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<p>Welcome to Miraval Life In Balance, an exploration of ways to bring balance, connection, and the Miraval wellness experience into your everyday life. Listen to the podcast on your preferred streaming platform, including Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Pandora, and more.</p>


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Mindful Mocktail

<p>Yield: One 8 ounce drink</p>
<h2>Ingredients:</h2>
<ul>
<li>½ fresh orange</li>
<li>½ fresh lemon</li>
<li>½ fresh lime</li>
<li>4 fresh black or blueberries</li>
<li>4 fresh raspberries</li>
<li>2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro</li>
<li>¼” slice of fresh ginger</li>
<li>¼” slice of fresh cucumber</li>
<li>¼” slice of fresh jalapeno</li>
<li>1 teaspoon raw honey</li>
<li>4 oz Club Soda</li>
<li>Ice</li>
</ul>
<h2>Directions:</h2>
<ol>
<li>In a Boston Shaker, squeeze citrus and add all of the remaining ingredients other than the club soda. With a muddle stick, firmly push and twist ingredients to pulverize. Add club soda and 1 cup of ice. Cover the Boston Shaker and shake until condensation forms on the outside of the container. Fill the glass completely with ice, strain the drink into the glass.</li>
<li><em>If you prefer to convert this to a cocktail, substitute 2 ounces of the club soda and replace it with tequila, gin, or vodka.</em></li>
</ol>
<p>Enjoy!</p>


You’re not alone if you are confused about choosing healthy foods at the market. Here are a few tips to help you make the best choices.

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How to Marke Good Grocery Store Choices

