Vegan recipe to try at home

This recipe was submitted by Mark Reinfeld of The Blossoming Lotus. Reinfeld is the author of the new e-cookbook “7 Minute Chef,” full of simple and healthful recipes, and available to download from www.7minutechef.com.

This is a recipe for Kitchari, a staple dish in the Indian Ayurvedic healing tradition. During cleanses called pancha karma, royalty would eat this as their only dish for days at a time. It is harmonizing, balancing and available for you to make today.

Kitchari

7 minutes preparation

40 minutes to cook

2 Tbl coconut or safflower oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp fennel or mustard seeds

1 Tbl ginger, minced

1 cup brown rice

1 cup mung beans, rinsed and drained

7 cups filtered water or stock

2 cups assorted vegetables, chopped small

2 tsp coriander or curry powder

2 tsp sea salt or to taste

2 Tbl minced cilantro – optional

With loving preparation

Place oil in a stock pot on medium high heat. Add seeds and ginger and stir constantly until the seeds pop. Add rice, beans and water, reduce heat to medium and cook for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add veggies and spices and cook for 5 minutes or until veggies, beans and rice are cooked through and most of the liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently.

Serving suggestion:

Serve warm or cold as a side dish on top of a bed of organic green salad mix.

Variations:

• It’s a bit unconventional, but adding a bit less salt and adding 1 Tbl of soy sauce imparts a nice flavor to this dish.

• Have fun with adding different types of vegetables.

• You can experiment with different Indian seeds and spices and different types of mung beans. There are various split mung beans available. An Indian grocery will have several different varieties to try. You will need less water for the split mung varieties.

Makes 4-6 servings

• For more information contact: Mark Reinfeld/Vegan Fusion, P.O. Box 1119, Kapa‘a, HI 96746; 888-44LOTUS; www.veganfusion.com