Feed Your Qi - Food to Cool You

Summer is a period of expansion, growth, outward activity, brightness and creativity. The hot weather of summer influences our metabolism. In order to stay cool we can adjust our diet to help our body cope with the summer heat. As a general rule of thumb, foods that are locally in season have properties that support the body in that environment.

When you select your foods, differentiate between “Heavy” and “Light” foods.
Foods that are heavy will cause sluggishness. Foods like meat, egg, nuts, seeds and grain are “heavy”, meaning they slow down digestion and create more phlegm. Fruits and vegetables are easer to digest and have other advantages for the summer. Eat frequent (every 3 hours) but small meals. Eating less and lightly on hot, bright days is a natural, healthy practice.

When you select your foods, consider the properties of the food: “cooling” as opposed to “warming”. Eat cooling food.
Every food has an effect on the body’s temperature. I am not referring to your Basel temperature, which you take with a thermometer, but the quality of Qi (energy) as it flows through your body. Some foods, such as red meat, produce a characteristic internal heat. Fish, on the other hand, produces internal coldness.
Foods which take the shortest time to grow tend to be the most cooling. This includes lettuce, celery radish, cucumber, tomatoes, sprouts (especially mung, soy and alfalfa) and most leafy vegetables. This is one more reason why salads are good in the summer.

When you select your foods, include a variety of brightly colored summer fruits and vegetables.
Summer offers abundant variety and the diet should reflect this. The body sweats out minerals and oils and their loss can cause weakness if they are not replaced through a varied diet. Common fruits which cool summer heat are apples, watermelon (melons in general), apricots, pears, peaches, lemons and limes.

When you select your foods, avoid refrigerated or frozen foods.
Too much refrigerated or frozen food combined with summer heat weakens digestive organs. Iced drinks and ice cream actually contract the stomach and stop digestion. Chilled food is refreshing and refrigeration keeps food from spoiling, but eating food at that temperature can slow or stop digestion.

When you select your drinks, choose hot drinks.
When I say “hot drinks,” here I am referring to thermometer temperature. Drink hot liquids and take warm showers. The body cools itself through sweating. Let yourself sweat. Hot drinks and warm showers induce sudden sweating cool the body. Flower and leaf teas including chrysanthemum, mint and chamomile induce sweating and clear summer heat.

When you prepare your foods, add a little spice and pungent flavor to your food.
Spice is appropriate in warm weather. Cayenne, fresh ginger, black pepper, red and green hot peppers induce sweating. However, if too much spice is used, it can weaken the body due to loss of water, minerals and oils.

When you prepare your foods, use little salt.
Salt prevents sweating.

When you prepare your foods, cook lightly and quickly.
When sautéing, use high heat for a very short time and steam or simmer foods as quickly as possible. The food preparation method affects how warming or cooling it will be. The more lightly and quickly a food is steamed or cooked, the more cooling it is. The longer and more slowly any food is cooked, the more warming it is. For example, quickly stir frying an entrée will render it more cooling than traditional frying.

To Summarize:
In order to maintain good health during the summer:

• Eat a variety of light, cooling foods.
• Drink hot drinks.
• Cook lightly and quickly and add spices.

Summer is a time for joy and happiness. Make sure to have plenty. Enjoy your food.

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Here are two watermelon recipes that clear summer heat and stomach heat, generate body fluid and relieve thirst. The Watermelon Peel Salad recipe is on the E-Lotus website. The Watermelon Soup recipe is from Chef Gloria Tae of Disney's Vineyard Room Restaurant as presented to KTLA.

WATERMELON SOUP with TOMATO CUCUMBER RELISH
(Makes 4 Servings)

INGREDIENTS (Soup)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Stalk Lemongrass, use the bottom half, rough chop
1 Tbsp. Ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
1 Serrano Chile, seeds removed, thinly sliced
5 lbs. Seedless Watermelon, Red or Yellow, peeled, rough chop (about 8 cups)
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
¼ cup Granulated Sugar, adjust according to sweetness of melon
2 cups Water, more or less depending on watermelon juice amount

INGREDIENTS (Tomato Cucumber Relish)
½ cup English (Hothouse) Cucumber, small dice
½ cup Tomato, small dice
1 Tbsp. Cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
To Taste Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

PREPARATION (Soup)
In a medium sauté pan, heat up the oil. Add the lemongrass, ginger, garlic and Serrano chile.
Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Do not brown the garlic.
Place mixture in a blender with the watermelon and purée until smooth.
Transfer to a non-reactive container and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours.
Strain the soup through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the solids.
Add enough water to the juice to make 4 cups of soup.
Add lemon juice and sugar. Stir completely and adjust for sweetness.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

PREPARATION (Relish)
In a medium bowl, mix together the cucumber, tomato, cilantro and paprika. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Place a spoonful of relish in each bowl and pour the soup over it.

Here is how you can use the peels from the soup recipe...

WATERMELON PEEL SALAD
(Makes 3 servings)

INGREDIENTS
500 g (17.06 oz) watermelon peel
1 tsp salt

DRESSING
20 g (0.71 oz) garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sugar, to taste
1/4 tsp salt, to taste
2 Tbsp sesame oil
3 tsp vinegar

PREPARATION
Take the white portion of the watermelon peel and cut into 2 inch by ½ inch strips.
Combine the strips of watermelon peel and salt in a bowl.
Mix with hands for 5 minutes. Then rinse under cold water to remove salt.
Place peels on paper towels to dry.
Combine garlic, sugar, salt, sesame seed oil and vinegar in a bowl.
Mix with a whisk.
Add watermelon peel and toss until evenly combined.
Marinate for 1 hour before serving.