by Prajna

Sattvic food is seasonal food and seasonal and local eating is pretty much a given in the food world of California. But I’m often surprised to find out that many people don’t really pay attention to it in their own kitchens, and that a lot of people can’t quite make the connection between a food and its season.

The poet and writer Wendell Berry says that “Eating is an agricultural act.” It’s an action and it has an effect. A big reason for eating in attunement with the season is that when we put ourselves outside of the cycle of crops and seasons, we take another step back from the natural world. We hurt ourselves and we hurt our planet. But when our eating flows naturally from what is seasonal, we find ourselves celebrating nature in the most elemental of ways, as something that we are a part of, in relationship to.

Sattvic and seasonal go hand in hand, so that when people talk about Satvic in terms of food, they’re talking about foods that soothe the system, that are vegetarian, fresh, nutritious, light, healthy and seasonal. Seasonal because the lighter foods of summer are the foods we would naturally want to enjoy in the warmer weather, just as the heartier, earthier crops of winter sustain and comfort us in their season. According to the Ayurvedic system, satvic foods represent balance and harmony, and are believed to increase energy, happiness, calmness and mental clarity.

When the seasons begin to change and different foods begin to arrive in the market, it gives us the opportunity to welcome the arrival of each new crop. In the summer, it’s time to make the corn dishes we wait for all year, cook zucchini a hundred ways, make the fresh tomato recipes that everyone loves and end meals with desserts made of berries and stone fruits.

In that spirit, I’m enclosing a recipe that we always enjoy in the summertime at San Francisco IYI, out of the Fields of Greens Cookbook by Annie Somerville.

Corn and Bulgar Salad with Sage and Lime

½ cup bulgar
½ cup boiling water
1T olive oil
3 ears of corn, taken off the cob, about 3 cups kernels
Salt
¼ medium red onion, diced small
1 jalapeno, seeded and thinly sliced  (check for heat and use less if you like)
1 T lemon juice
1 T lime juice
Pinch of cayenne
1 T chopped fresh sage
1 T cilantro

1. Place the bulgar in a medium size bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Cover and let it sit for 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil, add corn, 1 tsp salt, and sautée for 5 minutes. Add the onion and sautée for another 3 minutes, or until the corn and onion are tender.
3. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes and then toss with the bulgar, chilies, lemon and lime juices, ½ t salt and the pinch of cayenne. Taste for salt. A few minutes before serving, toss in the chopped herbs.

I’ve been making that salad for many years. Sometimes I substitute a cup of cooked quinoa for the bulgar.

As cookbooks go, almost the only new cookbook I’ve gotten in a long time is the book Six Seasons, by Joshua McFadden. I love his approach to food and there are some real keepers in there, as far as recipes go. But what I want to include here is something that Joshua has to say about seasonal food.

“I want to show you how to eat tomatoes in August, peas in April, butternut squash only when there’s frost on your car windshield. Cherish the vegetables when they’re at their best and then wait until their season rolls around again. The impact will be profound, in your own kitchen and in the community at large.”

And remember, ‘Eating is an agricultural act.’ May we all have the joy of it.

Join Prajna for her upcoming workshop: Seasonal and Sattvic – The Bounty of Summer
Sat. August 20 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm PDT

Prajna has cooked for years in restaurants, cafes and retreat centers. She currently lives, practices and cooks at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco.