Food 'n stuff

Healing Rice

1 cup Black rice (available at Chinese markets) ,

1 cup Chinese red beans, dried

1 cup Lotus seeds

1 cup Dried Chestnuts

Preparation and prescription: Soak the ingredients overnight in separate containers. Combine the rice and beans in a covered pot with four cups of water and bring them to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for one and a half hours.

In another covered pot, combine the lotus seeds with :four cups of water and bring to a boil for fifteen minutes. Then reduce to medium heat for forty-five minutes or until the seeds are soft.

In a third covered pot, boil the water chestnuts for five minutes and then pour the water off to eliminate the bitter taste. Then add four cups of fresh water and bring to a boil. Then turn` the heat down to medium and let them simmer for twenty minutes.

Combine the lotus seeds and their juice to the rice and beans. Drain the water chestnuts and add them to the beans, rice, and lotus seeds.

Add honey, sugar, or sweetener to taste and you have a wonderful medicinal meal.

How it works: There is nothing magical about this dish except its, taste. It is a high-fiber, low-fat meal that absorbs cholesterol from the body. Its effect is similar to that of oat meal, but its taste is far more interesting.

Chicken Soup

1 ounce Lycium fruit (Gou Qi Zi)

½ ounce Pseudo ginseng (San Qi)

½ ounce Eucommia bark (Du Zhong)

1 Whole chicken

1 bunch Scallions, cut 1 inch long'

30 grams Ginger

cup Rice wine

2 teaspoons Salt

6 cups Water

Preparation and prescription: Wash whole chicken and stuff with pseudo ginseng and eucommia bark. Put the chicken into a pot with all the other ingredients and. cover with six cups or more of water. Bring contents of the pot to a boil and then simmer for three hours. Shred chicken meat into broth for soup, or drink the broth plain.

How it works: In many cultures, chicken soup is recommended as a cure-all, especially for colds, headaches, or down days. In this case the chicken soup has herbal ingredients that act to lower high blood pressure. Pseudo ginseng is a known anti-inflammatory that also acts to lower blood pressure. The eucommia bark' stimulates liver and kidney function and, among other things, serves as a diuretic to get rid of excess water in the body, which can cause high blood pressure.