Welcome to the Weekend Recipe post
As some know I do offer intentional cooking, which is exactly that!
Eating With Intention
All ingredients
The Meal itself or meals are each and all for different intentions.
Whether it be balance your mood
Balance your Doshas
Increase libido
Eat to overcome physical conditions
Add variety to your dietary choices
Eat less highly processed or processed foods
Increase energy
Strengthen your spiritual practice
Whatever the intention, food
is such a key
and worth exploring for all especially Healing.
I always suggest: above all to listen to your body,
explore intelligently (mindful of your health and mental present conditions and past history as well as any hereditary tendencies)
and eat to compliment, sustain and enhance your body for a longer life and prepared and capable of housing faster vibrating energy.
We will begin by touching on two very old and, stand the test of time, healing dietary practices.
First from Traditional CHINESE Medicine we have FOOD THERAPY
Chinese food therapy,
also known as Chinese diet therapy or Chinese nutrition diet,
is a whole system, a philosophy, and a way of healthy lifestyle.
Food therapy uses nutrition to allow the body to regain balance, which prevents ill health and promotes healing. Whether you are looking to maintain your good health naturally or heal an acute illness or chronic condition, you can apply these holistic principals to your needs.
WHAT IS CHINESE FOOD THERAPY?
Chinese food therapy involves choosing and cooking foods based on Traditional Chinese Medicine principals, in order to heal your body and maintain long-term health.
To find the right solution for your situation, food therapy considers the following factors:
• Your body’s specific condition
• The food’s attributes
• Cooking methods
• Your environment
• The season
Where people often fail with food therapy is in treating food just like modern medicine. For example, some people realize that ginger benefits their health and begin to eat a lot of ginger without considering the factors above. Ginger can remove coldness and prevent or cure cold in winter. It is also effective to treat stomach pain related to an excess of cold. But, if the person has internal heat or is suffering a fever, eating ginger may only worsen the health issues.
FOUR QI (HOT, WARM, COLD OR COOL)
Qi is life energy and this is the most important factor in food’s attribution. Foods with warm effects warm up our body in winter to prevent cold and vice versa. People require a balance of Yin Yang (hot and cold) to maintain proper health. Cooking method can also affect Qi; for example, deep frying and grilling can increase the heat of a food whereas boiling or steaming have less effect.
FIVE FLAVORS (SOUR, BITTER, SWEET, PUNGENT, SALTY)
These flavors are related to the liver, the heart, the lung, and the kidney respectively. An excess of one flavor may negatively affect related organ systems. For example, excessive pungent foods harm the liver and the stomach and cause related ailments.
ORGAN NETWORK
Different foods act on different organ networks. For example, when looking at foods that help to clear heat in the body, it is important to apply the food that works on the organ network where you are having problems. Pear clears heat in the lung; banana clears heat in the big intestine; kiwi clears heat in the bladder.
MOVEMENT
Foods have four direction actions: lifting, lowering, floating, and sinking. These movements are based on food’s Qi (hot/cold), flavor, and qualities. Rose tends to float and lift, suitable for those with Qi stagnation (symptoms such as depression, low mood).
[References:
Huang Di Neijing, Chinese Cultural and Historical Press ,2003;
Bencao Gang Mu,LiShiZhen, Chinese ancient books publishing house, 2003
Chinese Dietary Therapy by Wei Mu Xin, Scientific and Technical Documents Publishig House, 2009
For example
Summer Juice/Smoothie for Spleen—Cabbage and Carrot Juice
Food therapy recipe: Summer Juice/Smoothie for Spleen—Cabbage and Carrot Juice
Late summer is related to the spleen. Cabbage and carrots help to protect the stomach and spleen. Cabbage clears away heat and relieves pain. Carrot invigorates the spleen and promotes digestion.
This is for those who love juice or smoothies.
Ingredients:
3-4 layers of cabbage (purple cabbage is more delicious)
1 carrot, medium
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup skim milk (option)
1/2 banana(option)
Instructions:
1. Wash cabbage, cut into small pieces
2. Steam carrot, about 10-20 minutes. Dice into small cubes
3. Blend the above cabbage and carrot (from step1 and 2).
4. Squeeze the mixture through a piece of cheesecloth(or a strainer with tiny holes).
5. Mix the juice with honey, serve.
Don’t throw away the dregs. They can be used as a filling to make a dumpling (or mixed with wheat flour and egg to make a pancake).
Tips:
1. You can mix the juice with 1/2 banana and 1/2 cup milk to make it more tasty.
2. I know many friends won’t squeeze/strain the juice. They just drink after step 3. I suggest you don’t always do that. The mixture goes directly to your stomach which can increase the burden on your stomach since it doesn’t benefit from being broken down by your salivary amylase.
