The summer heat is a constant, but you shouldn't let yourself stay in a state of perpetual heat. Eating more vegetables can help you stay cool. Which vegetables have this effect? Follow the editor to find out! Summer is here, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Besides using air conditioners and going out less, what other good ideas do you have to beat the heat? Actually, food is a good choice. Today, this article recommends three types of vegetables you should eat more of in the summer to help you stay refreshed!
What vegetables to eat in the summer
The first category is gourds such as winter melon, cucumber, bitter melon, and loofah.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, most gourds can clear heat and promote urination, helping to expel toxins, making them great foods for cooling down and preventing heatstroke. Modern nutritional research shows that most gourds contain over 90% water and are rich in various minerals and vitamins, effectively replenishing the large amount of water and nutrients lost in the summer.
The second category is cooling vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, celery, and lettuce.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that eating cooling vegetables in the summer helps to promote the production of body fluids to quench thirst, relieve vexation and summer heat, clear heat and detoxify, and promote detoxification and bowel movements.
The third category is vegetables with "antibacterial" properties, such as garlic and onions.
Summer temperatures are high, and bacteria breed and spread quickly, leading to a high incidence of intestinal diseases. At this time, eating more "antibacterial" vegetables like chives, green onions, scallions, and garlic can help prevent illness.
Summer porridge to clear heat and reduce internal heat
I. Fresh Fruit Eight-Treasure Porridge
Ingredients: Oatmeal, black glutinous rice, lotus seeds, buckwheat, red beans, red dates, Job's tears, goji berries, dried tangerine peel, black beans, fox nuts, a little glutinous rice, and millet.
Instructions:
1. Rinse all ingredients with clean water, add boiling water, and simmer over low heat for 1.5 hours. Add rock sugar to taste!
2. The Eight-Treasure Porridge can be eaten hot. However, in this intense summer heat, the best way to eat it is chilled, served with fresh fruit or fresh milk!
II. Icy Pumpkin Porridge
Ingredients: Pumpkin, glutinous rice (glutinous rice is best, but you can use japonica rice if not available, though the texture will be much worse). For those who like sweet food, you can prepare some rock sugar.
Instructions:
1. Take a small bowl of glutinous rice.
2. Cut the pumpkin into cubes or small pieces. The general ratio of glutinous rice to pumpkin is 1:3 or 1:2.
3. Put everything in a pot. A pressure cooker takes 30 minutes (preferably one with a smart setting). If using a gas stove, it only takes 25 minutes.
4. If you like sweet food, you can add some rock sugar to cook. Let it cool to room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator. Take it out and eat as you wish.
III. Refreshing Green Bean Porridge
Ingredients: 1 stalk of celery, appropriate amount of sesame oil, appropriate amount of salt, 1 cup of raw rice, 6-8 cups of water, appropriate amount of red dates, appropriate amount of green beans, appropriate amount of minced ginger, appropriate amount of carrot, appropriate amount of mushrooms, appropriate amount of oil.
Instructions:
1. When purchasing, you should choose green beans with thick pods and beans that are not yet full and protruding. If the pod skin has turned yellow, the beans are mature and full, or if the pod and bean have separated, such green beans are old and not suitable for purchase.
2. Cook the porridge: Bring the raw rice, water, and red dates to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and cook until the rice is 60% cooked.
3. Sauté: Heat oil in a wok. Sauté the green beans, minced ginger, carrot, and mushrooms, then add them to the pot from step 1. Continue to cook until the rice is soft, then turn off the heat and let it sit for more than 10 minutes to make the rice grains softer.
4. Turn the heat back on and bring to a boil. Add the seasonings and celery.