Mung bean vegetable soup = my perfect food

I have made this Mung Bean Soup (Dal) at least 100 times since learning it at a Kundalini Yoga festival in 2018. I make it for every event I produce, from meditation courses to Rage Palace.

This dish is crazy healthy and you'll feel it as soon as you take the first bite. This is inspired by a famous anti-inflammatory recipe from Aruyvedic medicine that is a nutritionally-complete vegan and gluten-free meal.

One cup of boiled mung beans has 14.2 grams of protein, 15.4 grams of fiber, a broad spectrum of minerals like folate, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, copper, potassium, and zinc, as well as a dose of essential vitamins such as B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and selenium. And that's just the nutrients in the mung beans! My Mung Soup also includes fresh turmeric, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, mushrooms, onion, and broccoli.

You’ll find mung beans in the bulk section of any natural food store. Mung beans are sold whole (green) and split (yellow). I prefer whole mung beans because you can also sprout them but split mung beans cook faster.

You can use almost any vegetable in this recipe. Try mushrooms, cooked beets, spinach, leeks, brussel sprouts, squash, or potato. Use up all the odd vegetables in your refrigerator!

Mung Bean Vegetable Soup (Dal) for 8 Servings

• 1 cup / 8 ounces dry Mung Beans (ideally soaked in water overnight)

• 1 head Celery

• 1 large Onion

• 1 pound Broccoli or Cauliflower

• 12 ounces Mushrooms

• 4" Turmeric root or 2 teaspoons Turmeric powder

• 2" Ginger root, peeled

• 2 tablespoons fresh Garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper, ground

• 1/2 cup Ghee or Oil

• 2 teaspoons Cumin seed

• Salt or Bragg's Aminos

• (Optional) Lemon Juice

• (Optional) Parsley or Cilantro
  

Using a blender to process your spices will save you 15 minutes.

The Directions

1. If you have time, soak the mung beans in water for 8-48 hours before you use them. You'll need to change the water every 12 hours.

2. Place drained or dry mung beans into Instant Pot. Fill Instant Pot with water up to 1/2 mark. Pressure cook on high for 1 hour (if soaked) or 90 minutes (if dry).

3. Chop vegetables to bite-size.

4. You can use a blender or food processor to prepare the fresh spices quickly. Place the turmeric root, peeled ginger, peeled garlic, cumin, pepper, and oil in the blender. Process until you get a paste with no visible chunks of roots. Alternatively, you can grate your spices by hand.

5. Add turmeric, ginger, pepper, garlic, ghee, and cumin to the largest pot. Cook on medium-low for 7 minutes. Stir occasionally and think of something nice. Careful not to burn the spices.

6. Add celery and onions. Sprinkle with salt. Cook on medium for 7 minutes.

7. Add mushrooms and cook until water releases.

8. Add broccoli.

9. Release the Instant Pot and remember to cover the release valve with a towel to prevent spray. Add cooked beans and pot water to the vegetables in the large pot. Stir to combine. Toss in some salt or Bragg's Aminos.

10. Cook mixture on low for 15-60 minutes. It is easy for this mixture to stick to the bottom of the pot and burn, so cook on low and stir frequently.

11. Once the mixture turns yellow and tastes yummy, you can turn off the heat.

12. Add salt or Bragg's Aminos to taste. You can also add lemon juice to brighten up the flavors. You can top servings with cilantro, parsley, chili oil, hot sauce, or hemp seeds

I like to serve this soup with brown rice (made with cumin) and spinach salad. If I need extra iron, I'll add roasted beets as a side dish. This dal reheats well for 2-3 days after you make it or you can freeze it into portion sizes. I keep 5 pounds of dried mung beans around in case we can't get fresh supplies in the snowy mountains.

Put this dish into your weekly rotation to feel incredible.