<p>You’re not alone if you are confused about choosing healthy foods at the market. Here are a few tips to help you make the best choices.</p>
<ul>
<li>Always read the ingredient list.</li>
<li>Look for foods with fewer ingredients.</li>
</ul>
<p>Packaged foods tend to have long, dense, small-font paragraphs of ingredients.</p>
<p>Most packaged foods contain unpronounceable chemicals, food coloring, and lots of added sugar, salt, and fat—far more than is optimal for human health. Some chicken broths contain as much as 800 mg of sodium (salt) in a one-cup serving and sugar as well.</p>
<p>It is unlikely that if you made your own broth, you would use that much salt or add any sugar. Additives are known by food companies to be both cheap and palate-enticing, but they provide little more than empty calories at best and health hazards at worst.</p>
<p>A bag of snap peas has one ingredient: snap peas. So does a head of cauliflower. A steak or a pack of chicken breasts also each have one ingredient.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s implied in buying simplified foods is that you will add other ingredients like salt, pepper, spices, or oil—and you will know what they are. When you let packaged food companies prepare or cook for you, they usually add cheap and unhealthy ingredients you don’t want or need.</p>
<p>There is a reason that packaged foods sell well. In addition to convenience, they are tasty. We are programmed to love foods with salt, fat, and sugar—and food manufacturers, with sophisticated research and development departments, create them to be addictive to some degree.</p>
<p>As mammals 100,000 years ago, man often faced feast or famine conditions. We have evolved to gorge ourselves on calorie-rich sugars and fats when they are available as an instinct to sustain life when scarcity arrives. But modern life provides most of us with far too much food. The cheapest and most enticing are often highly tempting calorie-rich packaged foods.</p>
<p>For maximum health, we have to break the habit of filling up on these appealing foods. If you prefer not to make your own pasta sauce, buy sauce made only from tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, garlic, and assorted herbs, rather than those with added chemicals and tons of added sugar. If you are used to high amounts of sugar in your pasta sauce, it may take a while to get used to eating a tangier, more natural sauce with little more sugar than what is naturally found in tomatoes.</p>
<p><strong>Location is Key</strong></p>
<p>Steering clear of packaged foods means shopping in the outer aisles of the supermarket. The mac &#038; cheese, frozen dinners, cake mixes, cereal, and hamburger helpers all live in the middle aisles. Dairy, eggs, produce, and meat usually line the periphery of markets along the sides and across the back. That&#8217;s where to shop for healthier fare.</p>
<p><strong>Ingredient Order Matters</strong></p>
<p>Note that ingredients are listed on packages in descending order by weight, so the first ingredient is the most plentiful. And this is why reading labels pays off. If you&#8217;re buying breakfast cereal and the first or second ingredient is sugar, a bowl of that cereal will have more in common with a candy bar than with a healthy and nutritious first meal of the day. For that reason, in general, it&#8217;s best to avoid packaged foods that announce sugar as one of the first three ingredients.</p>
<p>Try this experiment if you are dealing with a demanding child desperate for sweet cereal. For kids old enough to read, unleash them into the cereal aisle and tell them they can have any cereal they want as long as it has four grams or more of fiber per serving.</p>
<p><strong>The Benefits of Fiber</strong></p>
<p>While most cereals have a high grain content and will have relatively high sugar or carbohydrate counts (carbohydrates digest into sugar), four grams or more of fiber will indicate the presence of whole grains. Fiber comes mainly from the hulls left on grain that has not been processed or refined. Fiber is usually indigestible, but our gastrointestinal tracts try anyway.</p>
<p>Fiber slows down digestion, slowing the rate at which sugar gets into the bloodstream. Instead of hitting your bloodstream at 100 miles per hour and spiking your levels too quickly for your body to handle, a high-fiber meal regulates the sugar onslaught more effectively and healthfully, making the food less likely to trigger Type 2 diabetes over time.</p>
<p><strong>Seek Whole Foods</strong></p>
<p>Look for whole foods in the ingredients. If you eat gluten, buy whole wheat bread rather than &#8220;wheat&#8221; bread made with refined white flour. The term &#8220;multi-grain&#8221; can be misleading. It just means there is more than one grain in the mix, but if the grains are processed and refined, then you can be eating white flour and white rice with none of the fiber or vitamins found in unprocessed whole grains.</p>
<p><strong>Stay Away From Stealth Sugars</strong></p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to be aware of added sugar. You never want this number to exceed 5-8 grams per serving.  As defined by the FDA, sugars added during food making include sugars from syrups and concentrated fruit or vegetable juice. In addition to setting us up for the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a diet high in sugar is likely to set off an inflammatory response that can exacerbate auto-immune disorders, joint pain, and other maladies.</p>
<p><strong>Find the Good Fats</strong></p>
<p>Fats have earned a bad reputation, but guess what? They are essential for your brain, organs, and heart to function well. What you want less of are saturated and trans fats. Trans fats are so harmful that the FDA banned their use in 2018. But watch out even for high amounts of healthy fats because prepared foods high in fat are often high in sugar too. Think of packaged cookies and cakes.</p>
<p><strong>Beware of Tricky Terms: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li><u>&#8220;Light&#8221; or &#8220;lite&#8221;</u> products. Anything &#8220;light&#8221; has been processed to cut down on calories or fat, which means even the nutrients in them can be watered down. And sometimes, the process the food undergoes to make it &#8220;light&#8221; brings its own health threats.</li>
<li><u>Multigrain:</u> Do not mistake this for &#8220;whole grain.&#8221;  They are not the same thing.</li>
<li><u>Natural</u>: This only indicates that at some point, the food producer worked with a natural source, such as an apple or rice, to produce what may well be a highly processed and refined food that is, in fact, not related to nature by the time it gets you.</li>
<li><u>Low-fat:</u> This designation usually means that the fat in the original product – milk, yogurt, ice cream, cream cheese, crackers, cookies &#8211; has been reduced. In some cases, the fat has been replaced with added sugar or other materials or chemicals to compensate for the loss in flavor that fat removal created. In some cases, eating such products can feel unsatisfying, leading consumers to eat more, which can lead to weight gain or feeling more hungry.</li>
<li><u>Enriched</u>: This means that real nutrients naturally found in food have most likely been removed, and, to compensate for that loss, manufacturers have added vitamins and minerals. This ploy is typical in most white bread and other refined flour products. A loaf of white bread would provide a few nutrients without additives.</li>
</ul>
<p>In summary, stick to simple, whole foods, and ignore the fake stuff. We know a bag of Cheetos can taste great, but with its 20+ ingredients, you&#8217;re better off shaving the kernels off an ear of fresh corn, throwing them in a skillet and sauteing with olive oil, salt, cheese (if you eat dairy), fresh garlic, oregano and some cayenne for a delicious savory snack full of flavor, natural sweetness, heat, and tang, with only 2.9 grams of sugar, low fat, moderate fiber, vitamins C, B, E and K, and the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which research shows are great for eye health.</p>
<p>Processed foods are always tempting (and taste great going down), but most foods found in nature will be better for you than most manufactured products.</p>
<p><strong>The Takeaway:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Choose foods that list whole foods at the front of the ingredient list.</li>
<li>The fewer the ingredients, the better.</li>
<li>If you can’t pronounce their names, put it back on the shelf!</li>
</ul>


