Moringa Recipes
Moringa can be consumed in a variety of ways.
Moringa Tea
Do you have a coffee maker? Just substitute moringa powder for the coffee. Use one tsp of moringa for every cup of water. Spoon it in the coffee filter just like you would coffee. This is a delicious green tea that goes well with snacks, meals or by itself. . Add some lemon peel and a little honey for a stimulating nutritious beverage.
The powder can be used to make traditional sauces as they do in Africa. Powder is also a powerful addition to those blended drinks and shakes that have become popular for health conscious people in the United States and elsewhere. Powder can also be added to soups and vegetable dishes to provide additional sources of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
The fresh leaves make a tasty addition to any salad and are a suitable substitute for any spinach dish. Leaves can be mixed with other vegetables to make goulash or vegetarian casseroles. Fresh leaves are available from your local Asian or Philippine markets. Moringa will be known as Malunggay or Murunga and Malamgal at the Asian markets so that is what you should ask for. You may have find some at Indian markets as well where it is called Sevga, Drumstick or Sajna. Moringa has over 150 names around the world so keep this fact in mind when looking for the fresh leaf. You might want to read Moringa-Nature’s Medicine Cabinet by Sanford Holst to get the list of names for Moringa from around the world.
The dried leaves make a superb green tea. You may use the dried leaves as a substitute for dried parsley.
Here are some recipes that are particularly nutritious and delicious and should become a part of your culinary repertoire.
This recipe comes courtesy of Lowell Fuglie, the director of operations for the Church World Service’s hunger relief organization in Senegal, Africa. Mr. Fuglie is a world authority on the cultivation and use of Moringa. This recipe is based on a traditional Senegalese Moringa leaf sauce called Mboum.
5 Tablespoons of Moringa leaf powder
1 pound of smoked or dried fish, meat or chicken
¼ cup of peanut butter
5 Tablespoons of oil, (vegetable, olive, canola or palm oil)
1 Medium onion - chopped
1 quart of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper or pepper flakes to taste
Add peanut butter and water and bring to a boil. Add the fish or meat and cook for 20 minutes on medium heat. Add oil and chopped onion. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper and red pepper to taste. Serve over rice or couscous.
Fresh Moringa Leaf, Beans and Meat
This recipe comes courtesy of Jennifer Concepcion of the Philippines. Use this as a tasty side dish with any compatible entrée. With seafood entrees, use shrimp, with meat entrees use pork, beef or chicken for the meat portion of this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup of beans, mongo beans are used in the Philippines but you may substitute, baby limas, red beans or pintos.
2-3 cups of water
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small onion
1 medium tomato
½ cup of shrimp, pork, chicken or beef
1 cup fresh Moringa leaves
1 Tbsp of fish sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste.
Boil the beans until tender. While the beans are boiling, sauté the onions, garlic and tomato. When beans are tender add the tomato, onion, garlic to the beans. Strip the Moringa leaves from the stems, remove any excess stems from the leaves. Add fish sauce. Add fresh Moringa leaves. Salt and pepper to taste.
This is the preferred side dish for Adobo Chicken
Rod’s Soufflé
This is an excellent side dish for most any entrée. It’s quick and easy
16 oz of frozen Moringa, (malunggay, in the Philippine markets) You can buy the frozen Moringa in 8 oz packages so you will need two packages.
1 cup of Sour Cream
1 Package of Lipton’s Dried Onion Soup Mix (or portion thereof, to taste)
Thaw the moringa and squeeze out excess water. Remove any excess stems. Mix with sour cream and the soup mix. Add more sour cream if you like a creamier consistency. Lightly oil a baking dish and use spatula to put mixture in the dish. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Serves four. You’ll sleep like a baby.
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