Earth Time of Year, Zucchini Pasta & Turning Problems into New Opportunities
Anne Louise Smallen, Lic. Ac.
It is harvest time and the Stomach and Spleen meridians will be at their peak today, Friday, August 21st, as the season most associated with the Earth Element, begins. This season I will not offer the Earth Treatment, which would normally be happening this morning, sometime between 7-11am. But even though we aren't able to give these treatments at this time, I invite you to feel the power of this time of year where food, digestion and integration are front and center. (See our website for more information on the Five Element-inspired seasonal treatments usually offered throughout the year).
I would like to share my personal “Earth” discovery of the season: zucchini pasta. Someone very brilliant invented a simple manual spiralizer, capable of easily making zucchini pasta with a turn of the hand.
Too many zucchinis? Regular pasta a little too heavy for your stomach? Make pasta out of your extra zucchinis and freeze the noodles if you have too many!
To turn it into a "pasta" dish, I sautée it in sesame oil (with a few drops of chili oil for flavor) after adding onions/shallots, mushrooms, soy sauce and pepper. Easy to make and bam! I have a little healthy wonder on my plate. I like it so much that I can have it many times a week for many weeks in a row (probably exactly corresponding to the zucchini harvest time). I also make pancakes and bread out of these prolific vegetables.
Think about it... doesn’t that well represent the process of digestion when a problem (too many zucchinis) becomes an opportunity (a new yummy and healthy way to eat well)? New problems demand new solutions from our ever creative brains.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the heartbreaking divisions in the American society and the upcoming elections, these times are difficult and hard to take in (digest). In times like these, I turn to the Stomach meridian in my treatments: ST 8 (Head’s Binding) at the corner of the forehead to calm the thinking process and invite creativity; ST 9 (People Welcome) on the neck to welcome change, and my favorite: ST 36 (Leg Three Miles) near the knee to fortify the spleen and pancreas and distribute the qi that makes us new and ready to go every morning of our lives.
Enjoy!