3. It is best to drink it at room temperature. Any iced/cold drinks or food can hurt your stomach.
Champion chicken with Goji Berries
Ingredients:
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
1 (3/4 inch) piece Fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
1 roasting Chicken, skinned and cut up OR 3-4 lbs skinless legs and/or breasts
2 medium sized Green Onions, chopped into ½ inch pieces, roots and tough tips discarded
3-4 tbsp Rice Wine or Dry Sherry
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Goji Berries
1 ½ cups Water or Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Dark Sesame Oil
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pan and then add garlic and ginger and cook until garlic is golden (approx. 5
mins)
2. Place chicken, garlic, ginger, green onions, wine, soy sauce, goji berries and water in a
pot
3. Bring mixture to a boil and cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 30
minutes or until the chicken is cooked through
4. Sprinkle the sesame oil on top as a finishing touch
5. Serve in a bowl with some of the broth or on top of rice with the broth as gravy
Benefits
🥣Actions/Indications/Functions
o Warms the Stomach
o Tonifies Qi
o Nourishes Blood
o Strengthens Liver and Kidneys
🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️
Bok Choy with Wood Ear and Shiitakes
Ingredients:
1/3 cup (1/2 oz, or 15g) - Dried black wood ear fungus
5 - Dried shiitake mushrooms
3 - 2 oz bundles cellophane noodles, mung bean preferred
4 Tbsp - Sesame oil
3 cloves - Garlic, peeled and chopped
1 (1 inch) piece - Ginger, peeled and minced
1 small - Onion
1 large - Carrot, cut into match size pieces
2 clusters - Baby bok choy or 3/4 pound of regular bok choy or Chinese cabbage
2 Tbsp - Mirin or dry sherry
3-4 Tbsp - Soy sauce or to taste
Pepper - To taste
Directions:
1. Soak the wood ear for 30 minutes in warm water, where it will expand to two to five times its
original size. Rinse the wood ear, remove and discard the fibrous base, and cut into 1 by
1/4 inch strips.
2. Soak the dried shiitakes in warm water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain, reserving the
water for later use. Squeeze the excess liquid from the mushrooms and, if desired, discard
the stems. Cut the mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Soak the noodles in a bowl of hot water for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain and cut the
noodles into 3-inch pieces with scissors or knife.
4. In a large wok or saute pan, heat 2 Tbsp of the sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the
garlic, ginger and onions, stir fry for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the carrots, then the bok choy. Continue to stir fry for about 5 minutes, until the
vegetables are cooked.
6. Mix together a sauce from 1/2 cup of the water from soaking the mushrooms, mirin, soy
sauce, and the remaining 2 Tbsp of sesame oil.
7. Add the noodles to the wok, then pour in the sauce. Stir. Continue cooking until the noodles
have been heated and the liquid has been absorbed, 5-10 minutes.
8. In the mean time, toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden
brown, stirring or shaking frequently, about 5 minutes. When they are done, remove them
immediately from the hot skillet so they don’t burn.
9. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the noodles and add pepper if using to taste.
Benefits
🥣Actions/Indications/Functions
• Clear heat
• Move blood
•Regulates middle jiao
Fennel & Tangerine Salad
Ingredients:
1 Fennel Bulb
5 Tangerines
1 Pomegranate
¼ Red Onion
½ Bunch Parsley
¼ Cup Olive Oil
1 Lemon
Salt & Pepper (optional)
Directions:
1. Slice fennel & onion thinly
2. Peel tangerines
3. Seed Pomegranate
4. Chop Parsley
5. Juice Lemon
6. Place all ingredients into a bowel with the olive oil and lemon juice.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste
Benefits
🥣Actions/Indications/Functions
Expel Cold
Invigorate Blood & Qi
Relieve abdominal pain
Last one of these
Five Element Soup
General/Prevent Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure
Ingredients:
260g Burdock
260g Radish
260g Carrot
50g Radish leave
2-3 Shitake Mushrooms
Directions:
1. Clean all the above ingredient and cut into large pieces.
2. Add in 6 cups water and bring to boil.
3. Turn down heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Benefits
🥣Actions/Indications/Functions
Strengthen immune system, anti-aging, prevent cancer, high cholesterol, high
blood pressure and diabetes.
Clear heat, relieve toxin, nourish 5 organs, strengthen body
(Heart, liver, lungs, Pancreas including Spleen, kidneys)
Next week we will dive into more Traditional food therapy from the Chinese but also introduce the Ayurvedic and some of those healing dishes.
