Vata Balancing Recipes
Warm, Moist, Oily, Grounding Foods

Tasty Oatmeal – Hot cereal is a great vata balancing breakfast.  Experiment with other grains as well.  Vary the toppings according to your taste and preference.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes                                                                                                                                                    Serving Size: 1 healthy portion
                                                                                                                                                                                                     (use 1/3 cup of oats to 1 cup
In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil:                                                                                                                                         of water for a smaller portion)
~ 1 ½ cups water                                                                       
~ ½ cup rolled oats, organic preferred

 Throw in:
~ pinch of salt
~ dash of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg (any or all of these are good, none is ok too, but some spice is nice and warming for vata)

Optional – add in to the cooking water:
~ chopped apple or pear, some raisins or prunes, experiment with different things here

Stir. Reduce heat to lowest, cover and simmer for 10 minutes so the oats are well cooked and moist.  Stir and let sit for several minutes before serving.  Top with maple syrup, a wonderfully vata pacifying food and maybe some chopped nuts, dried figs or dates.  You may want to add some rice, nut, soy or regular milk if the oats aren’t moist enough. 

 ~ If you haven’t tasted ghee, try it in place of butter on hot cereal, rice, vegetables, potatoes, popcorn or in your favorite recipes.  It’s easy to make and smells wonderful when cooking. ~

Ghee (clarified butter) – a digestive, improves absorption and assimilation. Good for memory, lubricates connective tissue, making the body more flexible.  Pacifies vata and pitta, acceptable, in moderation, for kapha.  For high cholesterol or excess weight, use moderately.

Preparation Time:  15-20 minutes                                                                                                                                 Two pounds of butter will fill a quart jar.

In a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, place:
~ 1-2 pounds of unsalted butter (preferably organic, cultured butter)

Heat at medium until butter melts.  Turn the heat down until the butter just boils and continue to cook uncovered for about 15 minutes.  The butter will foam and sputter for awhile and then begin to quiet down.  Stir occasionally.  Towards the end it will smell like popcorn and turn golden in color, small curds will begin to form on the bottom and turn from whitish to tan.  When the curds turn color, the ghee is ready.  Take it off the heat immediately, for it will start to burn fairly quickly once it turns. 

Let the ghee cool until it’s just warm, and then pour through a stainless steel mesh strainer, or cheesecloth into a clean glass jar. No need to refrigerate.  Use only a clean dry spoon to ladle out the ghee, as getting water inside the jar can spoil it.  Otherwise, ghee will last for a very long time, in fact, the medicinal properties are said to improve with age. 

Enjoy!