Moon Time Dinner: Quinoa Salad with Steamed Beets and Kale and Black Sesame Tahini Dressing

Moon time is such a special phase for women. Many women today have difficulties and discomforts during this time, of which I have not been the exception. Therefore, I see this time as an invitation to take care of my body by being intimately close with my woman’s nature. It is also a reminder how delicate and sensitive our bodies are and how much more we can be kind and caring to ourselves.

As the moon time is the time to release and cleanse our body, mind, emotions, and energy, as well as restore ourselves for the new cycle, how we spend this phase can bring significant difference to our balance, health, and vitality for the next cycle. And food is one of the greatest sources to release, nurture and replenish our body. 

Here is one of the dinner menus I made during my moon time:

Today’s Menu

• Onion soup
• quinoa salad with steamed beets, kale, arugula, and orange slices with black sesame dressing.

Onion Soup

There can’t be anything warmer and more comforting than a bowl of soup. Today, I have made a simple soup just with onion and my homemade veggie broth. Simple, but so delicious and you can feel that its essence is permeating into your cells when you eat it. Onion is nutrient-dense and loaded with anti-oxidants. When you sauté the onion long enough the sweetness of the vegetable comes out so magically and this sweet flavor is deeply nourishing and comforting. Just sautéing the onion in the pot, adding the vegetable broth and cooking with a bay leaf, adjusting the flavor with salt and pepper at the end, and simmering some more minutes can make such a warm and delicious onion soup!

Black color for our womb’s health

In my culture, which also is deeply connected with Traditional Chinese Medicine, we speak of the importance of eating black food. The black color is connected with the health of our kidneys and reproductive organs. Although eating this color of food regularly can support the overall women’s health, especially during the moon time, we want to nourish our womb even more than usual. So, I made the quinoa salad, using black sesame tahini as dressing and sauce.

Kale and beets—delicious blood builder

Kale and beets are both high in folic acid and iron, which are vital components for the health of our blood. Folic acid is the natural form of vitamin B9 which is essential for creating healthy red blood cells, and iron is a mineral used for the blood production to make hemoglobin. Therefore, both vegetables are wonderful blood builders which our woman’s body can get much support from, especially during the moon time. I love both vegetables and they are very compatible in flavor. The kale’s bitterness and the beet’s sweetness can bring beautiful harmony. Their earthy flavor and energy are also deeply grounding and nurturing.

Steaming can treat your body with gentle warmth

During the moon time, it is important to keep your body warm for any tightness that can be loosened, as well as for the circulation to flow in balance. Therefore, not only should we cover our body with warm layers, but it is important to eat warm food so that our internal organs are also nurtured by the warmth. Eating more cooked food rather than raw, drinking more tea (or warm water) rather than even room temperature water, is a help for the organs to stay warm. (Important to avoid any cold drinks during this time!) There are different ways of cooking food using heat, but steaming is one of the most gentle ways to bring warmth into the body. As the heat gradually permeates into the vegetables through warm water (steam), eating steamed vegetables does the same to the body. Your body gets steamed from the inside. In fact, you can also taste its gentleness. 

For this quinoa salad, I warmed up the leftover quinoa slightly. I steamed the beets well enough to make them beautifully soft. The kale I used was Siberian kale freshly picked from the garden. Since they were such tender leaves, it was too pity to fully steam. So, I steamed very lightly and mixed with the black sesame tahini dressing.

Arugula and orange for freshness, cleansing, and lifting up

In the warmth-based food, I added a small amount of raw ingredients, which contributed different characteristics to the overall flavor as well as energy of the food. Fresh arugula from our garden is so bitter and delicious! In the East, bitter flavor is considered to cleanse and aid the liver, which is the organ that purifies the blood. And some slices of orange are bringing lightness into the meal and spirit, as well as helping the energy flow in the digestive system. Adding this freshness helped to transform the meal into balance and completion.

Find more recipes for your moon time diet

• Moon Time Lunch-Steamed vegetables, brown rice, and herbal broth miso soup

Quinoa Salad with Steamed Beets and Kale and black sesame dressing

September 28, 2021

Servings: 2

Cook: 30 min

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By: seshen

Ingredients

• leftover quinoa (amount: 1 cup of dried quinoa soaked and cooked)
• 2 medium size beets
• 4-6 kale leaves
• 200ml water
• arugula
• 1 small orange
• —————
• For black sesame tahini sauce:
• 2 tbsp black sesame tahini
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp water

Directions

• Step 1 Cut the beets and kale into desired size and shape.
• Step 2 Have the quinoa reheated in a pot with 2-4 tbsp of water.
• Step 3 Pour water into the pot, place the steamer (I used a stainless colander), put the lid on and turn the heat to medium low.
• Step 4 Steam the beets until they become tender. If it takes time and water seems to be evaporating, add more water in the pot.
• Step 5 While beets are steaming, mix all the ingredients for the black sesame tahini sauce in a larger bowl.
• Step 6 Take 3 tbsp of sauce out and reserve it in a smaller bowl for the steamed kale.
• Step 7 In the bowl with the remaining sauce, put the warmed quinoa and mix well.
• Step 8 Cut the arugula into smaller size, if it’s big.
• Step 9 Peel the orange and cut it into 1/8, then into small pieces.
• Step 10 When beets become tender, remove from the steaming pot, then put kale in and steam for about a minute.
• Step 11 Put the steamed kale into the bowl with reserved tahini sauce and mix well.
• Step 12 Serve the quinoa on the plate, top with the steamed kale salad, and sprinkle some hemp seed.
• Step 13 Around the quinoa, decorate with arugula, orange, and beets.