[Recipes] Go Greens! Wild and Tame, Green Veggies and Herbs for Healthy Liver and Gallbladder ( Medicinal-cooking)

Your food is your medicine.
I've always been an advocate for healthy eating and for this weeks #medicinal-cooking challenge
I have some delightful green food recipes with their wonderful liver, gallbladder - Wood Element benefits.

Dandelion Spinach Salad with Citrus Dressing
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh lemon thyme
2 tbsp fresh lemon balm
2/3 cup extra olive oil
2 cups fresh dandelion leaves, washed and patted dry
2 cups fresh spinach washed and patted dry
1 cup sliced wild leek
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh dandelion petals

Directions:
Put dressing ingredients -orange juice,lemon juice, lemon thyme, lemon basil and olive oil into a jar and shake well to mix or you can whisk them in a bowl. If desired season to taste with salt.
In a large salad bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and drizzle with the salad dressing, enough to coat their leaves. Toss well and serve.

As this challenge covers the Chinese Element Wood, with liver and gallbladder health. Those are the health benefits I've focused on. Dandelion greens, spinach and lemons have many more benefits when consumed and I'd encourage all to incorporate more of them in your diet.

Dandelion greens have been used down through the centuries to support healthy liver functioning as well as a natural detoxification. It 's protective phytonutrients gives it potential for liver health. It aids the liver by helping to maintain the proper flow of bile. By eating bitters (which dandelion greens are), it stimulate the flow of bile in the gall bladder, helping us digest fats.

The lemon is a natural cleaner and helps to flush toxins from the liver and gallbladder. Vitamin C and anti-toxins in fresh lemons also stimulate your liver enzymes.

Spinach was added to this recipe for it contains a protein that is easily broke down by enzymes into amino acids that are essential to humans. These provide a boost to our metabolism and encouraging all of our organs to function properly.

Also the olive oil used in this recipe and the recipe below, are great for the liver. They help by providing a lipid base that can absorb harmful toxins in the body which takes the burden off the liver.

Broccoli Green Bean Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
3 cups broccoli florets, parboiled and chopped
1 cup green beans, parboiled and chopped
1 cup broccoli sprouts
3/4 cups lemon basil pesto (recipe below)

Directions:
Make up your pesto and add to it the broccoli, sprouts and pasta. Toss to mix well and serve.

Lemon Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
3 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of unblanched almonds
2 cups basil leaves firmly packed
3 tbsp. chopped fresh lemon herb leaves (lemon thyme,lemon balm, lemon verbena or lemon basil)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
Mince garlic in a food processor or blender (I use a Vitamix.) Add almonds and process until coarsely chopped. Add basil, lemon herb, cheese and lemon zest; process until minced. with machine running add olive oil and lemon juice Process until blended.

The health benefits of broccoli, green beans (focusing on liver and gallbladder health) are listed below:

Broccoli is high in fiber which promotes regularity, which in turn is important for the daily excretion of toxins through the bile and stool. Broccoli is also a good source of glucosinolate, which supports enzyme production in the liver. It's the enzymes that flush carcinogens and other toxins from the body.

Elements of steamed green beans, with the help of the liver, reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood when it binds it together with bile acids. Beans which provide a plant-based protein could also help prevent gallbladder disease.

I have one more recipe I want to share with you that is a standard at our house and contains pineapple.
Pineapple is another food high in fibers (see broccoli benefits for liver and gallbladder) and contains bromelain which stimulates protein digestion that helps prevent gallbladder disease.

Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho

Ingredients:
1 long English cucumber
1 sweet pepper ( I prefer the yellow, orange or red peppers)
Few chunks of ginger root (optional. I substitute it for the peppers when they are not in season)
1 avocado or 1 tsp of avocado oil
1/2 fresh pineapple peeled and chunked
1 cup pineapple juice or water

Blend ingredients together in a blender. I like mine chunky so I only blend for a few seconds. Enjoy!