Cilantro Miso Sauce
December’s cheer is here, and along with her jingle bells, also comes a full schedule ringing with an abundance of culinary indulgence, celebration, and busyness! Like this woman in this picture attempting to do Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana in high heels (?!), this is how we may often feel navigating through the amusements parks of our super human schedules. ‘How do we do this?’, we may often ask ourselves. How do we do this thing, called ‘living life?” Ha! Good question.
I once saw a sign that said, “It’s ok. No one else really knows what they’re doing either.” And yet, at the same time, we do. We do because there is a haunting familiarity one moment here, and another moment there, that reminds us, “I am actually damn good at ‘doing this’!”
It doesn’t have to be a particular action that ignites this, it can be that moment, however fleeting, a sense of being, a reminder when in the presence of another, a drop of rain upon your shoulder where perhaps even, if you don’t know ‘how’ to do this, there is acceptance, joy, curiosity, and amusement in the uncovered ‘ok-ness’ in the dance of your Life.
A Native American teaching goes something like this~
It’s not about getting to the root to cut it away, it’s about getting to the root to uncover the medicine.
I see the medicine like a reservoir of tapped and untapped potential pooling in the earthly damp and misty environment of an Oak Tree. It pools and pools, it expands and contracts, lengthens and plummets to new depths, explores new tributaries along the trees veins, and yes, finally, reaches for the light. It just knows, without being told how ‘to do this’, that if it reaches out, holds out its proverbial palm, something will be there.
And conversely, the essence of this tree pulls its energy in from the sun kissed iridescent conversation high off the branches with the song birds, the softness of the rain, and journeys back into itself. Traveling through this dense core, it first wonders, how do I travel somewhere that is already, by nature, me? Yet it simply does, learning along the way, that the palette of surrender, listening, trust, and forgiveness (and most assuredly humor!) offer an intelligent design.
The medicine is your intelligent design, your GPS per say.
“These genes have a history, a life of their own.”
How would your own, very own, unique intelligent design want to be fed?
With sunshine? Moonshine?!
My intelligent design asks for warm, flavorful, nurturing, alive fare~
Adapted from my beautiful friend Elric’s “Dank Green Sauce”, here is a incredibly savory, flavorful sauce. It can also be liquified a tad more to use as salad dressing.
This Cilantro Miso dipping sauce is highly nutrient dense. Cilantro offers as one of nature’s best chelating agent, helping to detox heavy metals of the body, particularly for individuals who have been exposed to heightened levels of mercury. Mercury excess is a common problem that may be the result of metallic teeth fillings or over-consumption of predatory fish. High in antioxidants, it is a fab source of iron, magnesium, and is helpful in fighting anemia. It’s also great for the eyes! Basil (Ocimum basilicum) revered as a ‘holy herb’, in many traditions of the world, contains many beneficial essential oils, aiding in its anti-inflammation and anti-bacterial properties. Vitamin A, K, potassium, manganese, copper, and magnesium are good friends of this glorious herb that contribute to optimal health. That’s what we’re going for here, right?!
We all know garlic is one of the most potent natural antibiotics for the body. When I felt a cold coming on, I used to slice a garlic clove in half and tape it to the bottom of the foot, where the largest pores are. Strange? Perhaps. Incredibly fascinating and fun? Most definitely.
The miso is of potent value in that its a fermented food, which helps to promote healthy digestive flora.
Apple Cider Vinegar is known as a miracle cure for many health symptoms, including heart burn, sore throat, diabetes, high cholesterol and allergies. ACV is also a product of fermentation from apple cider. The word comes from the French, meaning “sour wine.”
“You can pay your farmer now, or your doctor later!” ~Mitch, Green Truck
So hit up your closet farmer’s market for some local, organic ingredients.
Recipe:
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch basil
5 cloves garlic
2 T tahini
2 T miso
2 T nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce)
2 T balsamic or rice vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
1 T apple cider vinegar
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
Blend in your high powered blender, and voila! There you have an emerald green cilantro miso dipping sauce that will satisfy the surface area of every taste bud. Use in pasta, over kitchari, in a salad…however you please. And ask yourself while you’re eating, if it indeed feels like medicine. I hope it will.
Enjoy your wintery roots~
