yoga

 

Every Tuesday, we scan Food52′s delectable menu of recipes for the healthiest picks they’ve got—bringing you seasonal, scrumptious fare that’s really good for you.

It’s pea season, and here’s a recipe that makes the most of these springy veggies, which are full of important phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals. It even includes turmeric, the trendy spice that’s making waves because of its incredible nutrition profile.

Sweat Pea and Leek Pancakes Serves 4

3/4 pounds English peas, in their pods 3 large leeks (about 1/2 lb after trimming) 1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped 3/4 teaspoons dried coriander 1/4 teaspoon tumeric 1 teaspoon dried dill 1.25 teaspoons salt, divided 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg 1/3 cup milk, room temperature 3 tablespoons butter, melted 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1. Shell the peas and set aside. To prep the leeks, discard the green leafy tops and dark green stalks. Slice the leeks into 1″ slices and rinse well in a colander to remove any silt.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the leeks (don’t worry about drying them off) and shallots and season with 3/4 tsp salt; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until softened.

3. Add the peas, parsley and dried spices to the leek mixture. Cook for 5-8 minutes, smashing with a wooden spoon or potato masher until about 1/3 of the peas are mashed. Let cool a bit.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, eggs, milk and butter together to make a batter. Fold in the vegetable mixture to combine.

5. Wipe down the sauté pan with a paper towel and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Spoon half of the batter into four large fritters and fry, about 2-3 minutes per side, until golden browned and crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and keep warm. Serve with Greek yogurt or crème fraîche and smoked salmon, if desired.

More healthy recipes from Food52.com:

Pea Shoot and Baby Arugula Salad Petite Pea Omelet

Related posts:

1. Food 52′s Healthiest: Molly Stevens’ Sweet Braised Whole Scallions
2. Food 52′s Healthiest: Kale, Sweet Potato, and Poached Egg Toast
3. Food 52′s Healthiest: Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seeds

The latest botanical enlisted to help preserve your youthful bloom may not come from your average organic garden. If Sia Botanics is right on its research, it’ll come from a cactus grown in the world’s harshest desert.

“Prickly pear is going to be the next pomegranate or acai,” says Christina Mahar, the creator of Sia Botanics. Its juice and seed oil contains high levels of betalains, a class of super-antioxidants that help reduce inflammation and speed cellular turnover—two “youth-preserving” actions.

Sia Botanics, with an HQ in Arizona, bases all its skin-care products on plants found in the Sonoran Desert, like jojoba and aloe vera. Prickly pear is the latest.

Plants that grow in extreme climates are often tapped for skin care. The properties that allow plants to survive and adapt while exposed to ridiculous conditions—think arctic berries and alpine flowers, as well as desert cacti—are the same ones that can nourish your dehydrated, free-radical-packed skin. Or so the thinking goes.

“All desert plants have super-high anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-bacterial properties, and an amazing capacity to hold moisture in,” says Mahar. Who doesn’t want that for their skin?

Prickly pear also acts like a skin-care supplement—it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals that nourish skin and improve its texture and cellular function, says Mahar.

But, you can’t just go picking it and applying it like aloe. Like it’s name suggests, prickly pear is a bit unfriendly, and acidic. So it has to be blended with other buffering ingredients, lest it irritate your skin.

Mahar’s prickly pear range, which launches this week, includes a cleanser, toner, two moisturizers, and a seed serum–all of which are meant to reduce signs of skin aging, like wrinkles, lines, and rough texture.

For a natural line making these claims, the products are affordably priced from $12 to $28. Turns out this prickly plant is friendly to the skin and the wallet. —Lisa Elaine Held

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1. Combat-Ready Balm: Support your skin, and the troops
2. Tammy Fender’s skin-care line contains an ingredient so secret it’s not even on the label
3. The 7 habits of highly effective skin care