🤸♀️But for now a Little Low grind on the Processing and High grind on the high energy high chi Non Processed or as little processing as possible Yummies🤸♀️
GRILLED SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE
Ingredients
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lime juice
8-10 wood or bamboo skewers
PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (nothing full of sugar or a shit ton of salt)
1/3 cup warm water
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons grated or minced ginger
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons agave or honey
1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
Mix together the peanut butter and warm water in a glass until it is smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients for sauce and keep mixing until it is all uniform. Taste and adjust the seasoning so that you like it. Add more agave if you like stuff sweet, more garlic, whatever you like. That is on you.
Cut the ends off your sugar snap peas because those can be stringy. Run a skewer through the peas widthwise, with about 9 peas per stick. Mix together the oil and lime juice in a small glass and brush it over both sides of the peas so that they don’t stick when you grill them, otherwise your just wasting time.
Bring your grill to a high heat and place the skewers on there for a minute or so on each side. You don’t need to cook them, you just want some char marks on there because that looks Instagram great 😉. Slide the peas off the skewers and sprinkle them lightly with salt. Serve with peanut dipping sauce. Too lazy to cook them? Just serve them raw.
Chocolate-Covered Goji Berries
Serves 2
Ingredients
• ½ cup goji berries
• ½ cup dark chocolate (70% or higher)
• sea salt
Preparation
1. In a double boiler (meaning a pan filled about 1/3 of the way with water underneath the pan you will be using) melt the chocolate.
2. Once chocolate is melted, remove from heat and add goji berries and stir until berries are coated.
3. Remove berries from chocolate with a slotted spoon and lay on parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt to your liking.
My go-to especially in summer is Broth
Benefits of Broth
Broth can be especially helpful as part of a healing diet, offering a source of dense nutrition that requires very little work for the body to break down and absorb.
While we typically think of broth as part of a larger dish—the base of a soup or a medium for cooking grains or legumes—it is also a wonderful way to supplement nutrition when drunk on its own.
🥣Cleansing & Recovery
Hydration
Ideal carrier substance
Spring Greens Broth
The ingredients selected for this broth feature the bitter and pungent tastes and offer ideal properties for managing hydration and stoking digestion at the same time.
Bitters
Turmeric Ghee, Dandelion, Fenugreek, Nettles, Chamomile
Beyond their taste profile, which introduce air and space elements into the system (the opposite of kapha), bitters are often used to stoke digestion by increasing hydrochloric acid in the gut, which stimulates salivation and supports agni.
Bitter can also help to slow sugar cravings and tell the body the meal has “ended.” And they are a potent carrier for vata-balancing herbs, here in this recipe to help the body take in the more rasayana (rejuvenating) ingredients for the immune system, kidneys, and bones.
Diuretics and Aquaretics
Dandelion, Nettles, Celery
Since we eliminate excess liquid waste mainly through the kidneys and bladder, diuretics are an excellent category of herbs to support healthy urination and maintain healthy blood pressure. While most prescription and over the counter diuretic drugs will also cause a loss of electrolytes through urine, aquaretics are a special category of herbs that help retain healthy potassium levels.
Immune Support
Mushrooms, Astragalus, Goji Berries
Although mushrooms are considered tamasic in Ayurvedic thinking, traditional and contemporary use prove they’re potent supports for the immune system (and many other systems) when used medicinally.
Astragalus also offers renowned support for the immune system, while goji berries act as a rasayana for the kidneys and adrenals. This natural immune support is especially helpful during seasonal transitions when we’re more prone to imbalance.
All of these ingredients benefit from long, slow cooking in water, making broth the perfect way to consume them.
Minerals
Nettles
Many of us are deficient in minerals like iron, which nettles supply generously. The thing is, you have to consume the actual leaves to get the iron. Here, I’ve added them to the broth after cooking and straining so they steep in a strong overnight infusion.
If you have fresh nettles in season, you can use them instead of the fresh dandelion (or half-and-half!). Cooking them will remove their notorious sting, but be careful to use gloves and protect your skin when harvesting and cleaning fresh nettles.
Prebiotics
Alliums, Spices, Seasonal Vegetables, Ghee
We've all heard of probiotics to support gut health, but prebiotics are where a strong, diverse microbiome begins. Whereas probiotics supply the system with bacteria that might have been depleted, prebiotics offer the soluble fiber that the bacteria eat—so when we consume these fibers, we’re really feeding our microbes more than ourselves!
