Great for a Tasty, Fast, Easy Dinner

In addition to doing acupuncture and herbal medicine, I love to cook. This is a recipe I adapted from a few that I found on-line and really enjoyed. It’s really simple and requires no cooking; just dump everything into a bowl and stir, then add to some stir-fried veggies and protein and serve over rice or noodles. Yum! It’s equally good with chicken, beef or tofu. I usually use veggies like onion, carrots, broccoli, green beans, and baby bok choy (sauteed in that order) and cook up the protein separately, combining it all at the end (even the noodles) before adding the sauce. Sometimes I garnish the dish with raw, thinly-sliced carrot and cucumber sticks, and/or raw or lightly cooked chopped scallions. This is also a great way to use up leftovers from a whole, roasted chicken.

Peanuts are good for strengthening the body’s Yin, Blood, and Qi. They can lead to phlegm, so pass on the peanuts until your cold is over or if you have a productive cough. The chile paste, garlic, and ginger in this recipe all act to alleviate phlegm production. It’s important to use only organic peanuts or peanut butter, as they easily soak up pesticides. They are also highly susceptible to fungus when grown conventionally. If you’re allergic to peanuts, you could try this recipe with a different nut butter, such as almond.

  • 1/2 cup organic creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 small garlic clove, mashed to a paste (about 1 tsp is plenty; remember, it will be raw!)
  • 1-2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 teaspoon chile paste, opt. (I like Sriracha)
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • Juice of 1 lime (this can be omitted or you can substitute lemon juice)
  • 1/4 cup water (you might use a touch more or less to achieve your desired thinness)
  • a few dashes of fish sauce, opt.

This recipe makes about enough peanut sauce for a dish that serves 4 people. I tend to have most of these things in my fridge already and simply omit one here or there if I’m missing it. Eat in good health!