Vegetarian Life

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for the survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -Albert Einstein

I personally feel it is very important to eat as healthy as possible. That is one of the reasons I plant a garden. Although not everyone has that luxury to plant a garden, still there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available in every American grocery store, there is ample opportunity to eat a healthy vegetarian diet.

Back in 1972 when I first became a vegetarian, the challenge was learning how to cook vegetarian meals. Therefore I am including the first cookbook that taught me the basics as a free pdf download (just click on link at bottom of post). Wishing you all a happy and healthy life. -V

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What Are the Healthiest Vegetables?

As most all devotees are vegetarian, I thought this would be a beneficial post. I am avid gardener and cook when I am at home, and enjoy picking fresh greens and other garden vegetables to offer the Lord every day.

Note: some editing has been done by me, for quicker reading.

What Are the Healthiest Vegetables?

By: Samantha Cassetty, RD

Most people are familiar with the phrase “eat your vegetables” —and it’s good advice for many reasons.

If you’re deciding which vegetables to add to your weekly lineup, check out our list of healthiest vegetables, along with some of their research-backed benefits.

What is the healthiest vegetable?

Spinach takes the top prize as the healthiest vegetable because of its range of nutrients and benefits. 

Spinach contains numerous types of antioxidants that guard against cancer, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. One antioxidant abundant in spinach supports eye health and may protect against age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Spinach is also loaded with other essential vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin A, K and C.

There is no doubt that spinach has a lot going for it, but including a range of vegetables in your diet is the most beneficial. This strategy helps you get the plant diversity you need to optimize your health, while also helping you meet the recommended amounts of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and get the broadest range of nutrients.

Take note that there are two types of vegetables: starchy and non-starchy. While both types include beneficial nutrients, starchy vegetables count as the carbohydrate portion of your plate. It’s a good rule of thumb to eat twice the amount of non-starchy vegetables compared to starchy foods, including starchy veggies.

Here are some of the healthiest vegetables to incorporate into your menu. 

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Vegetarian Life

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for the survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -Albert Einstein

I personally feel it is very important to eat as healthy as possible. That is one of the reasons I plant a garden. Although not everyone has that luxury to plant a garden, still there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available in every American grocery store, there is ample opportunity to eat a healthy vegetarian diet.

Back in 1972 when I first became a vegetarian, the challenge was learning how to cook vegetarian meals. Therefore I am including the first cookbook that taught me the basics as a free pdf download (just click on link at bottom of post). Wishing you all a happy and healthy life. -V

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Eggless Banana/Zucchini Bread

I don’t know if any you have planted a garden this year, but mine is doing very nicely, with tomatoes, okra, Swiss chard, and zucchini all coming into full production. The Zucchini has done particularly well this year, and I have an over abundance. I have tried freezing some (with good success) but then I saw some very ripe Bananas on the counter and it hit me to make some Banana/Zucchini bread loaves. I found that a loaf would keep very well without refrigeration for week, and also the loafs freeze very well.

Basic Recipe

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Mint Chutney Recipe (Pudina Chutney)

We have an abundance of fresh mint leaves just growing wild, outside our back door, here in West Virginia. And this morning I decided to try my hand at making some Mint Chutney. I went through a few of my favorite Indian cookbooks, and looked at a few recipes online. It seems like there are hundreds of variations to this basic recipe. But I chose one that I had all the ingredients to make, and we share it with you today.

If you plan on making a large batch (which I plan to do), the freezer is your friend. Otherwise if will keep fresh for a couple of days in the fridge.

Mint is a herb that has been used in Ayurvedic practices since Ancient Times. It is a healing herb that has some nutritional values and health benefits, especially when eaten fresh without cooking.

Mint leaves are said to be Tridoshic, meaning have the potential to balance all kinds of imbalances (doshas) in the body. They are calming, refreshing, detoxifying, and aids in digestion.

Use fresh green leaves that are vibrant in color, and avoid using the stalks and stems, as they can impart a bitter taste.

