Roasted Carrot and Bitter Greens Salad

This roasted carrot and bitter greens salad is a harmonizing recipe. Incorporating foods that balance the fire element and the earth element. With nourishing sweet carrots and detoxifying bitter greens. The kind of meal that has a good balance of sweet and bitter. The two flavors associated with the heart, small intestine, spleen and pancreas. The four organ systems that are most active in the summer.

This summer we got a lot of consistent rain showers which has helped our carrot bed thrive. Luckily a few shot up some flowers last year so I was able to save quite a lot of seeds. So growing these carrots from the seeds I saved has this full circle magical feeling to them. I am forever in love with the look of garden grown carrots with their funky sizes and colors. There are so many varieties of carrots that you can grow in the garden. From purple, orange, red, yellow and white.

The salad greens also had a successful year for the first time. Which greatly inspired this recipe. Using the ingredients that Earth has abundantly given me and creating magical recipes from the harvest. I hope this recipe inspires you to live more by the the cycles of Earth. By planting your own garden, or making a seasonal meal with veggies you bought from a local farm or by continuing to study the way of the 5 elements.

5 Flavors for Harmonious Health

Sweet, sour, spicy/pungent, salty, and bitter make up the essential flavors. Each flavor has different functions in the body that help align our bodies with the natural flow of the seasons. If we start to build a diet around the 5 essential flavor profiles and the elements of the seasons then we can more easily accomplish a healthy and well-balanced life. Read more about each flavor with this 5 Flavors bowl recipe.

Harmonious health corresponds with the five elements. Every season, body organ, color, taste, emotion, orientation, are connected to one of the five elements. The patterns that correlate with summer and the fire element are heat, growth, bitterness, wisdom, concentration, sweat, laughing, joy, blood vessels, small intestines, heart, and mind. 

Excess Yang

Excess patterns of disease refer to excess Yang or excess heat in Chinese Traditional Medicine. Which is often a sensation most of us experience in the United States because the standard diet is excessive. We tend to overindulge in fatty, sweet, and refined, toxic foods and drinks. Often lacking in anything with bitter flavor. A healthy dose of bitter foods and herbs helps cleanse the body and prevents disease. Craving salad after binging on junk food is our body’s way of telling us that it needs bitter foods to help cleanse and restore.

The Importance of The Flavor Bitter

Frisee, escarole, radicchio, dandelion greens are all easily accessible bitter greens that can be added to our diet. Adding just a little into our meals can positively impact our health. There is a plethora of phytonutrients and antioxidants within the bitter constituents. Nutrient that are key to the proper function of digestion. 

When we are lacking vital nutrients it causes our adrenal glands to go haywire. Mal-nourishment is a huge proponent of why we are anxious and stressed. No matter what diet you are consuming, plant-based or carnivorous. If you are consuming processed foods you are likely deprived of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. As well as likely dealing with liver stagnation and gut disturbances.

Bitter Harmonizes Excess Yang

Bitter flavors are cooling(Yin) to the body and help treat overheated conditions, especially in the heart. If you deal with a hot constitution or inflammation it is good to incorporate bitter foods and herbs. Work on your understanding of flavor and how your food tastes is connect with the seasons. Building the foundation of trust for our intuition. And trust that our bodies know best when we listen to them. Once we start to see natural patterns. We can better diagnose imbalances and better keep our health on track. 

You can learn more about foods for the Earth element here. And learn more about the benefits of bitter foods in this post about harmonizing the fire element with food.