Healing your body with food: spiced butternut squash bake
Last night, I put together an impromptu vegetarian/vegan dinner with select ingredients I happened to have in the kitchen, a lot of liberty with my spice collection, and a highly improvised Moroccan butternut squash stew recipe. In my recent practice of yoga and meditation, I've focused a lot of my studies on chakras and how to heal them. Turns out one of the most important things you can do for your body is to feed it with the right foods. Who would've guessed! So in preparing this dinner, I am also eating for the inner peace of my lower chakras based on the colors and ingredients chosen for this spiced bake.
The root chakra* is the first chakra and is located at the base of the spine. It is associated with the color red and therefore linked with red foods and root vegetables. It is followed by the sacral chakra^ located right below the belly button. Here reigns the color orange and orange foods. The third chakra is the solar plexus°, located at the base of the sternum, and associated with the color yellow as well as complex carbohydrates. So in preparing this recipe, the combination of vegetables and spices should be healing for all your lower chakras.
°To learn more about the solar plexus and even how to develop an aura and enjoy some time in the sun, check Henok's video!
Spiced butternut squash bake
1 butternut squash^, cubed
6 carrots*^, cut in small chunks
1 small white onion*, chopped
1 knob ginger*, sliced
1/4 cup almonds*^
3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp honey^
1 tsp masala spice°
1/2 tsp tumeric°
1/2 tsp salt
14 oz chickpeas*, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl toss together the butternut squash, carrots, onion, ginger, almonds, oilve oil, honey, salt masala spice, and tumeric.
3. Place on a baking tray for 25 minutes.
4. Add chickpeas and dried cranberries and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until squash and carrots are tender and browned.
5. Enjoy mindfully :) or on a bed of arugula (which is green and associated with the heart chakra)
✓ fiber
✓ vegetables
✓ lean protein
✓ unsaturated fats
✓ low sodium
