These are foods that have been shared and enjoyed at The Place at Center.
Green Mung Soup
Benefits
In Ayureda, Mung Bean Soup has a magical and powerful effect! It helps to balance all 3 doshas. Its spices are part of the medicinal quality of this delicious and nourishing soup. When combined with certain sharp and penetrating herbs, the blocks created by Aam (toxic mucus that lodges in the body over time due to poor diet, lack of exercise and wrong lifestyle) are broken and flushed out of the body. In the same way that a gun is able to shoot through objects and break them, some herbs and spices have this effect, especially when combined with the mung bean.
Ingredients
1 cup whole Mung beans—soaked overnight
2 cups water +1 tsp salt to cook beans in pressure cooker
2 cups water -–to achieve soup
1 TBS sunflower oil or ghee
½ tsp Mustard seeds*
pinch Hing (known as Asafoetida in the West)*
1 bay leaf
½ tsp tumeric
1 tsp mixed cumin and coriander powder*
1 ½ tsp ginger root chopped
½ tsp garlic chopped
2 tsps salt
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 tsp raw sugar cane (optional)
1 pinch garam masala
*you can double the amount of these spices if you want more taste.
Soak the mung beans overnight in water. Clean and finely grind ginger and garlic. Drain the mung beans, wash them two times and cook in a pressure cooker with the indicated amount of water until tender. It takes around 25 minutes, according to your pressure cooker. (The beans have to be broken.) If you use a regular pot, it will take 40-45 minutes for the beans to be fully cooked. Heat the oil or ghee in a large deep saucepan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pop, add hing, bay leaf, tumeric, cumin, coriander, ginger and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well and do not allow to burn. Place the cooked beans with the fresh water and remaining ingredients into the saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer for a few minutes more. Enjoy!
Mung Bean Soup Cure
It is beneficial to fast on Mung Bean Soup. One can start, depending on the amount of Aam in the body, with 3-5 days of fasting only on Mung Bean Soup. Then add cooked vegetables like pumpkins and squashes, and leafy greens for two days. Finally, add rice for the next two days. And then return to your normal diet. You can also do mung soup fasting for half a day if you feel you have eaten something very heavy. Your next meal could be mung bean soup and even that is beneficial to give the body a rest and eliminate unwanted toxins.
This recipe came to me via the daughter of the owners of the White Dove Tea Room on N. Salina St. Syracuse.
Susan’s Tabbouleh
Ingredients
1/2 cup dry bulgur wheat
1 cup boiling purified water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 Tblsp minced fresh spearmint
! Tblsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cups minced fresh parsley
3/4 cup chopped scallions
3 large tomatoes, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Serves 6
Put bulgur in a large bowl, and pour the boiling water over it. Let soak at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
When the grain has absorbed all the water, mix the lemon juice, mint,salt, and pepper in a separate bowl and slowly stir in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the bulgur wheat and mix with a large spoon until all the grains are coated. Stir in all remaining ingredients until they are thoroughly distributed throughout the grain. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours before servicing, or overnight.
Nutritional information (per serving)
154 calories
9.5g fat
1.3g Sat fat
3.1gprotein
17.1g carb
0 choles
4.9g fiber
Susan’s Coconut Rice
Cook jasmine rice with coconut milk in place of water. Sprinkle with unsweetened coconut.
Ayurveda Tea to Boost the Immune System
This recipe is borrowed from Jibu Joseph, general manager of Chimundi Hill Palace Ayurveda Reso
Add together:
4 cups of water
1 tsp dry ginger powder,
1 tsp pepper powder,
basil leaves and
jaggary to taste (unrefined cane sugar
Boil for 15 minutes.
Your spicy ayurveda tea is ready for boosting up your immune system.
Exotic Spice Cookies with Ginger, Cardamom and Rose Water
Recipe courtesy Camilla Saulsbury, Nacogdoches, TX
about 2 1/2 dozen cookie
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon rosewater
3/4 cup turbinado (raw) sugar, for rolling
Directions
Whisk the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, pepper and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Mix in the crystallized ginger. Set aside momentarily.
In a large bowl beat the brown sugar, butter and shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy (do not overbeat-it will add too much air). Add the egg, honey and rosewater and beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, mixing until just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray 2 cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the turbinado sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 to 3 inches apart.
Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 11 to 13 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely.