Avocado and sprouted green mung bean salad

A high protein salad for weekend brunches. Serve with Pita bread and soup for a full meal!

You will need sprouted mung beans, lightly steamed: To sprout mung beans, soak a cupful overnight in water, and then place them is a strainer lined with a wet cheese cloth. Cover the mung beans with the cheese cloth and let them sprout over the next eight hours or so.

Date and Tamarind spread/chutney: Easily made at home. Soak pitted chopped dates and pitted tamarind in a ratio of 10 dates to a small piece of tamarind in a saucepan with water. Cook, on medium heat, and simmer until a thick slush of dates and tamarind is left behind in the saucepan. Add some jaggery or brown sugar to taste (you won't need much, since the dates are sweet), rock salt, cumin powder and chili powder to taste. Strain the slush and voila! The spread is ready. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Multi-grain crackers made with Pita bread
1 large avocado, chopped
Chopped, seeded tomatoes
1/8 cup chopped red onion (optional)
Mung beans, sprouted, steamed
Date and Tamarind spread


To prepare the salad, place the mung beans, avocado, tomatoes and onions in a bowl. Crush some chips or place them whole on the vegetables. Sprinkle salt to taste. Garnish with the spread and serve!

Pumpkin Seeds Chutney

I thought of this recipe one day when I was roasting raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas). I try to incorporate these seeds in my regular diet because they are so nutritious (see their nutrition profile on whfoods.com), especially in their zinc and iron content. These seeds are a great way to get these essential minerals for vegetarians. This chutney is dry in its texture and goes well as a spread on buttered whole wheat toast for a healthy snack or breakfast. I often have it with ghee and piping hot phulkas. My aunt-in-law loved it when she tried it over dinner a few weeks ago.

To make this chutney, you will need:

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (I buy them from Trader Joe's), roasted in a pan over medium heat.
1 whole dried red chilli (you can one more if you like spicy food).
1 tsp cumin powder.
1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate.
5 curry leaves.
salt and brown sugar to taste.

After roasting the pumpkin seeds, add them to a food processor. Add all the remaining ingredients and grind the seeds to a fine powder. To add some protein, you can roast 1 to 2 tbsp of chana dal (available from Bob's Red Mill) and add it to the above ingredients. Voila, your chutney is ready.