Make these easy Cocoa Pancakes that are the perfect morning indulgence. These dessert worthy gluten-free pancakes are sure to be a treat!

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Cocoa Pancakes

<p>Recipe created by Miraval Austin</p>
<p><em>Created by Miraval Austin Executive Chef, Ben Baker </em></p>
<p>Make these easy Cocoa Pancakes that are the perfect morning indulgence. These dessert worthy gluten-free pancakes are sure to be a treat!</p>
<p><strong>Prep Time:</strong> 10 min<br />
<strong>Cook Time:</strong> 10 minutes<br />
<strong>Servings:</strong> 8 pancakes<br />
<strong>Tools:</strong> Mixing bowl, mixing spoon, sauté pan or griddle, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and spatula</p>
<h3>INGREDIENTS:</h3>
<ul>
<li>3 tbsp warm water</li>
<li>1 tbsp ground flax seed</li>
<li>1 flax egg</li>
<li>1 cup gluten-free pancake mix</li>
<li>1.5 tbsp avocado oil</li>
<li>1 cup oat milk</li>
<li>1 tsp cocoa powder</li>
<li>1 tbsp sugar</li>
</ul>
<h2>DIRECTIONS:</h2>
<ol>
<li>Combine the warm water and ground flax seed, and let it expand for 5 minutes. The mixture should become gelatinous.</li>
<li>In a separate bowl, combine the oat milk, avocado oil, flax seed mixture, and sugar. Fold in the gluten-free pancake mix and cocoa powder, and stir until combined.</li>
<li>Gently heat a non-stick pan or griddle, and season with a little avocado oil.</li>
<li>Spoon 1/4 cup of the pancake mixture onto a heated griddle and cook until bubbles rise to the surface and begin to pop.</li>
<li>Flip the pancake over and finish on the other side.</li>
<li>Serve with your favorite toppings.</li>
</ol>


This beef tenderloin with red wine cranberry sauce is the perfect way to impress your guests! 

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Petite Filet with Cranberry Demi

EXPLORE MORE RECIPES 

<h3>Created by Miraval Berkshires Executive Chef, Justin Taylor.</h3>
<p>This beef tenderloin with red wine cranberry sauce impressive entree for any dinner crowd.</p>
<h3>Ingredients:</h3>
<ul>
<li>1 lb organic chicken wings</li>
<li>1 tbsp avocado oil</li>
<li>2 ea large shallots, large dice 1 ea carrot, peeled, large dice</li>
<li>1 tsp sugar, turbinado</li>
<li>2 tbsp red wine vinegar</li>
<li>2 cups, cabernet sauvignon</li>
<li>2 qts beef bone broth, unsalted 1 ea bouquet garni, (a bundle of fresh thyme, parsley, bay leaf)</li>
<li>½ tsp whole black peppercorns</li>
<li>½ cup, dried cranberries</li>
<li>4 ea, 5 oz prime beef tenderloin filets</li>
</ul>
<h3>Directions:</h3>
<ol>
<li>Heat a 4 qt enameled cast iron pot (Le Creuset or Staub or any heavy bottom 4 qt stainless pot) on medium-high heat and pan roast the chicken wings with oil until deeply golden brown.</li>
<li>Reduce the heat and remove the chicken wings onto a wired rack.</li>
<li>In the same pan add the shallots and carrots.</li>
<li>Sauté on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring to pick up the chicken bits or “fond” in the pan.</li>
<li>Add the sugar and vinegar and simmer for 1 minute.</li>
<li>Add the red wine and cook to reduce by half.</li>
<li>Add the roasted chicken wings back to the pan.</li>
<li>Add the bone broth, bouquet garni, and peppercorns and bring the liquid to a simmer.</li>
<li>Simmer on low heat for 5 hours, skimming with a ladle periodically to remove any fat or impurities rising.</li>
<li>Strain everything through a fine chinois into a smaller pot and simmer the strained liquid on low heat until it’s reduced to a sauce- like consistency (or able to coat a spoon).</li>
<li>Strain once more and add the Allow to sit warm while you cook the steak.</li>
<li>Season and cook your steaks in a sauté pan or grill to medium rare or preferred temperature. For a home cook, we recommend using a thermometer and cooking the steak to 125 degrees F and allowing to “rest” for 5 minutes until serving. It will continue to cook as it sits.</li>
<li>Taste your sauce for seasoning and finish with a little butter whisked in if desired. It will give more shine.</li>
<li>On a warm platter slice your steaks and generously pour the sauce around them.</li>
<li>Serve with grilled green vegetable of choice and or puree (parsnip, potato, cauliflower).</li>
</ol>


