April 20th, 2015
Chances are, you’re familiar with mung bean noodles, some clear and some ghostly white, that can be found in abundance at Asian markets. I’ve always been fascinated with the simplicity of their ingredients list, which typically includes only mung beans and water. Making pasta at home has become somewhat of a hobby for me over this past winter, and I was determined to nail down this healthy, protein-rich mung bean version.
The first attempt, which involved just grounding mung beans into flour without sprouting them, resulted in pasta with too beany of a taste that I wasn’t satisfied with. I noticed long ago that sprouting grains and garbanzo beans improves the taste of the resulting flour, so I decided to sprout the mung beans for this pasta as well. My next attempt, made of sprouted flour, was much better and mild tasting, but included eggs, and I didn’t care for the texture.
When I was ready to give up the idea, I bumped into the possibility of using psyllium husks as a binder in gluten free pasta. I gave them a try and it turned out absolutely amazing – a nicely pliable, flavorful, freshly-made pasta, that is very light and gentle on your stomach, and quite easy to make once your flour is ready.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m pretty sure that other types of gluten free flours such as quinoa, buckwheat, etc. will work great in this recipe as well.
It may seem like a lot of work to make such flour at home, but in reality what you will mostly have to do is wait until beans sprout and dry. If the process is not for you, however, there are several companies that make sprouted flours and my latest favorite is Blue Mountain Organics. Our local health food store carries and array of their flours and they are not only delicious, but also less expensive than regular flour. For this post, I prepared the pasta with peas and spinach to celebrate spring, but it will work well with your favorite homemade tomato sauce or any other pasta toppings. Happy Spring!
Sprouted Mung Bean Pasta
adapted from here
Serves 6-8
1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
1 cup sifted sprouted mung bean flour (see below), plus more for rolling out pasta
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
2 tablespoons coconut oil – 1 tablespoon melted, divided
3-4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
splash of canned coconut milk – optional
freshly ground black pepper
grated Parmesan – optional
1. Mix together psyllium husk powder and 4 tablespoons filtered water in a small bowl. Let thicken while mixing together dry ingredients.
2. Combine flours and salt in a large bowl, mix to combine. Make a well in the center, add 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, gelled psyllium husk and 4 tablespoons of water. Stir to combine with a fork as much as you can. The mixture will appear dry, but don’t add more water at this point. Begin working with your hands, mixing and kneading the mixture into slightly sticky (but not wet) dough. Add more water, one tablespoon at a time, if you find that it’s absolutely necessary, or more flour if dough seems too wet.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, keep them wrapped to prevent drying.
4. Working with one portion at a time, roll out on a well floured surface into a paper thin thickness. Cut it into pasta of any desired shape using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Sprinkle with more flour to prevent from sticking (the same sprouted mung bean flour or brown rice flour will work great for rolling and dusting).
5. Divide the pasta into two equal portions. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook one portion of fresh pasta at a time for 2 minutes, until al-dente.
6. Meanwhile, heat the remaining coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add half of the spinach, sprinkle with salt and stir to coat. Drain pasta reserving about 1/4 cup of cooking liquid. Add pasta, 2 tablespoons of reserved liquid and splash of coconut milk (if using) to the pan with spinach, stir until spinach is wilted, for a minute or so. Add half of the peas, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, stir them in and remove from heat.
7. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan if desired.
Note: You can continue cooking the other portions of pasta in the same manner or keep the remaining dough wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Remove from refridgerator to warm up 15 minutes prior to rolling.
Sprouted Mung Bean Flour
1. Rinse 2 cups of mung beans and place them in a large bowl covered with filtered water, soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse again, cover with wet kitchen towel and leave to sprout. You should see white tails in 24-48 hours. Make sure to rinse every 8 hours and keep the towel damp. For the purpose of this flour, sprouts don’t need to be large and thick – tiny white tails will be sufficient.
3. When you are satisfied with the look of your sprouts, rinse them thoroughly, drain well and shake off water excess as much as possible. If you have a dehydrator, spread sprouted beans on mesh screen covered trays and dehydrate at 115 F until completely dry.
4. Alternatively, spread on a dry kitchen towel or paper towels and let dry for 24 hours, change towels to dry ones after the first 8 hours. Spread on a baking sheet and continue to dry in the oven at the lowest temperature for a couple of hours, until completely dry.
5. Grind into flour using a high speed blender, mill or coffee grinder (in batches). Sift through a fine mesh strainer.
Tags: gluten free, mung beans, pasta, peas, spinach
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March 15th, 2015
Spring is in the air, I can tell by the volume of the birds outside my window, which gets louder every morning. Daylight savings was a great help – having that extra hour of light in the evenings feels amazing and allows me to be much more productive towards the end of the day. Soon there will be peas, favas, rhubarb and asparagus. For the time being though, while winter produce is on its way out and spring produce is not quite ready, there are root vegetables.
We’ve been eating variations on this stew for the last couple of weeks, and this version is one of my favorites. It is a hearty one-pot meal that is very simple in preparation.
This dish speaks of both winter and spring, when the earthiness of roasted carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes is combined with the bright notes of lime juice, ginger, turmeric, cardamom and coconut milk. Red rice and lentils bring substance to the dish, and spinach delivers a good dose of green. Enjoy!
