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!

Cabbage Salad with Cranberries

Yes, a healthy salad can be tasty. A little imagination can go a long way in sprucing up the not so favorite, but immensely nutritious Cabbage. Fresh cabbage adds a unique crunch to salads while adding fiber and a bunch of essential nutrients like vitamin K,C and A along with plenty of manganese, vitamin B6 and manganese. This recipe us inspired by my grandfather's original contribution to the family dinner table.

To make this salad, you will need:

1/2 a cabbage: finely shredded

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

1 apple: chopped into bite size pieces

1/2 cup of peanut powder: roasted peanuts ground to a powder using a standard food processor

Salt, pepper and jaggery to taste: you can use golden brown sugar as a fantastic substitute for jaggery

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice: you can add more than this if you like your salad tangy.

In a large mixing bowl combine the cabbage, cranberries and raisins.

Then, add the diced apple, salt, pepper, lemon juice and jaggery. Mix thoroughly.

Finally, add the peanut powder, mix, and let the salad sit to marinate in the lemon juice for about 30 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

Beetroot Salad/Raita

When one thinks of Beets, a deep crimson color immediately flashes in our mind. This root vegetable is full of essential nutrients that our body needs. I like to eat it after it is boiled, sliced with a dash of salt as a side or as a raita. Here is a simple recipe for a raita that I often make to accompany dal and rice.

You will need:

2-3 beets: I buy the organic ones sold in the local farmers market.
Yogurt and some chopped cilantro.
Cumin powder
Salt to taste
Brown sugar to taste.

Pressure cook the beets. Remove the skin and grate in a large bowl.

To this, add:
Yogurt (as per taste, the picture below should be able to guide you), chopped cilantro (about a tablespoon), a teaspoon of cumin powder, salt to taste and a teaspoon of brown sugar.


Mix thoroughly and serve as a side dish.


ENJOY!