Moong Dal - a Bean Recipe

I thought I'd share a new bean recipe with you, for those who either like beans, like trying new recipes, or like making new healthy foods. We like making new foods; some turn out better than others, and this one was quite tasty!

None of the spices are too rare; they are all common for Indian cooking and you should be able to find them at some grocery store somewhere. Sorry I cannot specify exactly which stores you could find them at, but I know they are around. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup mung beans (alternate names: green bean, mung, moong, moog dal, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy) that have been rinsed several times then soaked in water overnight.
6 cups fresh baby spinach or chopped spinach
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt or just to taste
1/4 tsp. garam masala

2 TBSP olive oil
3 small onions, chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. hot red pepper powder

Rice, cooked (whatever kind of rice you like)

Instructions:

Cover the soaked mung beans with enough water to cook plus at least an inch higher (you can add more water as it cooks, if needed). Add the spinach, turmeric and salt. Cook until the mung beans get nice and mushy, adding more water if needed. Add the garam masala at the end.

Meanwhile, while the beans cook, saute the onions in the olive oil along with the cumin. Add the hot red pepper powder at the end.

Mix the onions with the bean mixture and serve over rice. It's so good, and is also, by the way, a good source of vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber and protein. Enjoy!

(Important note to [you know who you are] -- do not confuse this with split pea soup just because it looks similar to it, because it tastes a lot different!)