"This is good, mommy!"

These words are music to my ears! And NO, I wasn't feeding my son chocolate cake, cookies or ice cream. What was this wonderful food, then? Mung beans, broccoli and Quinoa! I went easy on the spices. I am so gung ho about ayurvedic cooking that I can often over-spice and then it is just too much for a 4 year old, even though I've been feeding him Kitchari since he was less than a year old. Kitchari is more of a winter food so we haven't had it in a while. Last night I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store and wanted my family to have a healthy meal and I had all the ingredients on hand. I made sure to go easy on the spices to make sure my munchkin would eat his dinner. The maple syrup was really the clincher though. Once the syrup went on he was all over it and soon was telling me "This is good, mommy!" I think he was surprised that he liked it so much. He ate every last bite and it was a big serving too.

*You will need to go to your local Indian Grocery or go online to purchase split mung dal. It is really hard to find in a regular grocery store.

Kid-friendly Kitchari!

1 cup split mung dal
1 cup quinoa
3 cups chopped broccoli
8 cups water
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cardamon

Top with:
coconut oil (make sure it is a very high quality, extra-virgin, organic one!)
maple syrup (100% pure maple--not Aunt Jemima!)

Directions: Rinse the mung dal then soak in the water for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil then add the remaining ingredients. Bring back to a boil then turn down to a simmer until the beans are tender. Top with extra coconut oil and maple syrup to taste.