Adding a few teaspoons of lemon juice helps preserve the bright green color.

Recipe

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Coming Soon; New Kurma Cookbook!

My wife shared this with me, something she saw on Facebook. Time Tested “Big” Prasadam Recipies. Love Kurma’s cookbooks and recipes. Hare Krishna and happy New Year!

New Kurma Cookbook!

I’ve finally opened my treasure trove of time-tested ‘big’ prasadam recipes from five decades of quantity cooking. Interwoven with hundreds of fascinating stories, realizations and memories from early disciples, FEAST includes Srila Prabhupada’s original recipes, ISKCON Sunday feast kitchen classics, and modern favourites.

This large and beautifully presented 492-page book, designed and published by Srimati Mayapriya devi dasi from Bookwrights Press, is a generous collection of 375 meticulous, large-sized vegetarian and plant-based recipes from myself and veteran chefs Gopati dasa and Apurva dasa, as well as 60 other Hare Krishna kitchen giants.

Feast is a legacy of love, offered by ISKCON’s first generation of cooks for future chefs, and for the upliftment of human society at large. Srila Prabhupada writes “Simply by liberal distribution of prasada and sankirtana, the whole world can become peaceful and prosperous.” (SB 4.12.10)

Coming soon!

Ghee, Ghee and More Ghee

This was something that Srutakirti Prabhu posted on Facebook. We are sharing it with you because I truly believe that Ghee was that special ingredient that made the the prasadam in the early days both magical and mystical. We ate huge quantities of prasadam at the Sunday “Love Feast” and danced in ecstasy.

GHEE, GHEE, GHEE AND MORE GHEE!

(from a BTG article by Srila Prabhupada more than 65 years ago.)

“Pure Ghee (Clarified butter) offered on the fire of ‘Yajna’ produces more and more Ghee but non-acceptance of such sacrificial rites, under the plea of non-productive economy, drives away completely the production of ample pure ghee, yielding place to the harmful hydrogenated vegetable oils. In the ‘Ayurvedic’ scriptures oil is particularly mentioned to be harmful for the stomach but in the absence of sacrificial energy of the human being he is forced to accept harmful vegetable oil for the stomach in the name of and absence of pure unadulterated clarified butter. That is the importance of the process of ‘Yajna’ and that is the Law of Nature.

Foolish people think vitamin value of foodstuff in their own way and push into the stomach all sorts of rubbish thing thinking that ‘Vaiswanara’ heat, representative of the Supreme Lord, will accept any such rubbish thing for assimilation. The case is different. The ‘Vaiswanara’ representative power of Godhead in the stomach of the human being can accept only leaves, flower, fruits of the vegetable group and pure water and milk for vitaminising the human energy. The mouth being the entrance door to the region of the stomach, it must guard the tongue of every human being to acquire the quality of a Brahmin, who can accept only foodstuff of ‘Satwik’ quality. Description of Satwik quality foodstuff is mentioned in Bhagwat Geeta and that also of the Brahmin in fact.”

Eggless Pumpkin Pie

Sweet potato pie

Today in the West people are celebrating “Thanksgiving”. So we are posting a traditional Thanksgiving recipe; Pumpkin Pie (without the eggs). I have been making egg-less pies for the last 39 years, and have tried many different variations. I use 2 tablespoons of sour cream instead of 2 eggs, and one year I used Philadelphia cream cheese instead of evaporated milk, all with good success.

If you want to do everything yourself, there is the do it yourself recipe for a “homemade” pie crust, pumpkin puree, spicing, and sweetened whipped cream.

Ingredients:

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Vegetarian Diet

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for the survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

-Albert Einstein

A Vegetarian diet not only is the safe alternative to meat eating, but increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. As Srila Prabhupada explaines in the Bhagavad-gita;

Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Macmillan 1972 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 17 The Divisions of Faith
Text 8-10

Foods in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such nourishing foods are sweet, juicy, fattening and palatable. Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, pungent, dry and hot, are liked by people in the modes of passion. Such foods cause pain, distress, and disease. Food cooked more than three hours before being eaten, which is tasteless, stale, putrid, decomposed and unclean, is food liked by people in the mode of ignorance.

