Smashed Cucumber Salad - Summer Recipe
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 5 mins | Total Time: 15 mins
Quick | Easy | Dairy-Free | Nut-Free | Vegetarian | Vegan |
This delicious, refreshing salad is the perfect summer recipe and only takes 5 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are simple, and yet this salad is packed with flavour and is full of health benefits. This Yin salad is perfect for summer - the most Yang season of the year. In Chinese Medicine, cucumbers are loaded with medicinal benefits - they build Yin, are hydrating and are beneficial for many health conditions.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 small bunch coriander - cut into 1-inch pieces, saving some for garnish
- ¼ red bell pepper - shredded
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chilli oil
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic - grated
DIRECTIONS
- Peel the cucumbers and cut the ends off. Cut the cucumbers down the center lengthwise into 3-4 pieces.
- Place cucumber pieces into a ziplock bag and smash (gently) with a rolling pin or another heavy object. Remove from bag and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put all into a large bowl.
- Sprinkle cucumber with salt, mix well and set aside for 10 minutes. Then discard the liquid.
- Add coriander, shredded bell pepper and the rest of the ingredients. Still well, garnish with a bit of coriander and enjoy!
TIP
If you want to increase the fibre content of this salad, then leave the skins on the cucumbers. Just be sure to wash them well first. Depending on where they come from, cucumber skins can be covered in wax or have harmful pesticides, so be sure to wash them thoroughly if you are going to leave the peels on.
CHINESE MEDICINE HEALTH BENEFITS
In Chinese Medicine cucumbers have a huge number of healing properties. They are particularly good for soothing any skin swellings or irritations because of their high content of silica, vitamin C and caffeic acid which are important components of connective tissue. Cucumbers also quench thirst, calm irritability, combat oedema as well as treat jaundice, diarrhoea and even epilepsy. A slice of cucumber is able to take the sting out of a bug bite, and cucumber juice is an excellent prescription for glowing healthy skin because of its high water content, and its ability to hydrate the skin - the body’s largest organ. This is one of the reasons why in Chinese Medicine, food IS medicine. :)
Delicious featured image from The Splendid Table.org
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Winter Recipe - Astragalus Dangshen Mutton Soup
By NourishU
Seasonal Eating in Chinese Medicine - Winter Recipes
Winter with the drop of temperature is the time to slow down on physical activities because our body's metabolic rate will be slower. It is also the time to eat nourishing food to help the body to preserve energy. Animals follow the law of nature and hibernate throughout winter. Human should also preserve energy and build up strength, preparing the body for regeneration and new growth in spring.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, tonic-taking in winter has a great bearing upon the balancing of Yin and Yang elements, the unblocking of meridians, and the harmonizing of Qi and blood. In the five elements theory of TCM, winter is when the kidneys are highly active and they have astringent and active storage functions that help in preserving energy. People should eat food with less salty taste in order to reduce the burden on the kidneys. Uncooked and frozen foods can damage the spleen and stomach and should be taken in moderation.
Photo by Mike Kotsch on Unsplash
In winter when body's resistance is low, elderly people are especially advised to take food tonics which can improve their body constitution and promote better resistance to illness. Food tonics can have much better healthful effects than supplementation and drugs.
The tonics include superior warming herbs, fatty and meaty foods. Our body is designed to absorb the rich and nutritional foods better at this time of the year. For people who have cold constitution with cold hands and feet, weak kidney health with frequent urination, cold and stiff body and constant pain in their backs and ankles, winter is the best time for them to correct these health problems when the body is most responsive to nutritional treatment.
The warming winter foods include chive, chicken, mutton, shrimp, ginger, garlic, walnut, mushroom, chestnut, mustard, vinegar, wine, gingko, red pepper and spring onion. For people who are cold in nature, they should also use the warming herbs such as dangshen, ginseng, astragalus, reishi mushroom, longan fruit and deer horn, etc. to promote yang energy.
Astragalus Dangshen Mutton Soup
Therapeutic Effects
Nourishes qi and blood, clears toxicity and promotes regeneration of skin.
Ingredients
- Mutton – 360gm (cut into pieces)
- Dried shiitake mushroom – 10
- Astragalus (huang qi) 黃耆 – 30gm
- Dangshen (dang shen) 黨參 – 30 gm
- Wash mutton and put in boiling water to cook for a few minutes, remove and rinse.
- Soak mushroom for about 30 minutes, remove stem and cut into halves.
- Rinse herbs and put all ingredients in a soup pot with about 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to medium heat and simmer for 3 hours.
- Add seasoning to serve. Drink soup and eat some meat.
Usage
Recommended for no more than twice per month in winter months for health promotion.
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If you would like a downloadable information sheet that will tell you all about how to live in harmony with the Winter Season in Chinese Medicine, you can find it here - The Winter Season in Chinese Medicine.
Featured image photo by Matthew Hamilton on Unsplash
Fall Lung Recipe - American Ginseng & Chicken Soup
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Cooking in the Fall Season
Fall is the time when dryness and cooler temperatures predominate. This is also the time of year when your lungs are most vulnerable to attack. Symptoms related to dryness include coughing with sputum, dry nose and throat, dry skin and lips, chest pain and dry stools.
It is important to increase the intake of soothing fluids to balance the effect of external dryness. The cooling temperatures can increase your appetite, especially for meat, but it is important to change gradually from a diet high in vegetables and fruit over summer months to one that is a mix of meat and vegetables so that the digestive system can adjust more easily. In fall, eat less eggplant because they can turn the digestive system sluggish.
The following superfoods are highly recommended to be taken more in fall to counter the dry seasonal effects.
Fresh Lily Bulb
Excellent for moisturizing lungs and is regarded as vegetable ginseng because of its high protein, phosphate, potassium, calcium and rich multivitamin content.
Red Dates/Jujube
Promote energy, reduce stress on the liver, benefit the formation and maintenance of the bloodstream, body hormones, bones, muscles, skin, hair, body enzymes, and neurotransmitters.
Sweet Potatoes
High in fiber and nutritional content can help to prevent constipation and adding pounds.
Goji-berries
Goji-berries have many health benefits and can improve immune functions to prevent sickness.
Pears
Excellent in lowering heat and moisturizing lungs, prevent cough and clear phlegm.
Pumpkin
Moisturizing, strengthen stomach and spleen functions.
American Ginseng Chicken Soup
American Ginseng / Image from nootriment.com
Symptoms
Lack of energy, easily tired, dry mouth and throat, lack of appetite and profuse perspiration.
Therapeutic Effects
Clears, moisturizes and tonifies the lungs, strengthens the spleen and builds blood.
Ingredients (2 to 3 servings)
- Chicken - one whole
- Ginger - 40gm
- American ginseng 花旗參 - 20gm
- Pitted red dates 紅棗 - 4
Chinese Red Dates / Image from katjuju.com
Directions
- Wash chicken, cut into halves and remove skin and fat. Put chicken in boiling water to boil for 5 minutes, remove and rinse.
- Wash other ingredients and put all ingredients in a pot with adequate water (about 3 liters) and bring to a boil. Remove foam, reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours to about 3 cups of soup left.
- Add salt to serve and drink soup mainly.
Usage
Suitable for the whole family.
