Sprouted Moong Salad

Recipe Swap 3

   Food Bloggers Recipe Swap is a group of food bloggers who prepare a dish from a blogger's blog. The group initiator Amber pairs up the participants. We then decide what we want to make from our partner's blog. Usually we add a slight twist of our own or cook it the way we like but the main ingredients remain the same. At the end of the month we share our recipe link on the FB page.

   For the month of March, I was paired with a new member Sapana. Though she is new to the group, I've known Sapana for a couple of years through another blogging group. Since I've been following her blog for a couple of  years, I have several of her recipes on my 'to do list'. However, till date haven't made any of them. But as the saying goes better late than never. Before  I go into the recipe that I chose to make from her blog let me introduce to you this lady who is super talented. I simply love her photography skills and how she can make a regular recipe into a healthy one. 

   Let's get to know Sapana who blogs at Cooking With Sapana. Like me she is a vegetarian, therefore her blog is filled with a variety of vegetarian dishes both traditional and International.

Where do you live?
I live in the beautiful city of Waterford, Ireland with my husband and two beautiful daughters.

What made you start a food blog?
I have always loved cooking and was trying new recipes from newspapers and cooking magazines. So about 4 years back, one day my husband asked me to try blogging my recipes to pursue my passion. That time I didn't even know what blogging was.After a bit of googling I started my blog the same day with a first recipe of a salad. To be frank I didn't know that I had to take my own photos and used one from Google. later on when I came to know about plagiarism and all then I replaced them with my own photos.


Who is your favorite chef/chefs?
My favorite chefs are Madhur Jaffery, Nigella Lawson, Tarla Dalal, Paul Hollywood and Anjum Anand.

Which cuisine do you love?
Other than Indian my favourite cuisines to work with are Middle Eastern, Mexican and Indo Chinese.

What are your other hobbies or interests besides cooking?
If I'm not cooking you can see me crocheting and watching Netflix.

You have many healthy recipes. What made you concentrate on healthy recipes?
Recently I started working on some healthy vegan, gluten free, Wholegrain and detox diet recipes. I'm also looking for ideas to create alternate healthy options instead of refined sugars in basic recipes.
Last year my mum got terminally ill and I was devastated with this news. Seeing your loved one in pain is the worst thing in life. I started researching why this happened to her and what could have been done to avoid this for her and other members of the family. After a lot of research I found many reasons and one of it was a healthy diet. that's when I stopped using refined sugar, started juicing, stopped using the MW and non stick cookware. I threw out all the chemicals and cosmetics from my house. We are now using only healthy and naturally organic ingredients. For example, instead of using lotions, we use only coconut oil and lavender essential oil. My brother and I developed a carb free, sugar free, ketogenic diet for my mum which is really helping her to fight the side effects of her treatment.

  Before I go into the choice of my recipe from Savanna's blog, I've a confession to make. When Amber paired us up, I don't know why I thought that Jagruti is my partner. So I prepared a dish from her blog and was waiting for her to reply to some my questions.  In the meantime I see a post by Nayna and as I was reading her post I read the name Jagruti. I slapped my forehead and called myself stupid stupid stupid! I go back to the FB page and scroll down to see who my partner was! It's Sapana and not Jagruti. So her recipe is in the draft for a while and I began my search on my Pinterest board for Sapana's recipes. Sapana so sorry for the delay in posting this recipe.  

   I initially wanted to make a dessert from her blog (sweet couscous with apple cinnamon and chia seeds) but then hubby insisted on some salad for the evening meal as its just too hot to have anything else. Back to the Pinterest board where I save all the recipes I want to try. I found her Sprouted Moong Salad on the board and immediately thought of making it. Luckily I had some bean sprouts in the fridge (sprouted them to eat a handful every day for breakfast, raw not cooked!) The salad turned out super delicious and felt so good eating a healthy dinner. I toasted some wholewheat bread and we topped it with the salad. Perfect dinner. I added pineapple pieces as I love fruit in my salads and cucumber. I didn't add green chilis as the ones I have right now are way too hot. I used chili flakes instead. 

SPROUTED MOONG SALAD
Serves 4
Recipe source: Cooking With Sapana

2 cups of sprouted moong (green grams)
1 small onion, finely diced
8-10 cherry tomatoes (sliced) or use 1 big tomato finely chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and diced
⅓ cup chopped pineapple
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 tsp chaat masala powder
 ½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp Himalayan pink salt

1. Steam the bean sprouts for 4-5 minutes. They should not be overcooked.
2. Let the bean sprouts cool down a bit.
3. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl.
4. Mix well, but gently.
5. Serve the salad one its own, with some toast or with a healthy soup.

Tips:

• To sprout beans at home soak overnight about a cup or so in warm water. Next day drain out the water. Wash the beans under running water. If you live in a cold place then you should place the beans in a muslin cloth or a thin cotton cloth and tie it up. Place the beans in the cloth over a colander. Put the colander on top of a plate in which there is some water. Place this in a warm place like your geyser/boiler cupboard or the oven. In the evening wash the beans again and put them back in the cloth. Next day you will get sprouted beans.
• If you live in a hot climate like I do then you should not tie the beans in a cloth as they will become sticky. Place the beans in a small colander. Place the colander over some water in a plate or tray. Cover the beans with a damp cloth. Place a flat lid that fits into the colander. Place sometime heavy on the lid like a pestle and mortar or a brick or stone. In the evening wash the beans, dampen the cloth again and repeat putting the lid and something heavy. Next day the beans will have sprouted. 
• Add any salad vegetables and fruits of your choice.

You may want to check out my previous Swap Recipes:

Pumpkin Banana Bread Muffins

Mango Banana and Mint Sorbet

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