Simple, Healthy, Different: Greens and Coconut Sauce

This dish is super easy to prepare with only a few ingredients, and is an excellent way to shake up any dinner routine in a rut.  It has a mild but amazing flavor and is absolutely packed with nutrition.  Punky ate three heaping bowls.  I don’t even know where she fit it!

I really like the change of pace this dish provides.  While we love a good curry dish and tend to select dishes from a variety of different cultures, I have never really used coconut milk based sauces before – which is very odd since whenever we go to my favorite Thai place, I always order dishes with coconut milk sauces.

Even with as much as I like variety, sometimes I feel like we get in a bit of a dinner rut.  This is the perfect change of pace to remedy that!

Beans and Greens with Coconut Sauce

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dried mung beans, prepared
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
2 chili peppers, minced (fresh prefered, I used dried because we have TONS of them)
2 tsp ground ginger (or 2 tbsps fresh, finely minced)
2 tbsps veggie broth or grapeseed oil for sautéing
4 oz (or one can) coconut milk
1 tbsp vegan soy sauce
3 cups greens, chopped (swiss chard, kale, collards, etc.)

Directions:
1  Prepare your dried beans.  There are many methods – soaking overnight, soaking then boiling, boiling then letting them sit.  I love my pressure cooker for this.  Our mung beans went from dried to ready to use in under 10 minutes, though I did make rather a mess.  I’m still getting used to the pressure cooker and “venting.”

2.  Chop your onions and mince your garlic first, allowing them to sit for at least 5 minutes before cooking.  This maximizes their nutritional benefit.

3.  Sautee the onion in oil or broth until it becomes translucent.

4.  Add the garlic, chilis, and ginger.  Continue to sautee for 3 – 5 more minutes.

5.  Add the coconut milk and simmer for 3 – 5 minutes.

6.  Stir in the beans and mix well, keeping the pot on the heat the entire time.

7.  Stir in your soy sauce and greens and cook until the greens begin to wilt.

Serve immediately.  This dish can be served over whole grain/brown basmati or jasmine rice, but it is hearty enough to stand up on its own, which is how we had it.

The picture really doesn’t do it justice, but that’s probably just my lack of photography skill.  I used kale this time around because we had a really lovely bunch from the Farmer’s Market, but I think I’ll try to use swiss chard next time.

This was a really excellent change of pace, and a great experience for my first time using coconut milk.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be making this dish, and others like it, a lot more in the future.

Let me know if you try it!  I’d love to know what you think.