3 quick, easy "Chinese medicine approved" meals from costco
By now, I’m sure you know the tenets of Chinese medicine food therapy include all food groups, ideally incorporates animal products and whole grains, is mostly warm and wet, and minimizes raw food. Does this mean that every meal has to include meat? Nope. Does it mean every meal has to be cooked or that you can never eat raw food? Of course not.
On balance, the goal is more cooked meals, because this provides us a sort of time-released hydration,
helping us to build mediumship. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about when I say mediumship, check out this article). But with all the things going on, how do we do this? We’ve got work and school and after-work activities and after school activities and community things…
I’m never going to tell you that it’s easy to make time to cook.
It takes time and energy, both in planning and in cooking—and don’t forget clean up! But, I think it’s worth it. Over the years of practicing, I can’t un-know the results I’ve seen when patients start eating congee and bone broth. Their pulses change and so do their symptoms! And I’ve experienced this too.
So each week or so, I make a plan, and every week needs to balance quick, easy meals with ones that might take a little time. Then I can plan accordingly, depending on what we might have going on or simply energy levels.
So here are three simple meals that you can find at Costco. I hope it helps!
sweet kale salad with smoked salmon
The sweet kale salad is a mixture of sliced broccoli stalks, chicory, brussels sprouts, kale, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds. I like to lightly sauté this and then mix it with pieces of the smoked salmon fillet (not the thinly sliced and slimy smoked salmon; it’s from Colorado). The salad mix comes with a poppyseed dressing that doesn’t have the best ingredients (several seed oils), so ideally, you could just use olive oil, lemon juice, and salt—or whip up a quick dressing yourself. Other options from Costco to pair with the sweet kale salad:
frozen salmon fillets
grass-fed beef burgers
crispy chicken tenders
banza (chickpea) pasta with kirkland brand pesto
Banza is a chickpea pasta and a solid option for alternative pasta. My favorite non-wheat pasta is Jovial, but I haven’t seen it yet at Costco. Banza takes about ten minutes to cook, and if you’ve never tried the Kirkland brand Pesto, boy, are you missing out. Pair these two things together for a super quick meal. Other things to consider adding:
tomatoes & mozzarella
frozen green peas & parmesan
chicken & baby kale
If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably seen how frequently I roast a chicken. It gives you meat for multiple meals (tacos, wraps, salads, soups), and then, of course—the best part, IMO—is the broth.
For years, I’ve been making and drinking (terrible) bone broth, and now, thanks to the Broth Academy class from Families Who Cook, I know how to make broth that makes me never want to buy store-bought broth again. Highly recommend. Don’t forget that you can still make broth when you’re done with a store bought rotisserie chicken.
Another meal option is to make a soup by combining the pasta, chicken, and broth and then adding a few tablespoons of pesto. It’s shockingly good.
tikka massala + rice
Sukhi’s Chicken Tikka Massala is seriously SO. GOOD. I like to eat it over rice (I use this method to cook rice), and I’ve also added green beans. It comes with two packs, and I usually put one in the freezer and keep one in the fridge. But that’s also because I’m just feeding myself and my husband. Our three year old will mostly eat rice; she doesn’t love Indian…yet. If you want leftovers or you have more than two adults, I’d make both packs. You could also add:
frozen peas
spinach
pineapple or mango
Let me know what you think when you make these! Bon appetit!
