How To Make A Balanced Bowl

When you are creating a meal consider the presence of augmenting and extractive foods. Augmenting foods are nourishing and grounding and often hold the sweet, sour, and salty taste. They add to the body and enhance vitality. Augmenting foods are grains, sweet vegetables, fruit, and dairy. Extractive Foods are lightening and cleansing and often hold more of the bitter, astringent, and pungent taste. Extractive foods are legumes, bitter vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Generally, a meal should comprise of about 60% augmenting foods and 40% extractive foods. By doing so we are supporting the body to nourish and regenerate our tissues. Of course, this ratio can change slightly with each individual but, the aim is to be aware of going too much in one direction as this is when imbalance can occur.

When we have too much augmenting food ~ like hearty curries with root vegetables and bread we can feel heavy, stagnant and our kapha can move out of balance. Whereas if we have too much extractive food ~ such as big raw salads with lots of legumes, nuts and seeds we can feel ungrounded with our vata going out of balance and we start reaching for sweet and salty snacks as our body craves balance.

When creating a meal to obtain the 60/40 balance you can consider having your augmenting portion as 30% grain and 30% sweet vegetable and your extractive portion as 20% legume and 20% bitter vegetable. This doesn’t have to be complicated and can be as simple as a simple dahl, basmati rice and 2 vegetables of your choice.

Examples of augmenting foods:

Grains such as amaranth, barley, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, rice, rye, oats, wheat, and wild rice.

Vegetables such as beetroot, carrots, cassava, cucumber, corn, fennel, pumpkin, sweet potato, and zucchini. Seaweeds are also considered augmenting.

Fruit such as apples, apricots, berries, figs, dates, kiwis, lemons, limes, mango, peaches, pears, plums, pineapples, strawberries, and avocado.

Dairy such as ghee, milk, fresh cheeses, and yoghurt.

Sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey, and raw sugar.

Oils such as ghee, olive oil and sesame oil.

Examples of extractive Foods:

Legumes such as adzuki beans, red lentils, chickpeas, mung beans, tofu, soybeans, and urud dhal.

Vegetables such as artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, okra, spinach, kale, and all bitter greens + herbs. When all vegetables are also eaten raw, they are considered extractive.

Nuts and seeds such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, coconut, fennel seeds, flax seeds, macadamias, pistachios, pecans, pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds.

Creating a Balanced Bowl:

Creating a balanced meal with the 60/40 principle is simple once you understand the basics. My teachers at Hale Pule introduced me to the concept of the ‘balance bowl’ and it has become the foundation for how I create my meals.

A balance bowl is simply pairing 30% of a grain and 30% of a sweet vegetable with 20% legume and 20% bitter vegetables as well as including some healthy oils or fats. Whilst it may feel like a lot of different components, it is simple once you know how.

Some simple ideas could be:

Coconut cardamom rice / roasted sweet potatoes / split mung dahl / sautéed spinach

Spiced quinoa / cumin roasted pumpkin / red lentil soup / fresh salad

Fragrant jasmine rice / sautéed zucchini / baked tofu / cabbage salad

Herbed buckwheat / fennel roasted beetroot / green lentils / steamed kale.

Seasonal Eating Guide: Autumn

We’ve arrived at the first days of Autumn in the southern hemisphere and i can feel the season slowly starting to shift. The humidity of summer is beginning to dry up, there is a sense of lightness in the air and nature is slowly starting to turn inwards.

Ayurveda views Autumn (and early winter) as a time dominated by vata dosha which holds an airy, light and dry quality. It is also considered one of the great seasonal junctions and a time when our health can be more vulnerable.

It can be common to be experiencing symptoms of vata imbalance during this time of year including irregular digestion, dryness in the body, an aversion to cold & wind or generally feeling a little ungrounded.

The foundation of Ayurvedic practice is ‘like increases like and opposites balance’ so to balance vata dosha we must invite the opposite qualities of warmth, grounding and nourishment into our diet.

We want to be moving away from the more light, cold and raw foods of summer, towards more more grounding and comforting foods of Autumn.

Tastes - favour tastes in your food that are sweet, salty, and sour. Avoid foods that are overly bitter and astringent such as leafy greens, sprouts, or bitter vegetables as they aggravate vata.

Qualities of food – we want to embrace foods that are warm, grounding and nourishing for the body. Favour foods that are well cooked, soupy and have a healthy amount of oil.

Vegetables that have a nourishing quality such as sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot, carrots, asparagus, zucchini, fresh ginger, onion (cooked, in moderation), garlic (cooked, in moderation). In smaller leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, celery, and cabbage.

Fruits such as mangoes, bananas, apricots, berries, figs, pineapple, cherries, coconut, and dates. Enjoy apples and pears only when cooked and avoid raw as hold an airy quality.

Grains that have an earthy quality such as white and brown basmati rice, oats, amaranth, quinoa, barley and whole wheat. Small amounts of millet, buckwheat, and rye.

Spices that have a warming quality are supportive for vata dosha such as ginger (fresh and dried), cinnamon, clove, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, fennel, cayenne pepper, mustard seeds, black pepper, asafoetida (particularly supportive for vata), rosemary, thyme, and parsley.

Legumes such as split or whole mung, red lentils, adzuki beans and small amounts of tofu.  

Nuts and seeds such as almonds (soaked and peeled), cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds. Ground flaxseed can also be supportive for elimination if constipation is present.

Oils are supportive for vata dosha or dry climates when extra lubrication is needed. Enjoy healthy amounts of ghee, olive oil and sesame oil. If feeling particularly dry, you can have an extra teaspoon of ghee on top of your meal.

Dairy is particularly nourishing for vata dosha and can be enjoyed in healthy amounts. Favour ghee, fresh warm milk, whole cottage cheese, paneer, fresh yoghurt, and buttermilk.

Sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey, jaggery, coconut sugar and dates.