Joy of Balance – An Ayurvedic Guide to Cooking with Healing Ingredients

Description

The sequel to Divya Alter’s hugely successful first cookbook What to Eat for How You Feel is an ingredient-driven must-have for plant-based kitchens.

This indispensable kitchen companion takes the reader on a flavorful journey to a new, more personalized relationship with food. Chef Divya Alter pulls from her wealth of knowledge of Ayurvedic nutrition, sharing life-giving information on how to select and cook essential plant-based ingredients that are the right fit for the individual’s needs. The eighty globally inspired recipes empower the health-conscious cook to create delicious meals with a bonus: increased vitality, joy, and balance.
 
Alter takes the relevant self-healing wisdom of the past and brings it forward by teaching us to delight, nourish, and heal, ingredient by ingredient, through flavorful meals such as sunflower-beet hummus, cream of fennel soup, adzuki bean and red lentil patties, asparagus pizza, and rose chocolate mousse. This book makes the reader want to be healthy, encouraging them to develop an intimate relationship with the grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and dairy that make up their meals.”Joy of Balance is centered on Alter’s deep knowledge of Ayurvedic nutrition, which she describes as ‘the food that is most suitable for maintaining optimal health in the context of your appetite, dosha imbalance, physical activity, geographic location, the time of day or year, the time in your life, or the health condition you’re experiencing.’”
—Food Network, 10 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks of 2022

“Divya delivers once again with this exquisite book. Anyone who loves the art of cooking will cherish Joy of Balance. It is a priceless offering from one of the world’s great Ayurvedic chefs.”
—Jai Dev Singh, international teacher of Kundalini yoga and Ayurveda, and founder of Life Force Academy

“It’s rare to find a cookbook that successfully weaves together healing and nourishing ingredients with creative and uncomplicated recipes—Joy of Balance does it beautifully. This book is a guide to finding and maintaining the pleasure of good health and true vitality—I can’t wait to get into the kitchen with this book in hand.”
—Amy Chaplin, James Beard Award-winning author of Whole Food Cooking Every Day

“Divya does it again, combining the ancient wisdom and practice of Ayurveda with modern techniques and flavors to support the whole being. It is an honor to call her a friend and a food fighter in the movement of integrative and culinary medicine. People are hungry for change, and Divya is here to feed us.”
—Chef Robert Graham, MD, MPH

“What a beautiful way to eat! Divya helps you prepare plant-based meals that are not only flavorful, but healing for your body and in harmony with nature.”
—Francine Jay, author of Lightly and The Joy of Less

“The Joy of Balance is truly a joy to read and get inspired by to live your healthiest and happiest life. Combining heartfelt storytelling, mouth-watering recipes, gorgeous photos and deeply informative ingredient profiles, this is the perfect resource, gift and guide for any wellness aficionado to take your wellbeing to a whole new level of radiant, joyful balance.”
—Ananta Ripa Ajmera, author of The Way of the Goddess and The Ayurveda Way

“This book makes an excellent companion to anyone looking to explore healthier cooking at home. Food is the ultimate medicine, and no one understands that better than Divya Alter.” 
—Cultivated Magazine

“When it comes to Ayurvedic cooking, Divya Alter is by far the most knowledgeable chef on this planet. Not only does she understand the science and its nuances, but she is also an artist who creates masterpieces of deliciousness! Eat her food, read her cookbooks, take her classes. Your tummy and your tastebuds will thank you!”
—Lissa Coffey, author of “What’s Your Dosha, Baby?”

“Here is a cookbook from which you can cook anything and know that your body, mind, and spirit will be uplifted since the food is Ayurvedically balanced, according to season, body type and your own unique digestive capability. A cookbook like this is hard to find. I’m certain you’ll love it as much as I do!” 
—Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum, author of Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda
 
“Combining the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with modern gastronomic science, Joy of Balance is the perfect sequel to What You Eat for How You Feel. Here Divya has taken seasonal eating to another level by explaining how transforming seasonal ingredients into your best medicine can be deliciously simple, right in your own kitchen. I believe the one of the best ways to learn and experience Ayurveda is from Divya’s books and kitchen.”
—Dr. John Douillard, author of Eat Wheat and The 3-Season Diet

“Alter’s second book . . . is a guide to aligning the body, mind, and environment through foods choices. The recipes go beyond any particular cuisine or region. Ayurvedic pizza, anyone??”
—ROUNDGLASSDivya Alter is a certified nutritional consultant, educator, and chef in the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda tradition. In 2016, Alter cofounded Divya’s Kitchen, an award-winning plant-based restaurant in New York City that reimagines classic dishes through an Ayurvedic lens. Divya’s brand has since expanded to include plant-based retail food products and educational videos. Alter is also the cofounder of Bhagavat Life, a nonprofit culinary school offering cooking classes and an Ayurvedic chef certification program. Alter is the author of What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen.
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