Leafy Greens

In traditional grain-centered cuisine, food qualities are used instead of scientific quantities (calories, protein, fat, vitamins etc.) to choose what goes into a meal. The beauty of this is that you can look at food and understand it without looking it up on a chart that lists its scientific breakdown.

Have a look at the vegetables pictured above. A carrot grows underground, it's hard and it's orange. The downward (yang) energy makes it more yang than Napa cabbage which grows above ground, is light green and is quite watery. A radish is round and red and grows underground, but not as far down as a carrot. It's more yin than a carrot, but more yang than Napa. Kale grows above ground, is dark green and less watery than Napa, making it more yang than Napa, but more yin than anything that grows underground. Parsnips grow underground, they're light in color, more expanded than a carrot, a little softer than a carrot, therefore a little more yin than a carrot. A cucumber grow above ground, is green and very watery. More yin than root vegetables, but more yang than greens that shoot up from the ground.

Leafy greens are an essential part of every meal in grain-centered cuisine. They provide the upward energy that we need to balance the grain and beans, and possibly other vegetable dishes that might have some oil, or are seasoned in some way. Greens are light and refreshing, and, according to  traditional understanding, they're good for the liver. The bitter taste, one of the five flavors essential for a satisfying meal (sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter) is found in most greens if they are lightly cooked. If the really bitter greens like arugula are too bitter to be pleasing to eat, you can mix them with a sweeter green such as blanched Napa or bok choy which makes a really nice sweet/bitter dish.