Roasted Root Vegetable, Red Rice and Lentil Stew
serves 6
3 medium carrots
2 medium parsnips
2 small sweet potatoes or 1/2 small winter squash
3 tablespoons coconut oil – divided
few sprigs thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
2 teaspoons cumin seeds – freshly ground
4 green cardamom pods – seeds crushed in mortar and pestle
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
large pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
1 small red chili pepper – sliced (optional)
1 large yellow onion – chopped
3/4 cup red rice such as Ruby Red or Bhutan – rinsed under cold water
handful kaffir lime leaves – bruised with the back of a knife (optional)
1/2 cup green lentils – preferably soaked
1 14 oz can Thai coconut milk
1 large or 2 small limes – zest and juice, plus more for serving
4 cups packed chopped spinach leaves or baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel and chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl or right on the baking tray with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and thyme leaves, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer for 20-30 minutes, stirring at halftime, until soft and caramelized.
2. Meanwhile, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add spices, ginger, and chili if using, stir around for about a minute, until fragrant. Add onion and saute for about 7 minutes, until translucent.
2. Add rice, big pinch of salt and kaffir lime leaves, if using, stir to mix. Add 4 cups filtered water. Increase the heat, bring to a boil and decrease to a light simmer. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse lentils and add them to the pot with rice with a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Test lentils for doneness, if you did not soak your lentils, they might need to be cooked a little longer, cover and simmer for another couple of minutes until lentils are cooked. Add roasted vegetables, coconut milk, zest and juice of lime and another pinch of salt. Stir to mix and let simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to mingle.
4. Remove from heat and stir in spinach to wilt. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust as needed. Serve immediately with more lime juice squeezed over.
Tags: carrots, coconut milk, lentils, parsnip, red rice, rice, spinach, stew, sweet potato, vegan, vegetarian
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August 21st, 2014
I recently talked a bit about my home region in Russia, and its array of food cultures and cuisines. Its unique geographical positioning near the republics of the Caucasus mountains allowed me to form all kinds of connections with people from the neighboring areas, while living there most of my life.
My sister-in-law, Alla’s, family resided in Azerbaijan for many years. Visiting their home for lunch is always a treat, as the table is guaranteed to feature some authentic Azerbaijani dishes, learned first-hand during their stay.
This time around, Alla’s mother introduced me to Dovga, an Azerbaijani wedding soup that is traditionally served at the celebratory table between meat dishes, as a vitamin and digestion boost. I couldn’t believe I’d never tried the soup before – it is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat during the summer.
The base for dovga is made up of several types of fermented milk beverages, refreshing and healthy probiotic drinks, such as matsoni, ayran, and kefir. All of these cultured dairy drinks originate from the mountains of Caucasus. As it turns out, kefir, which nowadays is one of the most beloved beverages in Russia, was not introduced there until the beginning of the 20th century.
People from the Caucasus have always been known for their incredible longevity. In 1908, the Russian royal scientists were determined to unveil the mountain people’s fountain of youth. They sent a young woman scientist by the name of Irina Sakharova down South, to fetch some kefir grains from Bek-Mirza Baichorov, a Karachai prince who was rumored to have the goods. Baichorov did not want to give up his people’s secret, but legend has it that upon seeing Irina, he fell in love and proceeded to kidnap her, which is a customary courting routine in those parts. Later, in court, the freed Ms. Sakharova offered to drop the charges if Baichorov gave up some of his kefir grains, to which he agreed. Soon after, the nation, and later the world, fell in love with the miraculous drink. Who knows how much of this legend is true, but I like thinking of it as fact – a beautiful story of kefir and unreturned love.
Back to Dovga – it is packed with a great amount of herbs and leafy greens. Now is the time to eat as many greens as you can, while they are still fresh and abundant at markets, before fall sneaks up on us.
Dovga can be served hot, right after making it, or cold. It is not recommended to reheat it after it’s been chilled. It is delicious either way, but the cold version is my favorite.
The photos you are seeing here are from Sochi and its surrounding areas – a magical place where the Caucasus Mountains meet the Black Sea, where the climate is subtropical and summer nights are lit up by fireflies.
Dovga
makes a big batch/large pot of soup
Notes:
1. If you do not have authentic matsoni, feel free to use kefir or yogurt, or a mixture of both. Whey (leftover liquid from ricotta cheese making among other things) is also a great addition. You can substitute the herbs and greens according to your taste.
2. Back home, there is a type of rice that is typically used in dovga, which cooks very fast. Therefore, the rice is added in uncooked rice, and it’s ready by the time the dovga is done. Here, I used cooked rice because none of the rice available to me would cook so quickly.
3. Alla’s mom also adds 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour, but I left it out. Adding the egg helps to make this soup creamy and prevents the liquid from separating. I haven’t yet tried making it without the egg. If anyone tries it, please let me know how it goes.
2 large bunches spinach
2 bunches cilantro
1 large bunch parsley
1 large bunch dill
5 green onions
handful of mint leaves plus more for garnish
handful of basil leaves plus more for garnish
2 liters mixed fermented milk beverages – kefir, yogurt, whey, or just kefir/yogurt (the ideal mixture would be: 1 liter kefir, 1/2 liter yogurt or matsoni, 1/2 liter whey or water )
1 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)
1 egg – beaten
1 generous cup cooked chickpeas – optional
sea salt to taste
1. Chop the spinach and herbs, set aside.
2. Whisk together all of the beverages in a large pot. Add in the rice, egg and chickpeas, and whisk everything together. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
3. Add spinach, herbs add salt. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, continuing to stir. Remove from heat.
4. Serve immediately or chill at room temperature and then in the refrigerator to served chilled. Garnish with mint, basil and cilantro leaves. Enjoy!
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