5 Flavor Coleslaw

This delicious coleslaw is a great way to end cravings and balance health and emotions by balancing all five flavors (bitter, sweet, pungent/spicy, salty and sour) in your diet. Certainly you don't always have to eat a balance of flavors in every single dish, but here is one that balances all five flavors beautifully (especially with the apples added at the end!)

The dressing was made in the vitamix:

• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (sour)
• 2 Tbsp gluten-free tamari (salty)
• 1 Tbsp brown or deli style mustard (pungent, salty, bitter)
• 1/2 inch nub of ginger (pungent)
• 2 small cloves garlic (pungent)
• handful raw cashews (sweet)
• mustard (pungent, sour)
• water (enough to cover cashews, you can adjust water depending on how thick or thin you'd like the dressing.)

The salad consisted of:

• cabbage (bitter, pungent, sweet)
• beets (bitter, sweet)
• carrots (sweet)

Sliced apples (sweet) were added at the end.

Delicious!

In Health and Wellness,
~ Melissa and Dave Sokulski
Licensed Acupuncturists


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Cinnamon, Ginger, and Onions Strongly Protect Us From Cold and Flu

• Easy To Make Fermented Vegetables Boost Immunity and Improve Health 

• Keep Kidneys Strong All Winter Long With Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions

Heart Healthy Sweet Treats with Nuts and Dates

Chocolate treats don't have to be bad for you. And if you don't like cocoa/cacao, simply leave it out...these treats are no worse for it! (In fact, they taste even sweeter, because the cacao adds a bitterness that is eliminated when it is.)

They don't have to be hard to make, either. These took a few minutes (literally!) and no cooking or baking was involved.

 I took heart healthy whole ingredients: walnuts, cashews and dates, blended them in a food processor, and molded them into hearts with cookie molds. You could also simply roll them in balls. They store well in the refrigerator and will be gone before you know it!

 Walnuts are full of omega 3 fatty acids (like those in salmon and flax), anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories. Walnuts are protective against metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular problems, and type 2 diabetes. Cashews are good for the heart, good for the teeth, and eating whole raw nuts can actually aid in weight loss. Dates are an incredibly sweet whole fruit that easily takes the place of any added sugar, honey or syrup in any recipe. Dates contain fiber, nourish the muscles by containing high amounts of calcium, iron, and magnesium (among many other minerals and vitamins.) Dates are great for the intestines, preventing constipation while also protecting against diarrhea (high potassium content.)

Heart Healthy Sweet Treats:

•  1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted
• 2 Tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, or *raw cacao (optional)
• pinch sea salt
• pinch pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves)

Blend in food processor. Mold into shape or roll into balls. Eat immediately or refrigerate to preserve.

Looking at our 5 taste chart, we can see this is a balanced food that will satisfy and reduce cravings.

The sweetness is produced by the dates, cashews and coconut.
Bitter is provided by walnuts and cacao (or cocoa.)
Sour is given by walnuts.
Salty: I added a pinch of sea salt.
Pungent: I added some pumpkin pie spice, which has ginger and cinnamon.


Love to all,
~ Melissa and Dave


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Cinnamon, Ginger, and Onions Strongly Protect Us From Cold and Flu

• Keep Kidneys Strong All Winter Long With Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions 

Menu Monday: Apples, Nettles, Soups and Pumpkin Latte

We're trying out a new feature here at Birch Center: Menu Monday, in which we post some menu ideas for the upcoming week. Based on fresh, seasonal (and sometimes wild) ingredients, there will also be some energetic explanation on the food choices based on Chinese medicine. Though it is hard to go wrong (energetically) when you are eating fresh, local foods!

nettles

This week we are incorporating foods from our garden:

• kale
• beets
• arugula

from farmer's markets:

• apples
• squash/pumpkins (my favorite is delicata squash)
• cabbage
• broccoli
• carrots
• onions
• potatoes

from the grocery store:

• cucumbers
• celery

chicken mushroom

from the wild:

• nettles
• chicken mushroom
• burdock root
• dandelion root

and from my pantry:

• brown rice
• beans, canned: black and kidney
• red lentils
• raw cashews
• jar of Indian Curry (vegan)
• tofu (refrigerated)

I like to start the day with fresh juice. Even though the season is getting colder and juice has a cold energy, it is detoxifying to the body and helps rid the body of excess (such excess weight, which can lead to excess heat which may show up as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, headaches, etc.)

juice ingredients with burdock root

This week's juices:

• apple, carrot, beet
• cucumber, celery, kale, apple
• burdock root, apple, ginger, lemon

I may add ginger root to warm up the energy a bit, and I will water the juice down to cut the concentrated sugars.

red lentil, potato, nettle soup

Fall is a perfect season for soups! The soups I'll be making this week are:

• Borscht: Recipe from Moosewood Cookbook, which uses beets, cabbage and potatoes
• Red lentil, potatoes, nettles soup
• Bean Chili with Chicken Mushroom (I dry sauteed the chicken mushroom earlier this fall, it is in my freezer) - the linked recipe uses fresh Hen of the Woods mushroom, I will just substitute the chicken mushroom 

A couple rice dishes include:

• Tofu, Brown Rice, kale, broccoli and onions, tossed with a jar of vegan Indian Curry (I picked this up at the supermarket)
• Stuffed Delicata Squash - baked squash (don't forget to save and roast the seeds!) stuffed with rice, celery, onions, mushrooms

Simple salads to complement the meals:

• Romaine lettuce
• "Garden salad" - using kale and arugula from my garden!
• Coleslaw (cabbage and carrots)
• Cucumber and onions

 Finally, as a yummy treat, this Pumpkin Latte, which is vegan and caffeine free!

 Dandelion Coffee:

• Dig dandelion roots
• Clean well, chop into small pieces and roast in oven at 350 degrees until dry and brown, about an hour
• Add a couple Tablespoons of the roasted roots to 4 cups water, simmer 20 minutes.

Cashew Milk:

•  1/2 cup raw cashews (dry or soaked)
• 2 dates, pitted (you can omit dates entirely, or substitute with a couple tablespoons honey, agave or maple syrup)
• 4 cups water

Blend well in a high speed blender such as a vitamix. If you don't have a strong blender, soak the cashews first for at least 1/2 hour to soften. Then blend well. You shouldn't need to strain this milk because cashews are so soft and will blend entirely. 

To make latte, to blender:

• Add equal amounts of dandelion coffee (hot) and cashew milk to blender. 
• Add a tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
• Add a couple scoops of baked squash or baked pumpkin
• Optional: agave nectar, honey, maple syrup or dates to sweeten (it may be sweet enough if your cashew milk is sweet)

Blend well and enjoy.

I hope this menu gives you some great ideas for healthy seasonal foods this week.

~ Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac.