Just prior to undergoing the knife for my hip operation I went crazy (rather, had a ball in the kitchen) preparing meals for the post-op recovery phase. I put a lot of thought into the ingredients that I would and would not use, and as promised earlier, I will blog about this sometime soon.
But for now please enjoy this delicious chocolate beetroot cake recipe from the post-op phase. I wanted it to be nutritious (for a cake) containing lots of nuts and beetroot (to promote tissue healing) without foods that disagree with my body – gluten and dairy. I also opted for maple syrup over refined sugar as the sweetener. It’s even iced with a chocolate and cashew icing made without refined sugar. This was to give me a sweet treat to brighten my days in recovery.
Here are some of the Chinese medicine properties for some of the key ingredients:
- Cocoa: neutral temperature, sweet and bitter in flavour, cocoa is considered to be strengthening and stimulating.
- Beetroot: neutral temperature and sweet flavoured, beetroots nourish the Stomach, Spleen and Heart and move Liver Qi and Blood, promoting blood circulation.
- Almond: neutral temperature and sweet flavoured, almonds are moistening and benefit the Lung, Large Intestine and Spleen.
- Walnut: warm in temperature and sweet flavoured, walnuts tonify the Kidneys and reduce inflammation.
This cake is rich and moist, and still delicious after I took it out of the freezer (where it was frozen individually piece by piece). The cake is still sweet overall so keep serving sizes small and be aware that a high daily intake of sweet foods is not recommended – moderation is the key!
Find the chocolate beetroot cake recipe here. (I shared it on my clinic’s website first.)
For further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture). Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health at her Broadbeach clinic and is the Chinese Medicine Senior Lecturer at the Endeavour College of Natural Health Gold Coast campus.
