Vegetables give us an incredible ability to change our orientation. There are three main types of vegetables; root–growing downward like carrots, burdock, parsnips, etc.; round–growing around the surface of the earth and generally round: onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, turnips; upward leafy–growing upward: collards, Chinese cabbage, scallions, leeks, etc.

If you want to become more stabilized or physically stronger, or more physically active, you concentrate on root vegetables. If you want to become more upwards, dispersed, open and stimulate yourself more mentally, you focus on leafy vegetables. If you eat only leafy vegetables, you get weak physically. If you eat only root vegetables, you get too heavy, too down.

To become balanced we use round vegetables. But round vegetables are interesting, because round, balanced, means there is no uniqueness. We have different sayings like “cabbage head,” and “pumpkin head.” By this we mean someone who doesn’t have much in their head. If we have plenty of round vegetables, we become very balanced but not very interesting. We lose our uniqueness.

Our uniqueness comes from how we create that balance, through our selection of interesting varieties of root and leafy vegetables together with round vegetables. We need balance, but then we go out from balance and create our own uniqueness. If our selection is very narrow, then that is how we become. If our selection is broader, we become broader.

In this way we can use food and energy to create our lives.

When we cook, we bring out certain nutrients in our food. Each type of cooking brings something out. With blanched vegetable salad, vegetables are quickly boiled in lightly salted water. The vegetables are removed from the water when their color is bright. We are really after brightness. Some people may think they need the vitamin C in the vegetables, but that is not the point. The point is bringing our energy up to the surface and having it sparkling and bright on the surface. That is what blanched vegetables do. It is more accurate to see this cooking style for what it does to our energy, how it nourishes our energy. It nourishes our brightness and our freshness.

Quite often people are concerned about their weight, and I say “Eat blanched vegetables. That will keep the weight up.” Then they look at me in a very strange way, thinking “There is no fat there, no protein there. What is going to keep my weight up? But blanched vegetable salad keeps you from over-contracting. It keeps you fresh and bright. Your weight will be fine if you eat them often.

If you try to balance foods nutritionally, it is very complicated, but if you see things as energy, it becomes very simple and clear. What are you looking for? Are you looking for more strength and vitality; more freshness; more stability? If you know what you are looking for then it is easier to recreate energetically. Practicing the Seven Steps of Strengthening Health Macrobiotics helps us tune in to what we want, and we can then create that with our cooking. In this way we can greatly improve our health and that of the world around us.