Thursday, May 13, 2010

Beauty and the Beast

Maybe the title is a bit melodramatic. The contrasting colours of watermelon radish and sprouted mung beans inspired the naming of the blog. As you will see sprouted mung beans are ugly ducklings that can do beautiful things for a body.




Watermelon radishes can really add a spark of life to a plate. What can we say, they look like watermelon, with the outter green skin and bright red center. Soak them in ice cold water and they will crisp up even more. I made curls by cutting them thin and rolling the slices, secure with a skewer, or toothpick and plunge into the ice cold water. I also plan to put the thin slices in my regular Thai Cucumber Salad too.

More info:

http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--36089/watermelon-radish.asp




Seasame Salmon with Braised/Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Scallions, Sprouted Mung Bean Salad

Have you had bean sprouts in your Chinese take-away? Those are sprouts from mung beans.

Mung beans can be used in many different ways. They are usually found in Indian, or Chinese cuisine, although they appear in other Asian cuisines, as well. They could be served hulled or un-hulled. Sprouted, or not. In India they are served dried as a snack item. The starch can be extracted to make jellies, or noodles. In China mung beans appear in desserts.

This is the salad I made with them for a side dish.

Sprouted Mung Bean Salad

10oz. pkg. of Sprouted Mung beans (Prepared according to pkg.)
1 bunch scallions, chopped

Make a vinaigrette from:

Pulp from pureed Pluot (plum/apricot)
1/4 c. prepared green tea
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. brown rice vinegar
1/4 c. mustard
2 tbsp. fish sauce

Fold all ingredients together, serve warm or cold. Mine was served warm with the Salmon. Serves 8






According to the mung bean package, they provide quite high values of fiber and protein. It also says germinating the beans before drying them releases an enzyme that makes micro nutrients more available. Another bonus is that this enzyme also pre-digests proteins and starches, making digestion easier on your body and absorption of nutrients a lark.

1 comment:

  1. Marcie the colors on those radishes look gorgeous.
    I love sprouts, but haven't sprouted my own in years. Thanks for sharing the recipes!
    Have a great week! :o)

    ReplyDelete