Traditional Chinese Medicine does not, oddly enough, look favorably upon salad. At least not the salads most of us turn to when we want to drop a few pounds or just “eat healthy”—lettuce, shredded carrots, cucumber and maybe a little shredded chicken type fare. This is because in TCM, we like our food to be both warm and cooked, especially when it comes to vegetables.
In this warm salad, the leafy greens have an affinity for the lung and sweet acorn squash the spleen, two organs with crucial role in building of Qi (loosely translated as energy). It’s dressed with simple toasted walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
Warm Salad with Toasted Walnut and Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette
½ cup raw walnut halves
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
4 tablespoons olive oil
Flaked sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Acorn Squash, cut in half, seeded and sliced into about 1 inch thick wedges
4 beets
1 bunch kale, stem end trimmed and leaves shredded
This is more a sketch than a recipe—designed to inspire and enlighten. You will end up with more vinaigrette than needed but working in a batch smaller than this is frustrating and seems hardly worth dirtying a food processor. That said the left-over vinaigrette is great spread on toast at snack time.
Heat oven to 425.
Set a cast iron or other heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add walnut halves and pumpkin seeds and toast, shaking pan often, until nuts take on color, seeds puff and mixture begins to smell fragrant, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Place half of the mixtures in the bowl of a food processor. Add vinegar and honey and process until smooth. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons olive oil and set aside.
Drizzle remaining tablespoon olive oil in a baking sheet and arrange squash wedges in a single layer. Season well with salt and pepper and roast in hot oven until squash is soft and edges start to caramelize, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Cover beets with 2 inches cold water. Set over high heat and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat and cook at a generous simmer until beets are tender with poked with tip of sharp knife, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, rub away skin and set aside.
Return skillet used to toast nuts and seeds medium heat. Add shredded kale and about ¼ cup water. Season with salt and pepper and cook until kale has wilted and most of the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Slice beets. Toss vegetables in the vinaigrette using as much or little as desired. Arrange on serving plates and sprinkle with remaining toasted walnuts and seeds.
Frances Boswell is a licensed acupuncturist at her practice, Qi Sera Sera Acupuncture, in New York City. She focuses on a lesser-known branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which identifies poor diet as a common cause of disease. Traditional Chinese Medicine understands that the importance of food goes beyond ingredients' vitamins, mineral, nutrient and caloric content—food has its own energetic and spiritual role in our health. Frances' aim is to teach this ancient wisdom, apply it to everyday cooking, and work with patients to modify their diets, in addition to acupuncture, to help them live, eat, and be well. Contact Frances here.
