5-Element Nutrition: Balance Your Wood Element - Recipes

As requested, from my recent workshop, these are the 4 recipes we ate to balance our Wood Element (Liver/GallBladder).  Unless noted, recipes are my own.

1) Kindness Water

In a 1 gallon water pitcher, combine the following:

Organic lemon slices

Organic lime slices

Organic grapefruit slices

 - remove any seeds, but leave the peel on all of the citrus fruit to intensify the sour flavor that benefits the Liver.

 - use 2-3 thin slices of each.

1 sprig fresh mint leaves

Fill with purified water, let sit for at least 15 minutes, serve.

From a Chinese medicine point of view, water is best served room temperature.  Ok to refrigerate this up to 3 days.

2) Green Apple Salad

Tart green apples are excellent for the Liver.  In addition, this salad is light and refreshing, making a great Spring side dish.

Combine in a bowl:

3 organic Green Apples, peeled, sliced into small pieces

4 stalks organic Celery, rinsed, chopped into small pieces

¼ cup toasted Walnuts, bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes then chop

½ cup Raisins, I used organic Sunview brand green seedless, which are really plump and sweet.

Drizzle 1 large spoonful honey over the top.  I used Wee Bee Honey, naturally raw with pollen, propolis, and honeycomb bits in it.

Add 1 cup plain yogurt.

Stir everything together and serve.

3) Potato Cauliflower Curry (Aloo Gobi)

This is a recipe I tried from a great book, The Healing Spices by Bharat Aggarwal, PhD, 2011.  I included it because it highlights Turmeric which is a spice that is incredible for the Liver. It's also very important to find delicious ways to get anti-cancer vegetables into our food as often as possible (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts).

Ingredients:

2 Tbs vegetable or olive oil

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin seed

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 ½ lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

½ tsp diced fresh ginger

½ tsp chili power

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbs garam masala (Indian spice mixture)

Salt, to taste

¼ cup chopped cilantro (optional)

1.  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the turmeric and cumin seeds until the spices render their aroma, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped shallot and garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, until the shallots are soft, about 8 minutes.

2.  Stir in the diced tomatoes, cauliflower, potatoes, ginger, chili powder, and ground pepper.  Reduce the heat, cover partially, and cook for 40 minutes, stirring frequently.  If the curry appears too dry and the vegetables start to stick to the pan, add some water.

3.  Add the garam masala, simmer 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep covered until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with cilantro, if using, and serve.

4) Millet & Maitake Mushroom Curry

I thought the above recipe for Potato Cauliflower Curry needed something to go with other than plain rice, so I made this dish as a similar complement.  Millet is a delicious yellow earthy grain that benefits the Liver, and Maitake is a medicinal mushroom which strongly supports the Liver.  This recipe also highlights turmeric, “guardian of the liver”.

1.  Put the millet on to cook.  Use 1 cup millet to 3 cups water, bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer until done – about 20-30 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit covered when done.

2.  Make the Maitake Mushroom Curry.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 fresh Maitake mushroom, rinsed and chopped.  Ok to substitute a re-constituted dried Maitake if fresh is not available.  8 Shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) would also be a viable substitute.

1 28-oz can peeled, ground tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped

1 tsp ajwain seeds

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp curry powder (I used a Madras Curry variety from Summit Spice & Teas)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1.  In a cast iron or other skillet, heat the olive oil.  When hot, add the ajwain seeds and turmeric.  Wait about 15 seconds then add the chopped garlic and ginger.  Stir.

2.  Add the chopped Maitake mushroom and stir until the mushroom is starting to brown, about 5-8 minutes.

3.  Add the can of tomatoes, turmeric, ground cumin, garam masala, and curry powder.  Stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste, stir again.

4.  Add the millet 1 large spoonful at a time, stirring in, until desired consistency is formed.  Ok to add a little more water if needed.  I like this to be slightly on the wet side, rather than thick and dry.  Serve.

Keep any unused millet refrigerated for 4-5 days.  Add to a soup like rice, or even mix with oatmeal in the morning.

Cynthia McMullen, Program Director at Alaska Institute of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture & Massage Therapy, teaches a very popular 12-chapter series in 5-Element Nutrition.  Workshops are held once each month, open to the general public.  For more information: www.touchoftao.com

Cooking With Chinese Herbs

As promised, here is the recipe for the soup I made at tonight's 5-Element Nutrition workshop on Chinese Herbal Healing Broths.

THAI CABBAGE SOUP with QI BUILDING HERBS

This soup is delicious and gives a good idea of how you can play around with edible Chinese herbs.  The purpose was to give workshop participants a sample of how easy yet deeply satisfying herbal broths can be, and also how strongly you can "feel the Qi" from them!

