Magical Mung Bean Soup

The first time I heard about the magical powers of mung beans was during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) scare. In 2002 and 2003 an outbreak in Hong Kong nearly became pandemic. I was living in Cambodia at the time and fear of SARS was extremely contagious and rapidly spreading throughout Cambodia.

So one night during this time we were woken up by a commotion, which in itself wasn't that unusual in the crowded streets of Phnom Penh. However, the next morning we were told to eat our mung beans, if we could still get any. Confused my husband and I went left for work, hoping our translators could help solve the mystery of the mung beans and the commotion.

This would have been the early days of viral texting. Some one had started a rumor that if you ate mung beans you would be safe from SARS. The mung bean sellers at the market opened in the middle of the night to cash in on the rumor (selling them far above market price of course). People flocked to the markets causing the commotion. By the end of the night there was not a mung bean left in all of Cambodia.

Since then I have read about the magical and healing properties of mung beans. In Chinese medicine it is considered detoxifying and heat dispersing. It is used for a range of things from prickly heat to dysentery to poisoning from heavy metals. In Ayurveda mung beans are considered the most nutritious and easiest to digest of all beans and pacifying for all doshas (body types). There are even cleanses that require you to eat only kitchari - porridge made from mung beans and rice. I have also seen it recommended every other day for general health maintenance.

While this isn't kitchari is a yummy soup that goes well with rice or quinoa.

2 cups dried mung beans
6 cups water
1 can coconut milk
2 large tomatoes chopped small
1 tbsp coconut oil
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 inch fresh ginger finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp black mustard seed
salt to taste

Rinse mung beans and put in a bowl cover with water. Soak in fridge over night. After soaking rinse and set aside.

In a large pot on medium heat put the coconut oil, when hot add mustard seeds. When the seeds start to pop add the ginger, cumin, corriander and tumeric, saute for a couple minutes until fragrant. Add  tomatoes, water and mung beans. Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add coconut milk and simmer for another 10 minutes or until beans are soft. Add lemon juice and salt and then simmer for another 5 minutes.

So, you're probably wondering if we ate our mung beans that day in Cambodia ... of course!

Ice Cream

It is birthday season. It starts with Summer's birthday on September 9th, then my mother-in-law's on the 16th, my stepmother's on the 17th, my mother's on the 24th and last my brother's on Oct. 1st. So how to get around birthday cakes and ice cream and still satisfy that sweet tooth? My solution was to buy an ice cream maker.

The first time I made ice cream was when Summer was about eight months old. My friend had an ice cream maker and I supplied the milk. Yes, that's right. Breast milk. We made banana breast milk ice cream ... for Summer of course. However it wasn't very creamy and when put in the freezer it froze into a solid block. For those nursing mamas reading this, I recommend freezing it in popsicle molds. Momsicles, perfect for teething tots to gnaw on. :)

My next attempt came after I bought the ice cream maker. It was a total failure. I made cashew almond milk (see nut milk recipe), added coconut milk and dates, and poured the mix into the ice cream maker. It is suppose to take about twenty minutes to thicken to a soft serve consistency, but after twenty minutes it was still soupy. After forty minutes it was still soupy. Discouraged and disappointed, I gave up and poured the mix into popsicle molds. Terrible ice cream but yummy popsicles.

It turns out that our freezer wasn't turned on high enough to fully freeze the bowl. So I turned the freezer up and voila: my first sort of successful ice cream. I say "sort of" because it was simply almond milk and dates and homemade almond milk isn't very fatty. It makes a icy ice cream. I poured this into popsicle molds to avoid the solid icy block. Both Summer and my hubby enjoyed them.

Back to birthdays ... I have also made wheat free and gluten free cakes and cup cakes usually sweetened with dates. These have turned out edible but not that great. So when it was my mother-in-laws birthday and I offered to make a cake and ice cream, my in-laws very diplomatically suggested we get dessert at the restaurant. Okay, I can take a hint! I passed on the cake but did make vanilla chocolate chip ice cream and held back nothing. I used whole milk and heavy cream, I threw in extra dates and a ton of chocolate chips. There were no complaints and every one's sweet tooth was sufficiently satisfied.

I had leftover milk, cream and chocolate chips, so I just had to make mint chip ice cream! While it turned out pretty good, it wasn't as minty as i had hoped. It was more like green tea ice cream with a minty flavor. I only put in one small bunch of fresh mint leaves. I realised this wouldn't be minty enough so I blended the leaves into the mix. If I make it again, I will add more mint and strain out the leaves. I would also like to make a vegan version of this one with coconut milk.