Recipe created at Miraval Berkshires 

Wind down summer with this sweet and spicy grilled chicken recipe—perfect for al fresco dining before the cooler temperatures send us indoors. Pair it with a fruity and refreshing peach margarita that will add some fun to your outdoor gathering.

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Recipes for Al Fresco Dining

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<p class="has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color">Do you have a favorite Miraval meal, dessert, snack, or cocktail that you wish you could recreate at home? Now you can! Miraval Chefs provide tools and recipes for creating a life in balance through culinary inspiration, education, and discovery. Submit a recipe request below!</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color">Receive Miraval recipes by following us on social or sign-up for our newsletter. Our most popular recipes requests will be featured monthly on social and the Miraval blog.</p>


Submit Recipe Request

<p>Wind down summer with this sweet and spicy grilled chicken recipe—perfect for al fresco dining before the cooler temperatures send us indoors. Pair it with a fruity and refreshing peach margarita that will add some fun to your outdoor gathering.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-6161" title="" src="https://blog.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AdobeStock_374462978-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" /></p>
<h2>Spice-Rubbed Chicken Breast With Fresh Fruit Salsa</h2>
<p><strong>Serves:</strong> 6</p>
<h3>Fresh Fruit Salsa</h3>
<h4>Ingredients:</h4>
<ul>
<li>1 cup diced strawberries</li>
<li>1 ½ cup diced pineapple</li>
<li>1 cup diced papaya</li>
<li>¼ cup (or one whole kiwifruit, diced (optional)</li>
<li>1 teaspoon finely shredded fresh mint</li>
<li>1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh cilantro</li>
<li>½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice</li>
<li>1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion</li>
<li>½ teaspoon finely chopped jalapeño pepper</li>
</ul>
<h3>Chicken Breasts</h3>
<h4>Ingredients:</h4>
<ul>
<li>6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each)</li>
<li>1 tablespoon smoked paprika</li>
<li>1 teaspoon. ground cumin</li>
<li>1 teaspoon kosher salt</li>
<li>Pinch cayenne pepper</li>
</ul>
<h4>Directions:</h4>
<ol>
<li>Combine salsa ingredients in a large bowl, mix well, and cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving.</li>
<li>Heat a grill or a grill-pan to medium.</li>
<li>With a meat pounder or heavy rolling pin, pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness.</li>
<li>Stir together smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and cayenne.</li>
<li>Spray both sides of chicken with nonstick cooking spray, then season both sides with spices, patting so the spices stick.</li>
<li>Grill chicken over medium, turning once, until it’s no longer pink in the center, about 3 minutes per side, depending on chicken’s size and thickness.</li>
<li>Let chicken breasts rest for a few minutes, then cut into angled slices.</li>
<li>Arrange the sliced chicken on each plate and mound salsa next to it, with some salsa covering chicken.</li>
<li>Serve immediately.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Peach Margarita Cocktail</h2>
<p>Here’s a fun cocktail from Miraval Arizona&#8217;s Chef Kyle, who has been getting creative with the beautiful peaches from our garden:</p>
<p><strong>Yields:</strong> 1.5 drinks</p>
<h3>Ingredients:</h3>
<ul>
<li>1 ounce blanco Tequila</li>
<li>1 ounce Repesado Tequila</li>
<li>¼ ounce Ancho Reyes Chile ancho liquor</li>
<li>1  orange</li>
<li>1  lemon</li>
<li>2 ounces fresh peaches</li>
<li>¼ ounce honey simple syrup</li>
<li>2-3 dashes old fashion bitters</li>
</ul>
<h3>Directions:</h3>
<ol>
<li>In a shaker bottle, muddle peaches with simple syrup and fresh juice from orange and lemon. Add in all liquors and a few dashes of bitters.</li>
<li>Add ice to the shaker and shake your heart out. Pour over fresh ice in a cocktail glass and garnish with more peaches OR with corn shoots to give it that afternoon glow.</li>
</ol>


