Good Eats

It's so easy to eat healthy; I wonder why we succumb to the greasy, fatty, buttery, unhealthy foods (okay, don't answer that :P). I made a very healthy, energy packed salad today which frequented our dinner table when I was in school. My entire family had joined a course that promoted the 'raw food' (completely raw or very lightly steamed vegetables) philosophy along with other means of a healthy lifestyle. We religiously followed the raw food diet during the course and atleast 3-4 times a week later and the results were stunning. The course taught us some simple yet tasty recipes for eating food the right away. Some dishes were quite unique and creative - peanut drink, banana salad, raw carrot halwa. You'd never believe they were delicious until you tried them. The salad I made doesn't come close to the other items in terms of uniqueness, but it's just as delicious and full of all the good stuff! The star ingredient of this dish - moog beans - are best consumed sprouted as they are high in Vitamin C. Little to no cooking also helps retain their nutritionial value. This low-cal salad is a perfect way to dine in summer.

I love the simplicity of this recipe and how complete of a meal it is being a salad. I thought it would be a great recipe to submit for the MLLA event hosted by Preeti this month. This event is initiated by Susan and is hosted monthly by different bloggers. Isn't this a great way to connect with your fellow bloggers?

Moog/Mung bean salad with mixed veggies

Moog/Mung Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 Cup green Moog beans

2 Cups chopped vegetables (carrots, onion, beet root, cucumber, broccoli)

1 Small bunch cilantro - chopped

1-1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice

Red chili powder to taste

Dash of lemon pepper

Salt to taste

• Soak moog beans in warm water overnight. You can tie them in a cloth and let them sprout. I used the beans just as they started sprouting. The salad can be made with raw beans or slightly steamed. I steamed them just for 4-5 minutes to make them soft.
• Dice all the veggies (I used boiled beetroot instead of raw) and toss them with the moog beans.
• Add lemon juice, chopped cilantro, salt, lemon pepper(my addition) and red chili powder to taste and mix well. You can use salt & black pepper or any other seasoning you like. The salad is ready.

This salad can be changed up in a hundred different ways. You can add different colored bell peppers, jalapeno, zucchini, tomato, even avocado, or any vegetable you like really. A simple lemon juice-salt-chili powder seasoning is tasty and adds to the freshness of veggies. This is a complete meal with protein and plenty of vegetables and won't leave you hungry within 30 minutes.

Here's to healthy eats!