Using this broth to make legumes, whole grains, or fresh vegetables with peels or skins will add insoluble fiber to the equation, which helps to sweep the gut clean and support elimination.
Alliums provide a well-known prebiotic called inulin, and since our microbiome changes seasonally, any seasonal produce will be supportive for gut health. Plus, beloved ghee is an ideal source of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that microbes actually produce as they ferment; so this supports our system and microbes at work.
Broth
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon Turmeric Ghee
• 2 medium shallots or 1 whole medium leek, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons fenugreek seed
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 inch fresh ginger, thinly sliced)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or 4 cinnamon sticks)
• 1 teaspoon ajwain seed
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• ½ bunch fresh dandelion leaves, chopped
• ¼ cup astragalus root (optional)
• ¼ cup reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, or chaga mushroom powder or a handful of dried reishi pieces (optional)
• ¼ cup goji berries (optional)
• 16 cups water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup dried chamomile
• ¼ cup dried nettle
*The recipe is salt-free so that you can add salt as desired if you use the broth for other meals.
Directions
Warm a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ghee, shallots, garlic, mustard seed, fenugreek, ginger, cinnamon, ajwain, coriander, and black pepper. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low, and cook 2–3 minutes or until you hear the seeds pop.
Add the carrots, celery, and dandelion. Stir to coat in the ghee and spices, and cook for another three minutes.
Add the astragalus, mushroom powder, goji berries, and water. Raise the heat to medium-low.
Simmer for 2–4 hours or until the broth has reduced (the longer you cook it, the more it will reduce) and the flavor is rich.
Strain the broth with a large mesh sieve a couple times to remove the solids. I like to use the strainer to scoop out the plant material, then set the strainer in a deep bowl to collect any remaining liquid.
While the broth is still hot, add the nettles and lemon juice directly to the liquid in the pot and stir.
Place the chamomile in a mesh tea ball or reusable tea bag and let steep in the pot for no more than 10 minutes. Remove the chamomile.
Let the broth cool completely before transferring to containers. Use it within one week, or freeze for up to three months.
More broth recipies in the future!
Here is a peak at the Ayurvedic
In closing a very old school fan favorite and slightly forgotten
Porridge
Yes - incredibly, porridge is a great example of an Ayurvedic dish. It’s especially good for you if your dominant dosha is Vata or Pitta.(1)
Porridge is considered to be a heavy, sweet and sticky food.
If your dominant dosha is Kapha, you should approach porridge with caution as your natural tendency is towards heavy, comforting foods. You can still enjoy it in moderation, but avoid it in the Kapha-aggravating season of winter.
As in our recipe, you should eat your porridge with cooked, rather than fresh, fruit if you want to follow Ayurvedic eating principles.
Our porridge recipe makes a few extra healthy additions, such as raw almonds. From the perspective of modern nutrition, almonds provide protein, fibre and vitamin E to your breakfast.
Meanwhile, Ayurveda tells us that they can make porridge more sustaining for Pitta types who burn through their breakfast energy in a flash.
Ingredients
• 3 cups oats (regular or gluten-free)
• ½ cup raw chopped almonds
• 7 cups unsweetened plant-based milk or water (I used homemade almond milk)
• 2 tbsp jumbo or golden raisins
• ¼ cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp frozen or fresh black currants and/or blueberries
• ¼ cup Organic Apricot Kernel Oil
• 2 tsp Organic Chia Seed Oil
• ¼ cup raw agave nectar (or raw honey)
• Sprinkle of black and white sesame seeds to garnish
Here's how you make it
• Firstly, chop the almonds and prepare any other toppings you may want to add.
• Secondly, heat up the milk or water until hot.
• Stir in the oats and reduce the heat.
• Add in the raisins and almonds and keep stirring.
• Stir in the fruit and sweetener of your choice.
• Meanwhile, add the chia seed oil. Your oats should be very creamy by now. If you want it to be creamier or less thick, you can add more liquid at this point.
• Once you reach your desired consistency, take the oats out and put into bowls.
• In conclusion, garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and 1 tsp splash of the Organic Apricot Kernel Oil for every bowl. Yum!
Endless gratitude for joining me here in the healing garden and imaginarium all in one. The weekends will most definitely include some yum yum not just to feed your head but also your beautiful vessel.
Always Grateful for your time, support and commitment to yourself 👏🫂
🗺I am a guide and stick to the traditions of my path offering as much as possible contribution based. Feel free to reach out for one on ones, a zoom chat about tantra, shamanism, the mystical, intentional eating or Art of course🤸♀️ You can reach out through here or Socials or email, buymeacoffee or linktree.
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