 This post is for all my non yoga teachers peeps... for those who want to deepen their practice without becoming a yoga instructor... while on a budget. Practicing yoga can be expensive (I've decided on a bi-monthly class system to keep up the learning- I'm a physical kinesthetic yoga learner kinda gal) but home practice can be so challenging. Beyond the organizational stuff (timing, carving out space etc) how do you know what to do? What poses to practice? Online yoga classes that stream into your living room may be convenient (I heart Yogaglo!), but they aren't always what your body needs or wants in that moment. Sometimes I don't want to LISTEN to an instructor go on about SILENCE while talking the entire way through the class. Ya know? I just wanna practice. But how do you create a sequence just off the top of your head? It's definitely a bit tricky, but most certainly possible even if (GASP I did NOT just go there) you're not a yoga instructor (yep, I did). I started creating my own sequences in part because I had to teach Andrew how to practice the basics before he would even consider attending a class with me, and because I got tired of trying to think off the top of my head, getting through 10 surya namaskars (sun sals) and drawing a blank. Through my doodling and trying out different sequences I've learned a lot about my own practice preferences (I always like to start out with some surya's and end with standing balance postures...), made me reflect on the transitions between postures and on where my body is during each stage. My personal practice is now much more fun and not restricted to what is available on Yogaglo or Yoga Journal premade sequences. Plus, it's a definite bonus for Yoga in the Park. Here are a few tips to help you start up your own personal practice yoga sequencing: 1. Get yourself your own "Yoga Book" (or for my Wiccan peeps- Yoga Grimoire lol). It honestly can be anything, but works best if you can keep the sequences together. Mine is a section in my journaling book. Easy to bring around and will stay open in the park with my flip flops holding the pages down. 2. Read some stuff about sequencing. Honestly, I read "Yoga Therapy" and looked at a bunch of Yoga Journal pre-made sequences in the beginning. 3. Think about preparing your body for certain future postures. Like some hip openers before doing Half Moon, or side stretches before doing Triangle. Since this is for personal discovery and yoga growth, use it playfully to see what feels natural and what doesn't. You are not trying to be a yoga instructor, so don't worry about it :) 4. Think about what you like from your favourite yoga classes. Is it the flow-y vinyasa parts? Or do you prefer slower, yin type classes? Take a few mental notes and see how they work for you at home. 5. Start writing it out! I use a numbering system with arrows, English and Sanskrit terms along with fun stickmen. Honestly, stickmen are the way to go- especially if you're not 100% on the actual names of postures. While you practice a quick glance at the stick-yogi and you'll know exactly what to do. 6. Make sure you aren't too wordy in your sequence. This is supposed to be a quick glance reference for you to support a better home practice. You shouldn't be trying to read a book during your practice. 7. Keep writing! Trust me, it only gets better with practice. article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

The monkey god Hanuman is revered for his physical strength, perseverance and devotion. The Hanuman Festival of yoga and music is known for its inspiring teachers, rockin’ dance party, and bringing together an all-round friendly, committed community of yoga lovers. Given what it takes to pull together a yoga festival, the team behind the scenes of Hanuman just might share this deity’s honoured characteristics.

The team here at MYO is excited to add the Hanuman Festival to the growing list of yoga festivals we support across North America. The Boulder, Colorado yoga and music festival is set in the foot of the Rocky Mountains and takes place this year from June 8-10, 2012. My Yoga Online will be sponsoring the festival, hosting a studio on-site, and filming and sharing everything we can, of course.

“We’re excited to be working with the Hanuman Festival team,“ says Jason Jacobson, CEO of MyYogaOnline.com, “Our vision has always been to bring yoga to the world, and now we’re bringing the yoga world to people all over the planet by teaming up with festivals and teachers from around the globe. The Hanuman Festival has an impressive roster of teachers, musicians—and you can’t beat the location.”

What’s happening at the Hanuman Festival?

• Chakra Tuning and Purification with Giselle Mari
• Off the Mat and Into the World, with Kerri Kelly and Suzanne Sterling
• Arm balancing, with Kathryn Budig
• Breath of Life, with Tiffany Cruikshank
• Pre-Leap; Recognition of the Yogi, with Noah Maze
• From Sweat to Samadhi: The Miracle of Ashtanga Yoga Methodology, with Beryl Bender Birch
• And more

Hanuman Festival is a community-oriented yoga and music festival set at the foot of Colorado`s Rocky Mountains. The celebration includes world-class yoga instructors, music that inspires, and a nourishing community. Classes and workshops will feature a range of styles including Vinyasa, Kundalini, Hatha, Ashtanga and Therapeutic yoga.

Plus, White Swan Records—the largest distributor of yoga-centred music in the nation—is collaborating with the Hanuman Festival to bring attendees the best in inspirational, uplifting music. Every night will play host to an electrifying musical performance.  The celebratory highlight of the festival is the Saturday night dance party featuring Desert Dwellers and DJ Drez.

If we don’t see you there, don’t worry, you won’t miss out! We’ll post everything we film.

 

Namaste,

 

The team at MYO

More Yoga

In this Hollywood Reporter clip from Cannes, '30 Rock' star and Jack-spired guru, Alec Baldwin, shares his problems getting started with yoga and how being in a health-compatible relationship has helped him feel and live better. Baldwin's fiancé is NYC yoga teacher Hilaria Thomas, whom he recently defended from yogarazzi 'slime' and whom he credits for his better nutrition via "the cracker face."

In this Pose of the Week, Jodi Blumstein shows us how to complete Revolved Side-Angle Pose (Parivrtta Parsvakonasana). While you transition from Warrior I/II to take the twist, remember to keep the back heel firmly planted on the floor.