PURPORT

Thc purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose. In the past, great authorities selected those foods that best aid health and increase life’s duration, such as milk products, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables. These foods are very dear to those in the mode of goodness. Some other foods, such as baked corn and molasses, while not very palatable in themselves, can be made pleasant when mixed with milk or other foods. They are then in the mode of goodness. All these foods are pure by nature. They are quite distinct from untouchable things like meat and liquor. Fatty foods, as mentioned in the eighth verse, have no connection with animal fat obtained by slaughter. Animal fat is available in the form of milk, which is the most wonderful of all foods. Milk, butter, cheese and similar products give animal fat in a form which rules out any need for the killing of innocent creatures. It is only through brute mentality that this killing goes on. The civilized method of obtaining needed fat is by milk. Slaughter is the way of subhumans. Protein is amply available through split peas, dhal, whole wheat, etc.

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Some Noteworthy Quotations on Vegetarianism

This morning I took out one of my favorite cookbooks; “Great Vegetarian Dishes” by Kurma Dasa. There are over 240 recipes from around the world. Kurma Dasa also has a nice web page Cooking With Kurma, and while visiting this nice site I ran across these noteworthy quotes on Vegetarianism we share with you.

“Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind.” 
Albert Einstein

“There is just no reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. Man can live without meat.” 
The Dalai Lama

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other. 
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

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Radhaballabha Kachoris

Today we celebrate the Appearance Day of Srimati Radharani [Radhastami] with a half day fast followed by a feast cooked in honor of Srimati Radharani. She appears at noon so we begin our day with songs in praise of Srimati Radharani and time in the kitchen cooking up a nice vegetarian offering. Since She is fond of Kachori’s, we share with you this nice recipe from “The Hare Krishna Cookbok”; Radhaballabha Kachoris.

“This preparation is one of Srimati Radharani’s favorites and is always prepared for Her appearance day. There is nothing in the material world to compare with the flavor of Radhaballabha Kachoris”.

Radhaballabha Kachoris Recipe

ghee for deep frying
1 cup of cleaned, split urad dhal
2 cups white flour
cayenne pepper
asafoetida
2 T. freshly ground anise seed
butter or ghee solids

Wash urad dahl thoroughly. Soak in water overnight. Drain, leaving a tiny bit of water. In a blender, grind urad dhal untill it is a smooth paste, adding a little more water if necessary. The past should ve very thick. Set aside. Add ground anise seed to paste. Using white flour, butter or ghee solids and water, make a soft dough, like puri dough. (not wet.) Let the dough sit for one hour under a dampened cloth. Meanwhile prepare three very small bowls in the following manner:

1. Put in a mixture of 1 T. water and 1/2 t. asafoetida.
2. Put plain salt in the second.
3. Put cayenne pepper in the third.

Pinch off balls of dough one inch in diameter. Roll them out into circles of 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch off a ball of kachori paste about one inch in diameter; dip into each of bowls in succession, and place in the center of the circle of kachori dough. Gather up the dough around the paste as you would gather a paper bag. Make sure all the urad dahl paste is covered, and seal the top edge very well using a little water. Flatten the sealed kachori with a rolling pin and then roll gently as you would apuri or chapati.

Be carful not to break the surfaces. If necessary, pat them out by hand. Deep-fry the kachori in fairly hot ghee as you would a puri. Stand up kachoris on paper toweling to drain. Before offering them, re-fry very quickly, but do not brown.

“This preparation is one of Srimati Radharani’s favorites and is always prepared for Her appearance day. There is nothing in the material world to compare with the flavor of Radhaballabha Kachoris”.

