Keeping your Sangha Healthy
I am often asked “what should we cook for you?” The Buddha says that the purpose of alms food is “for keeping us healthy” so we can “live the holy life”.
I have noticed that often Dana can be high in fats, sugars and carbohydrates [white rice] and low in fresh greens. I would like to encourage you to prepare healthy food for us with lots of fresh vegetables and whole grains. Please give us more salads or lightly cooked vegetables.
Certainly the traditional Sri Lankan salads of Gotu Kola and Kale are really good! I always appreciate the excellent nutrition these dishes provide.
I have difficulty digesting oils and fats so please
-
- do not put oil or salad dressing on the salads
- reduce the amount of oil that you cook with
- do not give me fried foods
- do not give me chemical sweeteners (aspartane etc)
“Spices”and chili is just fine for me. I have no problem eating spices.
To get started I will provide you with a couple of good salad recipes:
Mixed greens salad
is very simple and very good:
Raw Carrot Salad with Sesame, Soy and Lime Dressing
is from Michelle’s excellent Health Helpings website http://www.healthyhelpings.com.au/raw-asian-carrot-salad/
The menu on the left lists some more suggestions and recipes of healthy food that you can feed us that will be good for us and taste good too.