Mung Bean Sprout & Chickpea Tostada with Cilantro Chimichurri

If you are anything like me, all those news articles with health claims grab your attention, and no matter what, you have to click that link. If I lost an ounce of weight for every article I read , I'd be waif thin.So I have to remind myself, reading these articles dont make you healthy, incorporating the habits do! I am a bit hard on myself about these things, I think I need to embrace my 80/20 rule of eating well/healthy 80% of the time and then allowing the slip ups about 20% of the time.

So, when I came across THIS (10 Reasons to Love Sprouts) article about sprouting beans, ofcourse I read it. I even bookmarked it. But it reminded me of something I already knew, that sprouts are protein power houses. I've come to realize , besides alfa alfa sprouts, the geneal public is not aware of sprouts made from different beans. However, if you are Indian or familiar with an Indian household/kitchen, sprouts are not new to you.
I decided almost right away that I was going to sprout some mung beans. (if you are not familiar with these, check Wiki Here. I always have these beans on hand but I haven't sprouted them for a while.
The sprouting process is very easy, but a little lengthy. You could sprout practically any beans, so don't restrict yourself to mung beans. For the most part, the sprouting process is the same, the time taken for the beans to sprout may vary slightly, but you can just watch them. Any bean sprout can be subsituted here (not alfa alfa though, you need something firmer and heartier).
When I decided to make the tostada, I knew the components were going to be bean sprouts and roasted chickpeas with grilled corn and chimichurri. For color and more texture (and because I've also been loading up on Red Cabbage) the simple salad made a great addition.
The fried tortilla in the tostada is well balanced with all the (almost) oil free toppings. This tostada is the perfect representation of my eating habits, mostly good, and a little bad! A lot like everything about me!

The chimichurri adds the perfect dept of flavor to the otherwise light toppings. I can already think of so many other things I want to make with it. (Chimichurri potato pizza!).

Onto the recipe now

SPROUTING

- Soak 1 cup of mung beans in luke warm water overnight.
- Next morning, drain the water from the beans and tie them in a damp cheese cloth - just like you would if you were hanging yogurt. Ensure cheese cloth stays damp throughout the day.
- Alternately, in the same bowl as you soaked the beans, drain them and cover with a couple of DAMP paper towels. Make sure you keep sprinkling water over the paper towel during the day to ensure there is enough moisture for the beans to sprout. This is very important.
- You can also find some sprouting jars in the market, or with a mason jar, you could make your own. I've never tried it myself. (google "sprouting jars" for more information)
- The sprouting process will take about 12-18 hours. After this point, if you are not using them right away, please store them in the refrigerator, they will stay for 3-5 days.

TOSTADA

INGREDIENTS

- 2-3 Flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup Canola oil
- 1/2 cup Mung Bean sprouts
- 1/2 red Onion
- 1/2 Cucumber
-  Green/Red/Yellow peppers (optional)
- 1/4 cup cooked Chickpeas (from a can is fine)
- 1 ear of corn
- 1/4 Red Cabbage
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp cayenne or chilli powder
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil for salads

INSTRUCTIONS

- First toss all your salads so they are ready to go when you fry the tortilla
- Microwave Mung beans for 30-45 seconds. This will take the raw crunch out of the beans. I don't particularly like it. If you do, ofcourse, skip this step. If this is your first time make sprouts, I recommend nuking them.
- Let sprouts cool, add red onions, cucumber and peppers (if using)
- Add salt, pepper and 1/2 lime juice and let it sit.
- Using a mandoline, slice red cabbage thinly. Alternately, slice thinly using knife.
- Toss with some lime juice and salt/pepper, and let sit.
- Drain chickpeas and wash under cold water.
- In a pan, add 1 tbsp of oil and once hot, add chickpeas and roast for 2-3 mins till they turn brown slightly.
Drain on a paper towel and add salt & peppper
- Peel the husk and silk back on the ear of corn and roast it on an open flame (like so) or grill on an outdoor grill. While the corn is grilling, in a small plate, mix salt and red chilli powder. Once corn is grilled, take it off the flame, and using half a lime, smear the red chilli/salt mix on the corn. (at this point, you could just be eating this!). With a knife cut all the corn off the cob into a small bowl.
- In a broad based pan, add 1/2 cup of Canola oil and wait till its hot enough for frying. Throw in a small piece of tortilla, if it sizzles and floats to the top, the oil is hot enough for frying.
- Add a whole tortilla and using a pair of tongs, press it down into the oil so it fries on both sides. Turn it over once the under side is slightly brown. Let both sides fry to light brown, then drain on paper towel.

CHIMICHURRI

INGREDIENTS

- 1 bunch Cilantro
- 3-4 cloves of Garlic
- 1/4 Onion (red of yellow)
- 1 green chilli/jalapeno (optional)
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 2-3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil.

In a blender, combine all ingredients, except oil, add salt and pepper to taste and then stir in 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

ASSEMBLY
- On a fried tortilla, pile high mung bean sprout salad, add roasted chickpeas, red cabbage salad and grilled corn.
- Dress with Chimichurri and add any cheese of your choice. I deliberately left the cheese out, I just didnt feel the need for it.

I took this meal to the beach park with me while I enjoyed watching my 2.5 year old learn to pedal his trike. How I love weekends!