This recipe I copied from;The Hare Krishna Cookbook” [click on link to down load the entire book]

Vegetarian Life

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for the survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -Albert Einstein

I personally feel it is very important to eat as healthy as possible. That is one of the reasons I plant a garden. Although not everyone has that luxury to plant a garden, still there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available in every American grocery store, there is ample opportunity to eat a healthy vegetarian diet.

Back in 1972 when I first became a vegetarian, the challenge was learning how to cook vegetarian meals. Therefore I am including the first cookbook that taught me the basics as a free pdf download (just click on link at bottom of post). Wishing you all a happy and healthy life. -V

More

Heavenly Delights: Gulab Jamuns

Today being the New Year, a Holiday celebrated around the world, we thought we would post a festive recipe. This Gulab Jumaun recipe was taken from the very nice cooking web page Cooking with Kurma. I encourage you all to try this wonderful recipe on your friends and family.

Succulent Milk Balls in Rose-scented Syrup (Gulab Jamuns)

Gulab Jamuns are ideal confections for festive moments and entertaining. When guests are confronted with them for the first time they invariably ask, “What are they? ” Guesses then range from preserved fruits to doughnuts. In fact, Gulab Jamuns are made from just milk powder and flour. They’re fried slowly in ghee until the lactose in the milk powder caramelises and turns them a golden brown, and then they are soaked in a rose-scented, medium- heavy sugar syrup. Hence, the Hindi words Gulab Jamun meaning literally “rose ball”.

Full recipe follows More

Eggless Tapioca Pudding

tapioca

This morning I was thinking what to cook for a Thanksgiving Offering. There was some confusion on the two calendars we have, because one said that today was Ekadashi (fasting day from grains and beans) and the other gave an alternate date of tomorrow for our location. But I decided to play it safe and observe Ekadashi with my menu planning. I decided it would be good to make a nice Tapioca Pudding (without eggs).

The beauty of this tapioca pudding is that it is egg-less and it does not need baking. It is cooked right on stove top with just three main ingredients: tapioca, milk and sugar. Just like that it tastes good but often it is further embellished with cashews, saffron and cardamom. Or you can use seasonal fruits to garnish.

Eggless Tapioca Pudding

1/2 cup tapioca
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

* Combine tapioca, milk & sugar in a medium/large saucepan and let sit for 5 minutes.

* Bring to a slow boil over medium high heat. Stir the milk and tapioca and sugar frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the container. It thickens as it cooks but will still be a liquid.

* Remove from heat and add vanilla.

* Cardamom (optional), Saffron (optional), and Cashews (optional)

* Stir & allow to cool. It thickens as it cools.

Makes 8-10 servings

Note: Two tablespoons of tapioca for a cup of milk will give you a fairly thick pudding. If you want yours thin, use less tapioca or more milk. Same goes for sugar.

Prasadam – Ghee, Part Three

ghee

Previously we posted part One & Two of the article on Ghee (which is the crown jewel of oils, and is one of Srimati Radharani’s most favored ingredients). Today we are posting part Three of this fine article as posted on the Sampradaya Sun

Prasadam – Ghee, Part Three
by Sun Staff (SUN)

A journey through India: border to border, bhoga to prasadam.

The importance of golden ghee in cooking Krsna prasadam is very evident when we consider books of Vaisnava literature such as Sri Govinda-lilamrta and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. In Govinda-lilamrta we find descriptions of the great range of uses for ghee, as it’s described in the conversations between Mother Yasoda and the gopis who are arranging so many nice foodstuffs for Krsna.

In Verse 53, Mother Yasoda is telling Kilimba that they had milked the cow named Sugandha, and churned her milk into butter, and the gopis could use this special butter to make ghee. Yashoda requests the gopis to make many different dishes cooked in ghee, and to prepare sweets with ghee, and Rohini Devi also describes the preparations Radharani has been making for Krsna with ghee.

