Sprouted Pea Soup

Instead of an ordinary split pea soup try sprouting your peas to make a savory, healthy, vegetarian alternative.  

Peas are very easy to sprout.  You can follow the same instructions for sprouting mung beans.   After the dried peas soak for a day, they will become live food - doubling in both size and nutrition. They will look like regular peas from the garden, but they will need to be cooked to become soft.

Sprouted Peas

Cup of Sprouted Pea Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup of spouted peas (1/2 cup of whole split peas)

2.5 cups of water

1 medium sized potato

1 small piece Parmesan cheese rind

6-10 shiitake mushrooms

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons dill

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  In a pressure cooker, add the sprouted peas, potato, add the Parmesan rind. 
2.  Cook on high heat until the cooker whistles, then cook on low heat for 10 minutes. 

3.  After you turn off the heat on pressure cooker, set aside and let sit for 15 minutes.
4.  Saute the onions, garlic, mushrooms, dill, and cumin until lightly browned.  

5.  Combine the sauteed ingredients together with the ingredients in the pressure cooker, then puree with a hand blender.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste then serve.

Note:   You can use a large pot instead of a pressure, but cooking time will increase to 2 hours. 

Spelt Winter Salad:

Ingredients for Spelt Salad

Spelt Winter Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups spelt

1 pomegranate, seeded

1 cup sprouted mung beans

2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sauteed

1 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

White truffle oil or premium olive oil.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, boil spelt in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes or so.  Drain excess water.

2.  In a bowl, mix spelt, pomegranate seeds, sprouted mung beans and sauteed shiitake mushrooms.

3.  Serve on a salad plate. 

4.  Top with pistachios.

5.  Lightly dress with a white truffle oil or premium olive oil.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Love at First Sprout: Growing Mung Beans

Mung Beans

It all started on my first trip to India ...... Crunchy, tasty, healthy little sprouts that were added to many dishes I had at the dining table of my host family.

 A new culinary experience - I got curious to see how these little sprouts appeared magically overnight from the kitchen to the table.

Sprouts are a great way to bring fresh greens to your table in the middle of winter, plus they are easy to grow in your kitchen all year round

Mung beans, a staple food in India, can be easily found at any Asian, Middle Eastern, or Indian market or by mail order at sproutpeople.org.  They are great in stir-fries or added to salad, eggs, grains or any entree.

Growing Sprouts:

1. Soak overnight. (I use a mason jar with a mesh cover for easy drainage).

Mung Beans Soaking

 2.  Rinse, then drain.

Draining off Water

 3. Let sit on a dark corner of your kitchen.

Mung Beans Growing

4. Rinse and drain twice per day for 2 or 3 days.
5. Refrigerate.  They will keep for about 1 week.