Step 1:  either make your own broth (vegetable or meat), or use an organic pre-made broth of your choice.  I usually use 4 cups of broth and add additional water as needed.

Step 2:  Get the herbs ready to add to the broth. For this recipe I used Huang Jing, Kombu, 1 dried Maitake mushroom, Hong Zao, Ren Shen, Gou Qi Zi, & Huang Qi.  In this group, only the Huang Qi (stick-like root at the bottom) is not edible and will be removed after cooking.

HINT:  I have found it much easier to add most herbs as they are, and chop them into small pieces after they have softened from being cooked in the broth.  The Hong Zao (red dates) however are extremely soft after cooking, so I usually cut them while still dry, as below:

Step 3: Begin warming the broth in a stainless steel pot on the stove. Add the herbs, cover, bring to a gentle simmer for 30-minutes.

Step 4: Remove from heat and strain the herbs out.  You'll have a nice container of herb broth that you can now use as is - keeps for up to 7 days in the refrigerator & you can freeze it.

 

Step 5: If desired, chop the edible herbs into small pieces and add back into the broth.  They are very tasty and add a somewhat exotic quality to whatever you cook them into.

HINT:  If using both edible & non-edible herbs, be sure to place non-edible herbs in a muslin bag or cheesecloth so you can easily separate & remove them.

Here you can see how the same herbs from the 1st picture have plumped up and softened.  They will now be very easy to cut into little pieces.

Step 6:  In a food processor, shred 1 large potato, a bunch of carrots, and 1 small green cabbage.  

Step 7:  In a large soup pot, heat a spoonful of coconut oil and a dash of olive oil.  Once hot, add a healthy shake of "Panch Phora" Indian seeds.  This is a great combination of fenugreek, brown mustard seed, nigella, cumin, and fennel. If you're in Anchorage, I get mine at Summit Spice & Tea.  I also added about 1 Tbsp fresh chopped ginger root.

Step 8: Once the seeds release their scent and begin to lightly pop, add all of the shredded veggies.  Then add the herbal broth.  Add additional water if needed to make a nice soup consistency.

Step 9: Cover and simmer for about 30-minutes, until veggies are cooked well.  If desired, add a small amount of curry and salt to taste.

HINT: When cooking with Chinese herbs, it's best to keep additional spices to a minimum.  In this soup, I added about 1/4 the amount of Panch Phora and Curry that I would normally use.

Step 10: Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.  Then add 1 can Coconut Milk, stir well, and it's ready to serve.  Enjoy!!  (Makes about 8-10 servings)

Amazing Broccoli Soup

When my youngest sister was little she used to refuse to eat dinner at the table, and instead would crawl around under the table, go up to someone and stick her hand up. This person then had to exclaim,”Oh look – it’s THE HAND!” You then put food into “The Hand” and “The Hand” would pull back and my sister would eat whatever the food was. It was the only way we could get her to eat any vegetables at all.

30 years later, she still hates vegetables. Since she no longer crawls around under the table and I often cook for her, I’ve had to be inventive. This is a recipe for an incredible broccoli soup. She hates broccoli and other green earthly substances (which I adore), but she loves this soup. It’s a favorite of my own kids’ also.

From an energetic nutritional standpoint, the green color is good for the liver, and the upward and inward energetic direction of growth is good for the lungs and large intestine. The fresh vegetables are packed with vitamins and fiber. The method of cooking is warming, tonifying (strengthening), and moistening.

I always recommend organic produce if you have it. This recipe also has very little waste. What small amount you do have makes great compost, or even food for some pets. The ingredients are highlighted.

Chop up the following vegetables and set aside in a bowl:
1 large russet or several smaller potatoes (about 2 cups chopped), washed and unpeeled
2-3 stalks of fresh broccoli including the stalk. (Chop the florets off, then peel the thick skin off the stalk. Chop the soft inside of the stalk into small pieces.)

Keep separate from above:
1 onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Warm your soup cooking pot on the stove and add 1 large spoonful of coconut oil with 1Tbsp. olive oil. Coconut oil tends to be sticky to cook with, but blends beautifully with a little olive oil. When the oil is hot, sauté the onion and garlic until they are slightly brown.

Add all of the broccoli.

Leaving at least one inch of space at the top of the pot, cover with your choice of chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water. Sprinkle a little salt over the top and bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 1 hour.

The vegetables should be soft. Turn the soup off and remove from the heat. Sprinkle some dill, fresh ground pepper, and any other spices you like. Add 1 cup of half and half cream.

Using a stick handmixer or blender, puree the soup until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little more water. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt in each bowl, and either homemade buttermilk biscuits or rosemary bread from your favorite bakery. Enjoy!