The nice thing about making ice cream is that it can be made with just about any milk or milk alternative and you can put just about anything in it - nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla, mint, etc. and it is easy. I even made the coconut date one successfully, with the addition of banana, and it was very tasty. Below are the recipes that I described:

A couple tips before you start: 

- Different ice cream makers have different directions so make sure to follow the directions for your ice cream maker.
- The fattier the milk or milk alternative the creamier the ice cream will be.
- The ice cream is ready when it is a soft serve consistency. For harder ice cream put it in the freezer for two hours before serving.
-Have fun, be creative and enjoy the sweetness


Coconut Banana Date Ice Cream (vegan):

1 can (about 2 cups) coconut milk
1 1/2 cups nut milk (I used cashew almond milk, see nut milk recipe)
1 cup dates
2 ripe bananas

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refridgerate for at least two hours before putting in ice cream maker.


Almond Date Icy Pops:

4 cups almond milk
1 cup dates

Blend ingredients until smooth. Refridgerate for at least two hours, pour into ice cream maker. Once it has thickend pour into popcicle molds and freeze.


Vanilla Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 cup packed dates
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Blend milk with dates either in a blender. Mix in cream. Refridgerate for at least two hours before putting in ice cream maker.


Mint Chip Ice Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2 cups fresh packed mint
1 cup packed dates
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Heat milk until just before it boils (don't let it boil) add mint let steep for 30 minutes. Strain out mint leaves or for mintier ice cream blend the leaves in with an immersion blender. Add cream. Refridgerate for at least two hours before putting in ice cream maker.

Nut Milk

I have never really liked milk. Not just cow milk, but all milk. I still can't imagine sitting down and drinking a glass of milk, but I do like to make things with milk and I actually like home made nut milks, especially if I add a couple dates to sweeten it.


Store-bought milk alternatives are often mostly water and sugar with a few unwanted additions. Here is a list of ingredients from Pacific Almond Milk (Almond Breeze has the exact same list): filtered water, evaporated cane juice, almonds, tricalciu, phosphates, sea salt, potasium citrate, carrageenen, soy lecithin, riboflavin (B2), vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2. Seems like a lot of ingredients for something so simple, not to mention that almonds, are the third ingredient listed after water and sugar or evaporated cane juice!


Making nut milks is actually very easy and it really does taste better. Almonds are probably the best for milk for taste and nutrition but you can also use cashews and hazelnuts. I haven't tried walnuts but I imagine they would work with a mix of other nuts.


2 cups nuts (almonds and cashews make a nice combination)
4 cups water
2-4 dates (optional)


Soak nuts for about 8 hours. Rinse and put in blender with water. Blend on high for 5 minutes or until very well blended. Strain milk through a cloth. I use a sprout bag but a tea towel or pillow case will also work well. I have tried using a cheese cloth but it doesn't strain out enough pulp so the milk has a little more texture than I like.

Flourless Pancakes

I love pancakes. My mom makes the best, they are a standard whole wheat pancake with the perfect amount of fluffiness. My dad also makes a great pancake, sourdough. He makes his own sourdough bread and has starter that he keeps in his fridge and feeds. I have been spoiled by having parents with exceptional pancake making skills so I am picky about my pancakes. 


When I lived in Asia, one of my favorite things to do was to go for pancakes at  a Western-run cafe. There were only a few places that made good ones. The one that stands out the most is the Garden Center Cafe in Phnom Penh. Most pancakes you get in Asia are either of the thin crepe-ish variety or the ultra thick fluffy doughy variety. The first is okay but it's not really a pancake, it's a crepe. The latter, however,  needs to be avoided at all cost. The Garden Center had perfect pancakes that were served with honey (or for an extra $3, real maple syrup).

The problem with most pancakes is that they tend to be served enough syrup, sugar sauce or honey (in Asia) to cause a diabetic coma and are made with enough flour to scare off anyone with even the mildest wheat intolerance.

So I've been working on my own pancakes for a while now - trying to come up with something that is yummy but also healthy. My first attempts turned out rubbery, doughy or very heavy. Different flours make very different pancakes. Buckwheat is great in small amounts. It's gluten free, but it has a strong flavor so it needs to be combined with other kinds of flour.  Oat flour is okay, but makes for a heavy pancake. Barley flour is one my favorites, but it has gluten.


There are also many different things that can be added to pancakes to make them more interesting or increase certain nutrients - sweet potato, banana, blueberry, apple, peach, (I even attempted kale cakes),  ground flax, ground pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. And of course don’t forget the sauce.

I love the simplicity of the flourless pancakes below. They were adapted from a recipe in Cynthia Lair’s Feeding the Whole Family, which was adapted from Rebecca Wood’s The Splendid Grain (I think I need to get that cookbook, it sounds like a good one). As I’ve been writing these posts, I’ve started wondering at what point does a recipe become your own? Many of my recipes are inspired by other recipes, but stray so far that I wouldn’t even say they were adapted. This recipe is close enough that I will still say it’s adapted, but each time I make it, it seems to get further from the original and becomes more mine.

So here it is:

Flourless Pancakes

1 cups steel cut oats (Bob's red mill has gluten free steel cut oats), You can also use a 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup buckwheat.

