The kidneys are the powerhouse in Traditional Chinese Medicine. And kidney energy is about supplying energy to any organ in the body running low on Qi. Balancing stuff, and best enjoyed during periods of healing, rest and recharge.
Our guidelines for this 5th 
Typical foods that are good for the kidneys and bladder include the following:
Note that not all items need to be blue or black, and usually foods that have the same shape as the organ are also very beneficial, e.g. Kidney Beans!
Blueberries and other blue fruits such as Black Raspberries and Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Juniper, Most Beans and Legumes, Lemon/Lime, Grapes, Plum, Date, Pomegranate, Jasmine, Aloe Vera, Marjoram, Clove, Liquorice, Nettle, Parsley, Caraway, Rosemary, Walnut, Chestnut, Coconut water, Cashew nuts, Celery, Watercress, Potato, Asparagus, Aubergine, Beetroot, Agar, Seaweed, Kelp, Quinoa, Oats, Pumpkin Seed, Wild Rice, Millet, Shoyu, Soya Sauce, Black Olives, and Soybean.
And so my chosen-created menu?
- A Kidney bean salad with parsley, celery, roasted cashews, pumpkin seeds & black olives.
- Roasted potatoes with caraway seeds
- A little raw probiotic pickled beetroot on the side
- Refreshing Anchan Blue Butterfly Pea tea, with Ginger & Lime.
PERFECT for my recuperation period with my broken arm, as energies and organs need re-balancing
Pause to acknowledge my incredible, willing and increasingly able sous chef, Ms Ploi Marit aka 
Kidney Bean Salad Ingredients:
- Red kidney beans
- Celery
- Parsley
- Mild green chilies
- Red Onion
- Pitted black olives
- Cashew nuts gently & lightly roasted in a warm wok
- Pumpkin seed kernels, lightly roasted
Dressing: Fresh lime juice, cold pressed organic black sesame oil, a little olive brine, Himalayan salt, freshly ground black pepper.
The salad started with organic red kidney beans, cooked in the slow cooker today while I was worked. Cooled, rinsed and drained.
And then in went the chopped celery, parsley, sliced red onion, finely sliced green chilies and the olives, which we sliced.
And then in went the cashew nuts and pumpkin kernels.
Sprinkle with the juice of 1 lime (from the garden), a generous splash of cold pressed organic black sesame oil, a splash of the olive brine, some Himalayan salt and a generous grinding of fresh black pepper. Toss. And she's done.
Meanwhile I had roasted some local organic potatoes in our tiny weeny bench top oven. Please note: they SHOULD be sprinkled with caraway seeds. I went out to buy them, intended it. But got caught in some monsoonal flash flooding this afternoon and had to abandon the idea altogether, there being a distinct shortage of caraway seeds in northern Thailand and the only shop I knew to have them was on the other side of town and through a lot of flood-traffic. So I simply washed the potatoes and chopped them into nice chunks, added some Himalayan salt and oregano, and generously splashed over some rice bran oil (highest smoke point, perfect for roasting and frying). And straight onto the open flat tray in our TINY bench top oven for about 35 mins while we made the salad.
As well as the potatoes, I served my raw probiotic beetroot pickle as a side.
You may have seen this in an earlier cooking challenge... if you missed it and the "how to", here's the link: https://steemit.com/medicinal-cooking/@artemislives/pro-biotic-beets-brain-power-and-building-blood
How did the beetroot taste? Yum! Even Ploi remarked it was surprisingly tasty. Crunchy and sour, with a nice edge of coriander and mustard. Pungent rather than spicy - mental note to add lots more red onion next time. How long did I ferment this batch? Almost 6 weeks!! The big fermenting jar was too heavy to manage alone after I broke my arm so it just sat there, merrily burbling up more probiotic goodness. It's now in a clean BIG jar in the fridge and we will regularly serve it with meals, on the side.
Kidneys need hydration, and in keeping with the blue-kidney energy, we served Anchan (Blue Butterfly) iced tea, made with raw honey, fresh ginger and lime. The how to? You can find it here: https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@artemislives/after-school-herbal-magic-and-mommy-s-eco-herbal-cocktail No, tonight was not a splosh of vodka night. :)
Soooo, putting it all together, my meal to nourish and support the kidney energy looked like this:
and this:
It was delicious! And it's seriously enjoyable to learn to combine and use ingredients differently for better health, and as a medicine. What am I most grateful for? Teaching my daughter has been a MUST these past 4 weeks (she has been my hands!), and I'm so enjoying seeing her flourish as she becomes MUCH more confident in the kitchen and also as her understanding of food as medicine grows. And that the medicine can and does mostly taste amazing, if we put the thought and care into it.
As always, generous sploshes of love, good feeling, intent and magic were added indiscriminately throughout the entire cooking process.
BlissednBlessed
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