30 Minute Lunch and Breakfast Cooking For The Serious Patient
The trick to doing this in 30 minutes in the morning is to properly prep the night before. With a little thought and preparation, you can have a wonderful breakfast and a perfect Ayurvedic lunch in 30 minutes or less (including clean up and even guys can do it!)
General Points:
- Try to prep your food the night before.
- Cut veggies
- Measure water and have ready to go.
- Proportion things out
- Put pots on stove with spice mix measured out in them
- Have ghee, spice mix, soma salt out and ready to go.
- Have fruits washed.
- Have containers and travel bags out on ready.
- Be creative, if you can do it ahead of time, then do it!
- Get a food thermos.
Breakfast
Stewed Apple or Pear
Preparation the night before: about 1 minute
Have you apple or pear washed and next to the stove and a knife for cutting next to it. Put your pot on the stove with cloves in the pot. Have water in a cup next to stove.
Cooking: 5 to 10 minutes depending on apple or pear choice
In the morning, pour water in pot and heat. While heating, chop the fruit. Throw it in the pot and cook it.
Oatmeal or Quinoa Flakes
(if you are cooking at home, can have this mid-morning)
Preparation the night before: about 2 minutes
Crush 4 green cardamom pods. Put the shells in your pot for chai (see below). Then add ¼ inch stick of cinnamon, 3 cloves and a tiny piece of nutmeg. If you have a cold add 2 pinches of turmeric. Crush coarsely.
Put spices in a small frying pan. Add some raisins, crushed almonds or walnuts. Put lid on pan.
Place your oatmeal and ghee jar near the pot.
Cooking: 5 minutes
Turn on stove and add a little ghee to pan. Sautee the mixture for 1 minute. Add the oatmeal or quinoa flakes. Toast altogether till slightly brown. Then add some milk and boil till cooked. Enjoy.
Chai
Preparation the night before: about 2 minutes
Put spices in a pot on the stove and cover it. Measure your water for the chai and keep next to the stove with a saucer over it. Put a tea bag on the saucer.
Cooking: about 10 minutes
In the morning, pour water in pot. Boil water 5 minutes. Then add teabag and boil another 3 minutes. Then add a little milk and bring to boil. Sweeten to taste with raw organic sugar in the warm weather or raw honey in the cool weather (let cool a little before adding honey).
Lunch
Kitcheri
Preparation the night before: about 5 minutes
Pre measure dal and whatever grain you using. Put in a bowl next to stove. If using tamarind, put a tamarind in the bowl too and cover bowl with saucer. Put ghee, spice mix, chopped ginger, cooling soma salt etc. in frying pan with lid. Place on stove.
Cooking: about 10 minutes
In the morning, turn on frying pan. While spices are frying, wash the lentils and grain. Open tamarind pod. When spices are fried, add the other ingredients with water slightly above the top of the ingredients. Bring to boil on high heat. Cover and turn heat down to low heat (about a 2 on my stove). Cook with lid on until all the water is gone and grain is cooked.
Veggies
Preparation the night before: about 5 minutes
Chop some veggies. (ask Prabha for a fast veggie chopper: ayurveda08@yahoo.com )
Put veggies, spice, cooling soma salt, and paneer in frying pan. Put lid on pan and put in fridge.
Cooking: about 10 minutes:
In the morning just put on stove and add heat! Sautee until it’s cooked.
(read recipe for cooking instructions)
Preparation the night before: about 5 to 10 minutes (depending on paneer preparation)
Wash the leafy greens. Then put altogether in a pile and chop ‘em up. You don’t have to cut each one separately; they don’t mind a little physical contact while chopping :-) If adding ginger, then peel and chop as well as any other ingredients such as curry leaves, green chili etc.
Put everything in a container with a lid and put in the fridge.
Prepare your paneer. This can be kept in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.
In a pot on the stove, put some ghee, soma salt and spice mix. Put a lid on the pot.
Cooking: 5 to 7 minutes
Turn stove on low heat. When ghee is melted and ingredients mixed with ghee, then add paneer.
Next add greens on top. Cook according to the recipe. Then put in blender and presto! – Instant Health.
Other Stuff
- For glycerite water. Have water in bottle on counter. Pre measure glycerites in a separate bottle. Pour them in and it’s done.
- Have nuts and raisins all prepared in zip lock bag for a snack.
- Have fruits washed and in bag for snack.
- If having lassi, make the night before.
- For Food thermos - have each container out and ready to be filled. Fill the big container with water and put in microwave and set microwave for 3 minutes. In the morning just hit the button and you’re ready to go.
- Chapati Dough can be made and kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days at a time. When you are ready, you can pinch a piece and roll it out for a fresh chapati.