Chickpeas and bulgur wheat work well to complete the protein chain. You can find bulgur wheat in the bins of most natural food stores. Leftovers are going to thicken up overnight – thin with a bit of water or stock while reheating.
1 large yellow onion, chopped
a splash of olive oil
a couple of pinches of salt
2/3 cup cooked bulgur wheat
1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cup cauliflower, trimmed into small trees
2 cups kale or chard, destemmed and cut into thin ribbons
olive oil for drizzling
red onion, chopped for garnish
In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute the onion in the olive oil along with the salt, until the onion begins to soften. Stir in the bulgur, followed by the chickpeas and stock. Bring the ingredients to a simmer. Cook a few minutes longer, until it starts to thicken. Taste-test bulgur for doneness. If so, add the orange juice. If not, simmer a few minutes longer before adding the oj.
Stir in the cauliflower and kale. Simmer a few more minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. If the stew is on the thick side, add a bit of water or stock. Taste and adjust with salt. Serve garnished with a drizzle of olive oil and red onions.
Serves 4-6.
tags: soup
posted on 12-21-09 at 7:22 am in
Selfhood
In The Four Agreements don Miguel Ruiz offers four deceptively simple principles to live by. Keeping these four agreements can be one of the hardest things you will ever do and one of the most life changing.
The Four Agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality. When you are unattached to the actions of others, you free yourself from suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, do your best and compassionately know this to be true.
tags: integrity
posted on 12-11-09 at 7:15 am in
Emotions
There is strength and meaning to be gained in sitting with suffering. All too often, we lose the ability to turn compassionately toward ourselves in difficult moments. When we are able to do so in the presence of a compassionate other, as in therapy, we remember how to love ourselves.
By unflinchingly holding company and deeply empathizing with our pain, this “other” broadens our being by helping us make contact with the hidden resources of our jeweled Self. It requires nothing short of a leap of faith that we are larger than our pain…which we are.
tags: suffering
posted on 12-07-09 at 7:00 am in
Buddhism
The great tapestry of our lives can be seen in the rhythm of the changing seasons. If we pause and step back, extraordinary patterns of flow and movement emerge. Even now, as we settle into winter, new life is forming from the fallen decay. Consider what has led you to this moment. Sitting and reading this blog is no coincidence. Each experience has played a part in creating the whole.
In Loving Kindness, Sharon Salzberg writes: “Sometimes, of course, it is hard to embrace the painful, difficult times as being part of that whole, to feel as connected to those harsh events as we do when things are pleasant, easy, and fortunate. But really our lives are composed of continual change without ceasing.”
Practicing equanimity can help us let go of our aversion to what is unpleasant. It asks that we see things as they are. Mindfulness-based therapy and meditation are excellent ways to practice being fully present with the changing experiences of life. In doing so, the unavoidable is compassionately accepted. This includes feelings and thoughts.
Equanimity’s strength derives from a combination of understanding and trust. To see the changing nature, to see the impermanence, to see that constant flow of pleasant painful events outside our control – that is freedom.
tags: brahma-viharas
posted on 12-04-09 at 7:28 am in
Emotions
According to Buddhist psychology, by pushing away the painful aspects of experience we isolate ourselves from the capacity to love. We justifiably complain of feeling unreal because we are busy keeping ourselves at arm’s length by listening to the inner dialogue urging us toward our favorite distraction (sex, food, computer games, etc.).
Opening to emotion deepens the experience, of self and others. Being with the pain and disappointment, an invariable part of human relationships, helps us to expand. Psychologist John Welwood poetically refers to a broken heart as one that is broken “wide open”. He goes on to say, ”What actually breaks open is the defensive shell around the heart that we have constructed to try to protect our soft spot, where we feel most deeply affected by life.”
This is not an easy task. The soul’s journey rarely is.
tags: Relationships
Because it counters the stress cycle, “meditation is the most transformative thing you can do for your health,” says Woodson Merrell, M.D., chairman of the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. And there’s no need to overcomplicate things, either: “Just pick a single point of focus – like your breath, an image, or a mantra – and keep your mind trained on it as you sit erect,” advises Merrell. “A million thoughts will come; that’s okay. Just let them go and come back to your focal point.” Fifteen minutes first thing in the morning will transform your day, he promises, and over time, your entire life. “Don’t worry if some days you can only do a few minutes. The key is daily practice.”
tags: Meditation