1  ½ milk or milk alternative (I like almond milk) 

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 very ripe bananas

¼ cup ground flax

¼ cup ground pumpkin seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

Put the steel cut oats and milk in a blender jar, cover and soak overnight. The milk can also be replaced with a water/yogurt mix to sour your pancakes a bit. Add the rest of the ingredient and blend until smooth.

Preheat an oiled skillet. Pour about ¼ cup into the pan. Cook 2 – 3 minutes on each side. This makes about 8 pancakes.

Berry Sauce

2 cups frozen or fresh berries (blueberry and raspberry work well)

4 - 6 pitted dates

½ cup water

Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook until everything is soft. Transfer to blender or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Slather over pancakes.


Summer likes to dip her pancakes in yogurt and apple sauce.

Avocado soup

The first time I had cold soup I was about fifteen. Gazpacho. I had never heard of it and thought the idea was really weird. Soup was something you ate on cold, snowy or rainy days. Something you ate when you were sick or after having your wisdom teeth out and couldn't eat anything solid. Not something you ate cold and for no particular reason.

The first gazpacho I had was of the traditional tomato based style with raw veggies. I was in Vancouver and going to a Metallica concert (yes it's true, I have to admit it) with the older sister of my best friend. I'm not sure why, but for some reason my best friend couldn't go. The soup was very garlicky, not something a teenager wants when she plans to be squashed into a moshing crowd. We came out of the concert deaf, exhilarated and hungry enough for another bowl of cold soup.

Fortunately long gone are my Metallica days and fear of strange food. This avocado soup is of the non-traditional gazpacho kind but very yummy. I can't remember where the original recipe came from but I loved it from the start. It is creamy, yet light and refreshing. Perfect for a hot summer day.

3 small avocados
2 tomatoes
1 long english cucumber
Juice from 1-2 limes (I like it limey so I used two)
2 sprigs of mint
2 cups of water
salt to taste

optional ingredients might include garlic and a chili pepper to spice it up.

Put it all in a blender, blend on high. Chill.

When serving this soup last night my husband comments, "It's one of my favorite soups." However, Summer scrunched up her nose.

Sweet Greens

 

The first time I made this soup was last thanksgiving. My husband's sister was visiting. Like my husband, she also has sensitive digestion and was on a very restricted diet. Instead of a list of foods she was avoiding I was sent a short list of foods she could eat. Rather than being discouraged by these limits I decided to rise to the challenge.

The list included rutabagas, kale and chard. So the first version of this soup was simply rutabaga and greens boiled and pureed with no spices or anything else. She was thrilled with it, but the rest of us needed a little more flavor. I took enough out for her, then added carrots, ginger, cumin, coriander, pepper and salt. Now I was getting somewhere but it was still bland and well... a little too rutabagaish. I added lemon juice and served it with a dollop of yogurt. While no one came back for seconds everyone was pleasantly surprised that its wasn't bad.

Trying to sneak greens into our diet can be tricky so I thought I would revisit and revise this soup. I kept it simple and used sweet potato instead of rutabaga. Now this is a soup I would serve again and ask for seconds.

Sweet Potato Green Soup

- 3 medium sweet potatoes chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 bunch swiss chard
- An inch of fresh minced ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil

In a large pot saute ginger and spices in olive oil. Add sweet potato and saute until starts to brown. Add enough water to completely cover the sweet potatoes, bring to boil, then simmer until potatoes are soft.

While the sweet potatoes are simmering wash and chop the chard and kale. Once potatoes are soft add the greens cook for another few minutes until the greens are wilted and turned bright green. Turn off the heat and then puree in a blender (I was recently given an immersion blender and love it). Add salt to taste. This soup is nice as is or served with a big dollop of yogurt.

This is a pretty big pot of soup so have some friends over or freeze in single serving containers.

Banana Nut Butter Pops

When I was a kid my mom use to let us get one treat when we went to the store. This was a big deal because we didn't go to the store often and we lived so far in the boondocks that we couldn't get there on our own. In the summer's I always got a "Freezee" (grape was my favorite flavor). I did a quick Internet search and couldn't find that brand, it must be Canadian. My husband has talked about "Otter Pops" and I assume it's the same thing. While this artificially flavored and colored sugar water was the best summer treat ever, it definitely wasn't the best for you. 

It's summer and Summer isn't old enough yet to know that icy pops are usually fruity, so I thought I would see how much nutrition I could pack into a pop. This recipe was inspired by a friend who obviously was thinking along similar lines. 

1 very ripe banana

3 tablespoons nut butter (I used one each of tahini, peanut butter and almond butter)

2 dates

2 tbsp ground flax

1 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla soy milk)

Put all ingredients in a blender on high until smooth and creamy. Pour into popsicle  molds and freeze.

I was surprised how yummy these icy pops turned out. The only problem I had was getting them out of the mold but I think this a problem with the molds I bought not the pops.