Karen Chan Acupuncture, 4287 Piedmont Avenue, Suite 106C || Give us a call Oakland!

Prep time 8 minutes? Cooking time 35? That's a delicious, body nurturing recipe ready in under 45 minutes! 
Adapted from Steamy Kitchen's recipe on Yummly. 

Green Bean, Shitake Mushroom, and Mustard Greens Stir Fry

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb green beans (trimmed)
• 2 1/2 tsps cooking oil
• 1/2 onion (thinly sliced)
• 6 ozs shitake mushrooms (sliced) <<< lung food! 
• 2 large leaves of mustard greens (stem removed and sliced) <<< lung food! 
• 1 clove garlic (finely minced) <<< lung food! 
• 1 tsp fresh ginger (finely grated) <<< lung food! 
• 2 tbsps water
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

Prepare: 

In either a saute pan or a wok steam the green beans in about 1 cup of water.  Once the green beans are cooked (they're best steamed until they turn a bright green, they'll be crisp and tender) remove them and drain. Wipe the wok clean with a towel and return to the stove (make sure there's no water left before adding the oil, it'll sputter and pop at you!). 

Heat the saute pan or wok back up again, swirl in the cooking oil and add in the mushrooms and onions. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Then add in the garlic, ginger, mustard greens, and green beans.

Last step, add the oyster sauce and water, stir fry until the sauce is begins to bubble. 

And serve! Enjoy this lung healthy dish as a side or the main course. 

Be well and eat well. 

In Wednesday's blog we talked about the lung qi, when it is strong the breath is strong and the body's energy is sufficient. 

We also mentioned that shortness of breath, dry throat and mouth, and emotions like sadness and mourning are associated with weak lung qi. 

In addition to acupuncture and deep breathing, what can you do to support your lungs? Diet! 

Play with these ingredients, add them to your favorite dishes, or use them as an excuse to mix up your dinner routine with something new. Enjoy! 

Does it seem like the food trends are never ending? Don't allow salts recent trendy reputation dissuade you. There are quite a lot of tried and true benefits to upgrading your salt choice. 

Check out the graphic below - the lists are the same length, but one is much more positive than the other... 

Like diet (in this case salt), acupuncture helps balance your body, move qi, improve sleep patterns. For both acupuncture and diet, it's up to you to prioritize your health. Empower yourself and your family to be holistically healthy! 

Why does Karen want to look at your tongue?

Stumped on where to begin integrating liver-happy foods into your diet? It's important to make changes that are sustainable, pick foods you already love, and add or substitute ingredients to support a balanced diet. 

Love morning smoothies? Try increasing the ratio of greens to fruits. 
Love pasta? 
Love pesto? Try the dairy-free pesto recipe below, adapted from theppk! 

Ingredients you'll need: 
1/4 cup walnut halves 
1/4 cup pine nuts
>> The nuts can be substituted for cashews, more pine or walnuts, even almonds - Karen recommends soaking your nuts to make them easier to digest
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes 
>> Not familiar? Nutritional yeast can be found at any health food store, Whole Foods, and often bulk stores as well
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
Fresh black pepper (to finish)


Pour the nuts and garlic into your food processor and pulse everything into fine crumbs. Add the basil, cilantro, thyme, salt, nutritional yeast and water and puree. You will likely need to stop the food processor to scrape down the sides at least once in order to get all the delicious ingredients blended in. Slowly add the olive oil and blend until well combined. Last but not least, blend in the fresh lemon juice.

The original author of this recipe prefers the pesto over warm pasta and finished it with the fresh black pepper. Karen recommends a wheat free variety of noodle. 

If you want to up-the-ante on catering to your liver's needs, serve the pesto as a dip or spread on fresh asparagus and cut up cucumber. 

Enjoy! And happy fourth!

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the rule of thumb is, foods that are FRESH, GREEN, or SOUR are good for the liver. 

Save this pretty graphic [thanks Float Chinese Medicine!] to remember these ingredients. Add them into your regular dishes to mix it up and pamper your liver!

Prioritize your family's health, make acupuncture a part of your routine. 
Chronic issues like fatigue, digestion problems, anxiety, can be improved with acupuncture. It can improve your pregnancy experience, help with aches and pains, and guide you in improving your overall health. 

Call Karen for an appointment (510) 384-9226 on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland!