Kitchen Witchery: Red And Green To Chase Away The Blues

The winter months are often dark, dreary, and a bit bleak. It rains. It snows. The sun spends most of the time covered by thick and ominous looking clouds. Add in the stress and expectations of the holiday season and you might find yourself with a case of the blues. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is no joke for some folks. If you’re prone to depression, this can be a tough time of year indeed.

Red & Green To Chase Away The Blues

Mat Auryn, Patheos Blogger and Author, posted “As witches, most of us are trained at the foundational stages to understand the Hermetic Principles. The Principle of Correspondence teaches us, “As above, so below; as within, so without.”

I believe we can apply the Principle of Correspondence to the way we prepare the foods we eat and, in doing so, help mitigate the effects of SAD. And it’s as simple as adding bright, festive, eye-catching ingredients to each meal.

It’s  pretty common knowledge that eating foods of different colours, shapes, and textures is good for you. Red and green and orange and yellow and blue foods have all sorts of excellent vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants in them. But there’s another benefit too that most folks don’t know. Foods that are rich and varied in colour also stimulate our brains.

You see, we eat with our eyes long before we eat with our mouths. Our appetite and our curiosity are piqued when our meals are engaging to look at. Being curious and stimulated and excited to taste what’s on our plate, quite literally wakes up our senses, sending all sorts of helpful chemicals, signals, and hormones through our bodies. If you’ve got the blues, adding some red and green and yellow and purple foods to your meals can change your brain chemistry and your outlook.*

Here’s A Simple Recipe To Chase Away The Blues

I make this for two people and it’s a lot. One key here is to serve it in the biggest bowl you have. Not because there’s so much food, but because you can really see the colours. I originally found this recipe here a few years ago but I’ve adjusted it a bit.

• 2 medium, ripe, pears, sliced thin
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 16 ounces salad greens, such as spring mix (because it’s colourful)
• 1 carrot, shredded or julienned
• 1 avocado, sliced thin
• 1 Persimmon, deseeded and sliced thin
• 8 ounces Brie, thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Seeds from 1 large pomegranate
• 1 cup pecan halves, toasted

Add the greens to your serving bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix the salad. Forget the spoon or tongs, get your hands right in there. Add the shredded carrot too and mix it in gently so it’s distributed throughout the greens. Place the avocado, persimmon, and pears on the top of the salad. Now add the brie on top of the greens, a little here and there. Drop the pomegranate seeds all over the top.  You’ll be tempted to think “oh that’s probably enough”. Use them all. Maybe even use two pomegranate’s worth of seeds. Sprinkle on the pecans and your done. I add a simple vinaigrette for dressing to the greens once they’re on my plate.

This salad absolutely sparkles. The pomegranates are like jewels or ornaments you might see on a tree. It’s a real feast for your eyes and your taste buds. Feel free to add thin slices of red peppers or slices of orange if you like that sort of thing.

Enjoy your bright, exciting, salad. I hope it helps to chase those winter blues away.

*Depression is real. If you need help, reach out. If your depression gets to the level of suicidal tendencies, please do not hesitate reach out for help.