Applesauce with Ginger and Ghee
Autumn and Winter delicious, warming and soothing treat that’s highly digestible
‘An apple a day keeps the Doctor away’
I’ve always had a ‘sweet’ spot for apples. Having a dutch mother - apple tarts, dutch apple cakes, and apple sauce was the desert of choice in our home. We also had an apple tree growing in our garden and my maiden name is Epelbaum - translated from Yiddush to ‘apple tree’. Oh, and my very first poem I wrote was about an apple tree. There’s something really special about apples I’ve gotta share.
In Ayurveda a ‘cooked apple’ - not a raw apple (as delicious and crunchy as they are) is the way to go. Cooked apples are easier to digest, keep us warm, and softer to eat verses raw apples that are cold, dry and harder to digest. Cooked apples stave off constipation, low on the glycemic index (green apples are the lowest), and low in calories. The sour taste of apples refresh the kidneys and adrenal organs. Even a spoonful of applesauce on the tongue increases saliva and stimulates the digestive tract, and the sour, warm taste of cooked apples stimulates secretion that helps maintain a moist colon. You can very well understand why ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.
Ginger Root - this recipe calls for dried ginger
Ghee - clarified. butter - lactose-free and casein-free
Ginger and Ghee are added to the recipe to nurture and moisten the body as we enter the dry autumn season, preparing our tissues for the cold winter. Ginger stimulates digestion and keeps us warm. Ghee and raw sugar (which is optional) are extremely nourishing after a hot summer when we tend to lose fluids. Ghee soothes the nerves, as well. Ghee is made from butter although it’s lactose-free and casein-free. Because the lactose is filtered off it has shelf-stability - no fridge needed. Pretty cool!
mise en place - everything in place
Recipe - serves 2
1/3 cup water
1 cup apples
1 tsp ghee - clarified butter
1/4 tsp dried ginger
optional: 1 tbsp raw sugar
Instructions
peel, core, and thinly slice apples
combine apples in a saucepan with 1/3 cup water, and simmer until the apples are tender, stirring frequently
add raw sugar - optional
mix apples and add ghee and dried ginger to applesauce, and bring to a simmer, stir occasionally
optional to mash with fork or puree with blender
serve warm - enjoy
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips
This recipe is quick and delish. You can double, triple…. this recipe. It will go fast.
When I’m looking for a snack or treat I’ll whip up some home cooked applesauce. I might use the organic sugar free applesauce I keep in my pantry or fridge. I suggest you keep applesauce on hand - you can also heat it up the store bought applesauce and add the dried ginger and ghee - following recipe above.
When you cook apples with ghee it softens the fibrous quality of apples which makes the apples easier to digest. Remember, it’s one thing to eat great food but another to digest the food, and that’s our goal.
There are so many variety of apples. Green apples are lowest on the glycemic index but more tarty. Orchard apples, Macintosh, sweet tangy and golden delicious are all sweet and slightly tarty apples. They’re awesome apples to cook for the autumn and winter months.
Apples and the High Holidays! What’s the connection?
apple orchard - field of holy apples
At this time of year when we celebrate the high holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot… apples dipped in honey is the tradition. Apples allude to the cosmic apple orchard - ‘field of holy apples’ - the level of kingship which is rebuilt on Rosh Hashanah. The apple manifest a very high spiritual level which is conceived on Rosh Hashanah. The apple also represents a circle, symbol of eternity. By dipping the apple in honey, we create a sweet eternity. - Book: A Spiritual Guide To The High Holidays By: SImon Jacobson
Much Love,
Genia