If you’re wondering where the term “spa cuisine” comes from, you may have already guessed—it comes from the spa experience. Imagine you’ve spent a luxurious day relaxing in mud baths and hot springs and getting a massage. You would naturally work up a hunger. So spas and retreat centers often have restaurants or cafes that offer healthy, detoxifying foods and drinks. Nourishing and delicious, they can even help you shed a few of those extra pounds.
Spa cuisine, or spa food, is made with fresh, often seasonal and organic ingredients. Always presented in a simple, colorful way, the focus is on quality, not quantity.
As yogis, we learn to “eat to live, not live to eat,” and we enjoy the freedom that brings us. A yoga lifestyle encourages us to find happiness deep from within, not in fleeting sensations. In other words, when we’re already feeling satisfied within, we crave less. We then seek foods that bring balance and health to our bodies and minds.
The way we eat becomes an important and motivating part of our yoga practice. It can propel us forward on our path towards balance, peace, and happiness.
Although most of us can’t go to the spa on a regular basis, fortunately, we can make our own spa food at home. We can easily make colorful, vibrant meals that help us stay healthy and keep us on track.
With whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, and healthy fats, including a moderate amount of dairy, we have the perfect ingredients at our fingertips. With just a few simple ingredients we can create just about any flavor under the sun that tastes beyond good.
If you’re looking for fresh ideas to inspire you to get started, here are a few.
Think fresh juices that are detoxifying like Summer Glow, that are high in digestive enzymes like Aloha Energy, that help boost immunity like Miss Scarlet, or that improve and strengthen chi energy like Cherry Crush.
Smoothies like Sweet Relaxation to help relax the mind and sooth the stomach, or Radiant Beauty to nourish your nervous system and beautify the skin.
Soups like Mellow Potato Curry to ground and nourish you, a vegan Cream of Summer Harvest to help you strengthen and detoxify, and Easy Dhal to help you nourish, balance, and feel satisfied.
Savories, like Chili Lime Ginger Sauce with Fried Silken Tofu, are the perfect accompaniment to whole grains, like brown rice, basmati rice, or soba noodles. Experiment with your own version of Thai Vegetable Spring Rolls with Almond Butter Dipping Sauce for a light and nourishing treat.
And be sure to treat yourself with my favorite incredibly Rich and Delicious Guacamole recipe.
