Here’s a Beet Salad for Vata Dosha I learned from my Morrocan friend Edith that I like to make in Autumn and Spring as a side dish with heavier food. Beet are an excellent Vata vegetable as they are easy-to-digest and, like turnip and radish, and excellent digestive as they stimulate the Gall Bladder to secrete bile.
Why Does this Recipe Paciy Vata Dosha in Ayurveda?
As a Vata dominant type in Ayurveda, I dont eat too many raw vegetables, but cooked Beets in salad plays the same refreshing role.
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Unctuous/Slippery, Warming All help Vata Dosha
Beets have a natural Sweet and Sour taste, which along with Salt, pacifies Vata Dosha. And when Beets are cooked, they have a nautrally unctuous, or slippery quality, that benefits naturally dry Vata, especially Vata’s who suffer from constipation and bloating.
Even better, this warming quality of this Morroccan Beet Salad for Vata Dosha recipe aids the naturally weak digestion of Vata dosha.
Digestion in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine–A process of Firey Transformation
Digestion in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine both is a process of warm transformation that involves the break down of raw material (food) into energy (Qi, Prana) by the Firey Liquids of digestion–hydrochloric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile.
Because Vata dosha is naturally light, spacy, airy, dry, and cold, Vata dominant types often have weak digestion, what Ayurveda calls Agni, exactly the fire of the gut’s digestive juices. Vata need the Agni stimulating effects of warming herbs and spices, (but not the overstimulation of chiles) along with the soothing effects of unctuous food preparations with sauces and healthy fats.
In this Beet Salad for Vata Dosha recipe, the natural spice of beets, combines with the digestive fire stimulating cumin, garlic, olive oil, and lemon to stimulate Agni digestive fire, which in turn nourishes, warms, soothes, and pacifies Vata dosha elevation
Morroccan Beet Salad for Vata Dosha Recipe
Cook Your Beets Whole
Boil Whole Beets until you can easily push a fork thru to the center.
Allow to Cool. Speed it up by placing beets in Cold Water
Peel. I use the edge of a dull knife with the beets in a bowl of water. The water helps pulls the peel off.
Cut into 1 inch rectangular cuboid slices or small cubes
Add Olive Oil and Spices
For two cups of beets
Toss with
Olive Oil– enough to coat well and then some. Start with 2 tbsp or more
Lemon Juice– in relationship to the oil and garlic start with 1 tbsp and go from there
Salt– just enough to open up the flavors ½ tsp to start
Garlic, Crushed– just enough to smell nice dont overdo. Start with a single bulb.
Cumin Powder– a piercing sharp favor….enough to balance the garlic 1-2 tsp
Black Pepper– a very small amount… a pinch or two…to accent the cumin and contrast the lemon and garlic.
Mix well
and prepare at least 2 hours before serving so the flavors can get to know each other and mix well. I like to make one day ahead.
Key points
Beets are already sour, so dont overdo the lemon.
BUT, even more, dont go crazy with the garlic, as its raw…
The amount of cumin, garlic, and lemon will also depend on the flavor of the Olive Oil….
some oils are already spicy, some more fruity. I go with a softer more fruity olive oil for this recipe, although North African olive oil, such as Tunisian, like Sicilian, is rather spicy.
Tip:
dry roast the cumin first for a different cumin flavor. Dry Roast the cumin whole, allow to call, then grind in your spice grinder…..You can add some diced cilantro to this dish as well, but then you are entering the world of Indian cooking (or Mexican!) I have made this with a smidgen of anise or Lucknow fennel, as well. Hope you enjoy this Beet Salad for Vata Dosha! Let me know in the comments section!
For a Raw Beets version of this salad
