Holy Mung Beans

Well I'm home in Florida for Thanksgiving, and what do I find? Esther is sprouting Mung Beans:


That clutter in the back? No special effects.

Mung beans are holy in ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine, they originate in India and Pakistan, and contain dietary fiber, thiamin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and copper. Also a good source of folate, for those looking to get pregnant.

And a bit of trivia: Where do you think bean sprouts that you get from Chinese restaurants come from, smarty pants? Mung beans. So if you like the taste of those, these are just a little bit nuttier.

The Gordons traditionally put them in salad, but I saw this little creation yesterday and thought I would share:


Those are French lentils, grape tomatoes sliced in half and mung beans. Add to this a little salad dressing OR salt, pepper, lemon juice and a small bit of olive oil. Pretty, pretty good.

Update: Kasha Visual

Here's what it looks like. New post this week.

Lillie's Kasha

Today would have been my Grandma Lillie's 101st birthday.

She was the first child born to Austrian immigrants on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1908 (two brothers and a sister would follow). The family of six lived in a tenement, where the bathtub was in the kitchen, and when it was nice outside, the kids slept on the fire escape.

While health food was in no way a priority during her youth, she was not closed-minded to her vegetarian daughter-in-law and unconventional machatainisteh**.

Although she spent most of her life being kosher, once she tried shrimp cocktail in her 70s, she never looked back. In her 80s, she started the ritual of making fresh vegetable juice every day. At Halloween, she always made me share with her my good chocolate. And if not for her, the word "pulkies" (as it relates to both chicken and childrens' thighs) would not be part of my vernacular.

Food--and getting you, and you, and you to eat it--was one of the most important things in her life. So in honor of her birthday, I will share her recipe for Kasha wit da bowtie pastas (fah you, my giddilies).

Kasha--big in Eastern European cuisines--is actually buckwheat groats (and if that doesn't sound healthy enough, I don't know what to tell you). It contains all kinds of dietary fiber, and I hear they call it Jewish soul food. Here's my grandma's recipe told to me over the phone by Esther:


Kasha with Varnishkes

• 5 onions chopped
• 1/2 cup of vegetable or olive oil
• 1 box of coarse buckwheat groats (2 cups)
  
• 2 eggs
• a box of bowtie pasta cooked and drained
  
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
  

In a large pan, saute onions in a LOT of oil. (Esther says: "I remember several times saying 'You don't have to put so much oil in!' but she did anyway, and that's what makes it so moist.) Cook until almost brown, put them aside.

In a large pot, empty box of buckwheat. Crack two eggs into the pot and stir to coat. THEN turn on medium heat and keep stirring until kasha is what Esther calls "flaky." (DO NOT TURN ON HEAT UNTIL AFTER EGGS ARE COATED) Add salt.

Add boiling water to the pot and simmer for 9 minutes.

In a third pot, you should have your varnishkas (bowtie pasta).

Mix the three parts (onions, kasha, bowties) together and serve with a smile.


(I'd like to point out two things about this image: 1. the fist full of chocolate cake that nevah woulda happened had that been my mom holding me. Unless it was carrot cake. But generally, it was my grandma's goal in life to fatten me up. And 2. my nails were done in red, which--I think for a two-year-old--was a pretty advanced devotion to beauty. Click to enlarge.)

**Machatainisteh: (mach-uh-tain-nist-ah) Any female relative related by marriage, but usually used to mean your son or daughter's mother-in-law; your grandchildren's OTHER grandmother. Yiddish is one of the few languages with a word for this relationships. Source.

Fall=Vegan Mushroom Soup

Inspired by the recent cold weather and Le Pain Quotidien's daily vegan soup specials ($5.50 a cup), I decided to make an entire pot of my own. And because I was feeling really radical, I did not consult a recipe. So here it go:

Vegan Mushroom Soup (almost as good as Le Pain's)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leak, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 packages of mushrooms washed, chopped (I used Crimini and white button, but feel free to get more exotic fungi)
1/4 wine of your choice
3 cups vegetable stock (heed my warning--DON'T get low-sodium)
3 cups water
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tablespoon parsley (dried or fresh)
Lots of black pepper and salt
A blender

In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil, then leeks, garlic and celery. Let them sweat, but not burn (Think The Standard Miami's steamroom). Once softened (about 4 minutes) add potatoes, wine, salt, pepper and toss with a wooden spoon. Cover for about 3-4 minutes. Then add mushrooms--the whole mess of them--and toss again.

Let sit for a minute or two, then add liquids. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling (shrooms should shrink considerably), lower heat to low. Take slotted spoon and remove two cups of the vegetables, leaving liquid and other half of the veggies. Take the liquid half and puree in a blender.

NOW--this did not make the thick puree I had hoped. I think more potatoes will get you a thicker soup. Nevertheless, a thinner broth never hurt anyone with the remnants of swine flu. So we carry on...

Once blended, place liquids back in pot, and return your veggies to the pot. Bring heat back up, and add sage, rosemary, parsley, LOTS of pepper and salt. If you're like me and bought low-sodium vegetable broth, you will also want to add soy sauce. Otherwise, salt should do.

Now let sit over low heat for about 10 minutes, whilst you set the table for your sweetie--or in my case--your 70-year-old second cousin. Dish it out, and a star is born:


Add some more parsley to the top for garnish.

*Disclaimer: this soup is vegan, but it is not award-winning. It could use a little oomph, so if you make it and have ideas for spices or dairy-free thickeners, i'm all ears.