From Miraval Arizona’s Kitchens

Miraval’s Mindful Side of Culinary Series with Sam Blumenthal

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Preparation, Preservation, And A Quick Pickle

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<p>Sam Blumenthal is a registered and licensed dietitian, as well as a Miraval chef, who sees food as her vehicle and truth as her message. Her goal is to create a safe space to nourish, spark culinary creativity, and support your personal evolution both inside and outside of the kitchen. With her innate sense of compassion and vibrant energy, she is dedicated to helping you explore the value of reconnecting with food to enhance and evolve the body-mind relationship. Guests at Miraval can work with Sam to understand the true difference between feeling full and feeling fulfilled, while they build community and connect with others through unique culinary journeys.</p>


<h2>Miraval’s Mindful Side of Culinary Series with Sam Blumenthal</h2>
<p><strong>Scroll down for Quick Pickle Recipe!</strong></p>
<p>We recently sat down with Miraval Austin Chef and Dietitian Sam Blumenthal to ask her a few questions about how we build and nourish our communities through the preparation and preservation of food. Read below for her answers and her favorite pickling recipe.</p>
<h3>How do you build upon Miraval Resorts’ culinary pillar of creating community through food?</h3>
<p>I encourage guests to tap into an awareness that the dynamic they bring into our kitchen space gets transferred to the <a href="https://www.miravalresorts.com/blog/category/cultivate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recipe </a>we are creating. I like to ask them to think about what our kitchen’s aromas, colors, or tastes remind them of in their past. Do they evoke a sense of nostalgia?</p>
<p>I share my experiences with guests to encourage them to share their own. Reframing the cooking and dining experience opens many doors for guests to infuse a piece of themselves into the <a href="https://www.miravalaustin.com/experiences/activities-and-private-sessions/culinary-nutrition/culinary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Life in Balance Culinary Kitchen</a>. It inspires them to imagine how they can take in this frame of mind in this space and take it back home with them.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://login.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AUS_190105_culinarykitchen_0034-1024x683-1.jpg" alt="Kitchen for cooking class with counter and pants and table for students with mixing bows and baking utensils" width="1024" height="683" /></p>
<h3>What foods bring up that sense of nostalgia for you?</h3>
<p>Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of exploring what Lyndsey Lohan did with the Oreos and peanut butter in the movie The Parent Trap. It was a classic moment of friends bonding over food, and I felt inspired to prepare them at home—not what you would call high-level expertise. Still, it demanded a process: acquiring ingredients (rather than just eating out of the package), setting up a space, and adjusting the lighting or ambiance of the room.</p>
<p>As I was taking a bite, not only did I fall in love with this simple flavor, but it reminded me of the snacks my great-grandmother used to give at her home. Enjoying this peanut-butter-and-Oreo combination was more than just a craving for a nostalgic memory from a movie; it helped me feel connected to a very dear member of my family who has been gone for a while.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://login.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AUS_190105_culinarykitchen_chocolate_0532-1920x1280-1.jpg" alt="melted chocolate in a bowl with spoon " width="1920" height="1280" /></p>
<h3>Do guests ever share their food nostalgia moments with you?</h3>
<p>Yes, all the time! A lot of them are memories of chocolate. One guest remembered that their dad, who traveled a lot, would bring home chocolate when he came home. It reminded them of a time of feeling comforted and connected and evoked feelings of familiarity and love.</p>
<p>So, in our present lives, they make this connection when they taste chocolate and begin to ask questions like, Why disconnect from savoring a chocolate bar by turning on the TV when I can tap into that sense of peace and calm by being present and appreciating what this moment offers? Sometimes it takes a taste, sense, or feeling—even the crunching sound of a chocolate bar—that helps us anchor a moment.</p>
<h3>How do you include other cultures or cuisines in your workshops and recipes?</h3>