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Ghee is Life

ghee

This morning I happened to visit the Sampradaya Sun web page. Rocan Prabhu has been doing a series entitled ” A journey through India: border to border, bhoga to prasadam” and in the last week has done a two part article on ‘Ghee’. We have reprinted both the first and second part here.

Prasadam – Ghee
by Sun Staff

…the Mother of all ingredients is milk, and all its glorious byproducts. Today we’ll begin an exploration of ghee, which is one of the final foodstuffs derived from processing milk. Cow’s milk is said to possess the essential sap of all plants, and ghee is a most valued derivation of that nutritious stuff. The clear golden liquid known as ghee is the crown jewel of oils, and is one of Srimati Radharani’s most favored ingredients.

The word ghee comes from the Sanskrit ghrta [ghrit], or “sprinkled”. Aayurghritam means ‘ghee is life’, and this is reflected in the many sacred ways the stuff is used in devotional practice, from cooking to feeding the sacred fire, or performing abhisheka with panchamrta. Use of ghee as a substance to anoint the Deities is mentioned in Yajurveda, and the Rgveda has many references to butter and ghee.

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Foods in the Mode of Goodness

food1

I must have woke up hungry, because my meditation this morning was on wholesome, nurturing foods in the mode of goodness.

…The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose. (from purport to Bg. 17.8-10)

Foods in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such nourishing foods are sweet, juicy, fattening and palatable. Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, pungent, dry and hot, are liked by people in the modes of passion. Such foods cause pain, distress, and disease. Food cooked more than three hours before being eaten, which is tasteless, stale, putrid, decomposed and unclean, is food liked by people in the mode of ignorance. (Bhagavad-gita As It Is 17.8-10)

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Foods in the Three Modes

food in the mode of goodness

Foods in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such nourishing foods are sweet, juicy, fattening and palatable. Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, pungent, dry and hot, are liked by people in the modes of passion. Such foods cause pain, distress, and disease. Food cooked more than three hours before being eaten, which is tasteless, stale, putrid, decomposed and unclean, is food liked by people in the mode of ignorance. (Bhagavad-gita As It Is 17.8-10)

…The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose. In the past, great authorities selected those foods that best aid health and increase life’s duration, such as milk products, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables. These foods are very dear to those in the mode of goodness. (from purport to Bhagavad-gita 17.8-10)

full translation and purport More

Krsna Prasadam

Krsna Prasadam

The following excerpt from a letter written by Srila Prabhupada was circulated on Facebook last week, and my wife read it aloud to me. It was very informative in that it explained our position on vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian, and the benefits of eating Krsna prasadam (food offered first to the Lord).

…Regarding propaganda against animal slaughter in BTG. Please do not print any picture showing how a cow is being murdered in our BTG. This will pollute the whole atmosphere. We are not meant for moving anyone’s sentiment against animal slaughter, we are neither Buddhists or Jains, whose main propaganda is against animal slaughter. Even the so-called vegetarians who do not take Krishna prasadam are as much sinful as the non-vegetarians. Our propaganda is different, to make people Krishna Conscious, which automatically makes them sympathetic against any kind of animal slaughter. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, one living entity subsists on the life of other living entities, either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. But we are neither of them. We are not vegetarian nor non-vegetarian. We are transcendental. We are concerned with Krishna Prasadam. Try to popularize Krishna Prasadam as you have already done. People will naturally become vegetarian without any ghastly propaganda.

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Kachori Recipes

Kachori recipes

Kachoris Recipes

Today being Sunday, and with the weather cold and wet, I decided to stay indoors and practice my cooking, by learning how to cook Kachoris, which is basically a pastry with filling, for the Lord. I have never actually made them before, although I have eaten countless kachoris at various feasts. So I searched for some recipes in our cookbooks and on the Internet and found a nice selection of recipes for different types of Kachoris at harekrsna.com. So I have posted many nice Kachori recipes or variations, and will pick one to cook today for our Sunday Feast.

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108 Imporant Slokas from the 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is

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The Hare Krishna Cookbook

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Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1972 Edition “Online”

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