making frequent trips to the creek in the canyon to submerge myself in icy water and eating popsicles as snacks (er, sometimes breakfast?!) I swap out the abundance of nuts that I typically eat in other seasons of the year for seeds to keep the excess pitta of this time of year at bay.
I LOVE nuts. And they’re really wonderful for my body! But because my constitution is already slightly pitta dominant, and because my schedule has a tendency to run hot, my body and have a tendency to overheat in the warm summer months. To keep the heat at bay and prevent overheating, I do my best to avoid all things that would incite additional pitta and heat; I favor cool foods over warm or hot ones, I enjoy mild beverages over “hard” ones like coffee and alcohol, and I aim to make light, fresh meals (instead of dense or heavy ones) with seasonal ingredients. Nuts (and even many seeds) are very oily, which is a contraindication for pitta. Nuts aren’t the only very oily foods that we’re wise to reduce in a pitta-pacifying diet; fried foods, many cooking oils, hard cheeses and red meats as well as eggs are included in the short list. These foods are incredibly nourishing in other times of year, but during the summer they’re a bit too much for the body. This is seasonal eating at it’s next level!
If your body is exhibiting any of the following symptoms, pitta may be high in your present state of being (vikruti) as well:
Hardly. Chocolate is made from the raw ingredient cacao combined with sugar. The cacao nibs in this granola are one of the most pure ways to enjoy Theobroma cacao, the food of the gods, that has been used as food, medicine, and even currency for thousands of years. Cacao is a wonderful source of magnesium (which many of us are deficient in) and one of the highest plant-based food sources of iron. It also contains chemical compounds that increase our ability to focus and improves our memory, and it contains anandamide, the “bliss molecule,” which helps us to feel good, longer. It also contains phenylethylamine, “the love molecule,” which raise the level of endorphins in our brain, very similar to the chemical changes that make us feel on top of the world when we are falling in love.
That said, cacao is a tricky ingredient from an Ayurvedic perspective, because the qualities (and it’s medicinal properties) depend entirely on the way that the cacao is being combined in the food you’re consuming and with the balance in your personal constitution. When out of balance, cacao can be a catalyst to further throw us off balance, particularly if we’re vata or pitta in constitution. But, if we’re balanced, happy and in the right season, cacao is the most delicious tonic.
The natural qualities of cacao are bitter, pungent, light and dry, making it great candidate as a summer food. The bitterness in cacao has a tendency to increase vata but will decrease kapha. When combined with sugar, cacao will increase kapha and decrease vata and pitta. And, because it contains a little caffeine, cacao will increase both pitta and vata. Ultimately it’s magical when used in moderation.
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