<p>I don’t claim to know everything about a given cuisine or food culture and prefer to come to this from a lens of artistry to tap into different flavors, colors, and tastes. It’s not necessarily about what we are eating, but the feelings surrounding how we eat. The changing variable can be the cuisine or the type of food, and I like to share those concepts contextually.</p>
<p>Rather than diving into a deep historical or cultural lesson, I utilize various cuisines as a tool to open minds, hearts, and taste buds. I try to inspire others to explore how they can use a flavor to find a sense of fulfillment through the act of cooking. We offer a class that explores the ancient art of handmade pasta to discover fresh ingredients and flours that help our dough, dishes, and hearts flourish. I started a tortilla-making class a few weeks ago, as well.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.miravalresorts.com/austin/experiences/specialists"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16103" src="https://login.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Social_SamiBioShot_HeadshotTemplate-1024x1024-1.jpg" alt="Samantha Blumenthal" width="1024" height="1024" /></a></p>
<h3>How does your background as a dietitian inform your offerings at Miraval Austin?</h3>
<p>My <a href="https://www.miravalaustin.com/experiences/activities-and-private-sessions/culinary-nutrition/culinary/">Solutions for Stress-Eating</a> class is about making peace with food and comes from a place of self-compassion instead of self-control. I use several principles of the Intuitive Eating Certification I’m currently pursuing, including body image. They are ideas I live by every day and discuss something I’m personally healing from as well.</p>
<p>I share this concept of making peace with food (and finding fulfillment as opposed to just feeling full) and how it pairs with <a href="https://miravalresorts.com/blog/food-meditation-for-fulfillment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">food meditation</a> to redefine how we interact in the kitchen—they all intertwine beautifully. It’s also great when guests take more than one of our classes because they get the same message in different ways—not just through words, but by using all their senses to learn new skills and reframe their relationship with food.</p>
<h3>Could you elaborate on this idea of self-compassion vs. self-control?</h3>
<p>A common framing of that is self-care vs. self-control, but that term’s overuse can dilute its true definition. Self-care doesn’t need to be glamorous massages or getting your hair and nails done every day. Self-compassion is related to how we speak to ourselves and others; how we have a sense of grace. We start becoming healthier as we move from a place of self-control to a place of peace. That’s why I use self-compassion instead of self-care—It describes an aspect of self-care, but it’s not an overutilized slogan you see on every coffee mug.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://login.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AUS_190105_culinarykitchen_knives_0686-1024x740-1.jpg" alt="Hands cutting carrots on cutting board with knife" width="1024" height="740" /></p>
<p>Tell us about how your classes help guests find joy in kitchen prep—a step we often skip over in our rush to get a meal on the table.</p>
<p>We don’t have to see preparation as a chore. What if we saw setting the space as a meditative and therapeutic experience? If we take the time to perform self-compassion by treating our dining rooms and kitchens with kindness, each activity that follows is led, in turn, with care. It can be a great time to turn on music or talk to a friend on the phone.</p>
<p>Preparation helps us pay attention. Even the aroma of onion changes as you chop it, as does the sound of the knife on your cutting board. If you slice an onion from end to end, it will have a milder flavor than if you slice it across the middle because cutting an onion releases flavor compounds, and how you slice—with or against the grain—releases more or fewer compounds.</p>
<p>So many pieces create a whole dimension of fulfillment that exists, but—out of habit—we haven’t prioritized time to discover and unpack. I like to show guests that we can acquire different tools that lead to fulfillment. At first, it might feel awkward or unfamiliar, but you can use the three Ps (Practice, Patience, and Positivity) to familiarize yourself and continue the process. At first, it might feel unsteady before it becomes comfortable. Ultimately, you can create a new path for yourself.</p>
<h3>How do you help people slow down and enjoy the moment?</h3>
<p>That’s exactly what I will speak about in my <a href="https://miravalresorts.com/blog/food-meditation-for-fulfillment/">Intuitive Eating</a> classes this fall. I can’t stress enough the importance of downtime. It’s how we process things and complete our experiences.</p>
