They say eat the rainbow….

……..but maybe they didn’t mean eat the mutant rainbow.  Perhaps we have gone too far…..

Mung Bean Potato Dal (green), Curried Parsnips and Butternut Squash (orange), Carrot Raita (purpley pink)

Its the purple carrots.  The dal and curry would look a-okay, but then you add the lurid pinky-purple of the carrot in yogurt, and it begins to look like a 1980’s version of what a mutant cartoon villian would eat for breakfast.  Yum orange and purple!

Purple Carrot Raita

Despite to questionable color scheme (its phyto nutrients, just keep repeating that), it was a really scrummy Indian-inspired meal using vegetables available during the winter time.  The mung beans from Baer’s Beans were amazing, and plumped up larger and faster than any bean we have seen before.

I soaked mung beans overnight, and they sprouted and expanded to more than twice their size. Now that's what I call fresh!

They were so fresh, they began to sprout after 24 hours in a cold kitchen.  We were shocked when they went from being one cup of dried beans to nearly filling an entire quart mason jar.  Mutant beans!

Mung Bean Potato Dal: (serves 4)

• 1 cup of mung beans, soaked overnight
• 4 small potatoes, chopped
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tbsp of curry powder
• Bouillon, salt, pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, or 1 ice cube of cilantro

1. Add all ingredients (except cilantro) to pot.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes and mung beans are done and desired texture is achieved (this can be soupy or thick, depending on how long you cook it).
3. Add cilantro and serve.

Mung Bean Potato Dal, Parsnip-Butternut Squash Curry.

Our orange dose for the day come from a surprisingly tasty recipe in Nikki and David’s American Wholefoods Cookbook.  We were a little skeptical at the idea of parsnips in a curry, but the sweetness really worked with the warming curry spices.  It is definitely an easy, warming dish if you have squash already roasted.

Parsnip-Butternut Squash Curry: (serves 4)

• 1 pound of parsnips, washed and chopped
• 1 cup of roasted butternut squash, mashed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp of oil or cooking fat
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 and 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• dash of cayenne
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Saute onion in cooking fat for 5 minutes.
2. Add spices, cook for a minute.
3. Add parsnips, water, squash, and salt.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Cover, simmer for 20 minutes until parsnip is tender and sauce is thick.

Dessert was a repeat of the previous night, using the recipe for Grain Free Bitter Chocolate Cake from Spoonful of Sugar Free as a spring-board for ideas.  Ours, though, was not sugar-free, and from here on, I think some of the cocoa (precious that it is) will be omitted.  We also made cupcakes to stretch the double recipe into three nights of desserty goodness.

More squash cocoa cake, in cupcake form, with Taza chocolate covered cocoa nibs on top!

So, you know how we had one slot left over, that I said would probably go to chocolate?  Yep, it went to chocolate.  More specifically, cocoa from Lake Champlain Chocolates and Taza chocolate covered cocoa nibs.  Well used in my opinion.  They both went into making these lovely things.  Really, you should give them a try, the squash and egg make a delicious soft custardy texture, and the chocolate is delicious rich and strong.

Delicious, moist, airy, and intense when done. Yum!