“Meditation is really discovering the love and the bliss that can be inside, and dancing is such a natural expression of that. Just connecting to the pulse, to the music, it allows that energy that’s inside to explode outside.” Shephali Agrawal, a lawyer and a volunteer director at the Art of Living center in New York, gushes on getting freaky in the club and the bursting yoga party scene.

If you’re tackling your first triathlon in the city this July, here’s one way to reduce the element of surprise: Attach your bike to a gadget that simulates the actual cycling course.

Machines at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers, called CompuTrainers, allow you to do just that. After you clip in your bike, you’ll start learning the course visually, via a video, and committing it to muscle memory as the elevation and resistance changes with the course.

Plus, the CompuTrainer will give you personal stats on speed, heart rate, and wattage, so that you can track your progress and pace yourself on the day of the actual race.

As for the other two legs of your triple threat race, you’ll have to prep for those on your own. Simulating the Hudson River will be a little bit more of a challenge.

Related posts:

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2. 7 must-have apps for cycling in the city
3. Races for a cure: A 40-something cancer survivor does a triathlon in every state

EVERYONE loves pizza. I love pizza. And as you know, recently I have learned to bake bread. If you have been here before you know the bread baking technique that I am crazy about right now is the no- knead technique. It’s too easy , it feels like “cheating”. This simple recipe requires an overnight fermentation.You can read all about it here and here.

Well, another miracle has happened pardners! Jim Lehey has a pizza dough recipe, a no-knead  pizza dough! And I’m here to tell you it’s just as wonderful as the no knead bread, maybe even better. Why is it better you may ask? Because it makes you a superhero. Of course, if you’ve got company over and you’re making pizza with homemade dough you’re already a superstar! But when you and your guests bite in to this pizza dough your friends will be your friends for ever! It is simply, AMAZING!

Now don’t worry, it’s just as easy to make as Jim’s bread. Just mix the dough the day ahead let it sit on the counter overnight, then get ready to take a trip to awesome pizza town! (Keep in mind this dough can’t be frozen and used later. But it will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.) The recipe makes enough for 6 medium sized pizzas, but I made even smaller pizzas so i could experiment with toppings and techniques.

Here are a few pointers:

• Definitely use a pizza stone if you have one. I have found that this transforms any pizza into something edible. Yes, even frozen pizza.
• Keep your dough on top of  a generous amount of polenta cornmeal while you’re working with it.
• Use an upside down cookie sheet as my pizza peel/ working surface, with the addition of polenta it slides right off onto the stone.
• Gently pull your dough into shape instead of using a rolling pin. The fermentation creates these wonderful gas bubbles that a rolling pin will squish.
• Don’t overuse your  toppings. Definitely use less than you think you need because once that pizza starts cooking- you don’t want the crust to get overdone while you’re waiting on your toppings to cook and cheese to melt.

I like to use Heidi Swanson’s recipe for five-minute tomato sauce, I just cook it longer than 5 min. so that it gets thicker.  If you have a favorite pizza sauce definitely use that one. I made several different kinds of pizza, and they all came out delicious. What I love about this crust is the way that it bubbles, just like pizza dough is supposed to!  You can see here in this photograph how one of the bubbles grew really really tall and sort of looks like a volcano to me! A pizza volcano!  Move over chocolate fountain! There’s a new sheriff in town!

Sponsored

We know you’ve heard of celebrity trainer Jackie Warner (and her abs). She’s the star of Bravo’s “Workout” and “Thintervention” and is the bestselling author of 10 Pounds in 10 Days.

Now the Los Angeles-based fitness guru has teamed up with evian for a three-city workout series called Live Young, Get Fit!

For the New York City stop on this fitness road trip, Warner is unleashing her signature kick-butt cardio and toning moves for an intimate VIP workout at Beekman’s Garden at Pier 17 on Saturday, June 9.

And we’re your ticket in on the action.

Three lucky Well+Good readers will win a spot for themselves—and one fitness-loving friend. Click here to enter to win!

We’ll announce winners in the newsletter, and on the site, 5/28, 5/30 and 6/1. Check back to see if you’ve won!

What:              A 60-minute workout on the sand When:            June 9 from 10:00 a.m.- noon Where:           Beekman’s Garden at Pier 17 (South Street Seaport) Who:               A once-in-a-lifetime butt-kicking session with Jackie Warner and the city’s fitness elite

After the class, Warner will be on-hand for a Q & A, meet-and-greet, and light refreshments. And you’ll leave with a serious goodie bag, courtesy of evian.

Related posts:

1. Refrigerator Look Book: Jackie Warner
2. Win this workout: Rebecca Kordecki’s brand-new KOR+ DVD
3. Enter to win a Figure 4 party from Pure Yoga