<p>I always leave time in my classes to eat and discuss at the end. There’s no point in spending all our time cooking if we can’t synthesize it together. I like to share my kitchen shortcuts with guests so they can build in time to connect and make space for people (here and at home) to assimilate their experiences and physically digest their food before running to the next thing.</p>
<h3>What if we mess up and make less-than-stellar food choices?</h3>
<p>We need to be careful not to shame ourselves if our best choice at the moment is just to pop something into the microwave. There is no wrong or right, but we can take that moment and be curious and say, “ok, I’m not fully connected right now, and that’s ok.” We are not dismissing it, but we remain aware of the disconnection, observing it and noticing what might have made us feel or act that way. Awareness is the first piece of this everlasting road to evolution; simply having that consciousness and not just tuning out and going on autopilot.</p>
<p>Try to remember that any form of nourishment is still self-care. We so easily forget that nourishment from a can or from a box is still nourishment; it counts. This is something we can still take a moment to express gratitude for and celebrate.</p>
<h3>What are you excited about in the culinary department at Miraval Austin right now?</h3>
<p>I’m working on making my plant-based cooking class sushi-inspired. I recently completed a stage* at Uchi, Austin’s premier Japanese restaurant, which taught me new skills, patience (I once spent six hours straight just slicing oranges), and techniques I can bring back to the Life in Balance Kitchen. I like to compile the best takeaways from my experiences in various kitchens and offer them to our guests.</p>
<p>One of the most beautiful parts of the journey is the exploration of it all. I wasn’t working at Uchi just to sit down for dinner; I was there for 10 hours preparing everything. Within those moments, you find a sense of community and connection with like-minded people and notice the flavors growing in your practice. There is such a gift in the process.</p>
<p>My classes also highlight the idea of preservation. I lead with the notion of preserving food, whether it’s pickling or making mushroom confit (where we remove some water content to prolong shelf-life). But I also invite guests to plug that piece into their experiences to explore how to hold and extend a moment. So, I am talking about the preservation of food but also how cooking can be a beautiful tool to sustain the moment as well.</p>
<p>Could you share a recipe that exemplifies this idea of preservation?</p>
<p>My favorite quick pickling recipe is simple and not overwhelming. It also speaks to the sensory experience: pickling intensifies colors, aromas, tastes, and textures. Your ingredients get more crunchy, tangy, fragrant, and bright. It’s a quick pickle, but it still takes some time to reach its peak.</p>
<p>Vinegar is made through a fermentation process that creates an acetic acid, which can help feed good bacteria for a strong, healthy gut microbiome to support optimal digestion and nutrient absorption while stabilizing a solid immune system.</p>
<p>I chose to omit the salt for a sweet, satisfying flavor. This brine imparts a tangy flavor &#038; also helps to preserve the food. A few days later, it will be far more fabulous than the first day you made it. And it does require a sense of patience—it’s all part of the three Ps!</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://login.miravalresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AdobeStock_275525240-1024x768-1.jpeg" alt="A selection of pickled vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, slaw and onion in jars" width="1024" height="768" /></p>
<h2>Sam Blumenthal&#8217;s quick Pickle Recipe</h2>
<h3>Ingredients:</h3>
<ul>
<li>3 cups white distilled vinegar</li>
<li>2 cups water</li>
<li>1 cup sugar</li>
<li>5 cups sliced vegetables (red onion, cucumber, baby bell peppers, blueberries, okra, Brussels sprouts, shallot, or your preference)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Directions:</h3>
<ol>
<li>Bring vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil in a large pot.</li>
<li>Add vegetables to a 10-ounce or larger jar.</li>
<li>Pour liquid mixture over sliced vegetables and let cool, then cover with lid and transfer to refrigerator.</li>
<li>Let sit at least 2-3 days before consuming.</li>
</ol>
<p><small>*<em>Stage</em> is a culinary term from the French word <em>stagiaire</em> meaning trainee, apprentice, or intern. It’s when a cook or chef volunteers briefly in another chef’s kitchen to learn and be exposed to new techniques and cuisines.</small></p>


By Araxe Hajian

Mindful Mocktail

Ingredients:

Directions:

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