A delicious mung bean salad recipe inspired by Turkish cuisine. This salad is so tasty and healthy, your tastebuds and your body will be thanking you! This delicious salad is high in dietary fiber, plant based protein and anti-oxidants. It is a perfect meal for those warm summer days!
Who does not love a meal that is both delicious and easy to make? This salad recipe is exactly that. It looks so colourful and bright because of the fresh herbs and the beautifully bright pomegranate seeds. Not only does this salad look beautiful, but it also delivers taste-wise. We really can’t get enough of making this. However, we do warn you that this might not be the recipe you want to make for date night because of garlic breath. Come to think about it, this is exactly the recipe you want to make for date night. If he or she still wants to see you after this, you might just have found yourself a lover! And if they don’t, well, then at least you’ve had a delicious meal.
You might not be all that familiar with mung beans. They are not as popular as chickpeas, lentils and a variety of other beans. Nevertheless, we absolutely love them. We always think they look a little bit like Tic Tacs (especially when you haven’t cooked them yet) which is kind of funny because they couldn’t possibly be more different from Tic Tacs. These beautiful little green beans are hearty, delicious and nutritious all at once. They are high in both protein and dietary fiber and they also contain loads of vitamins and minerals, such as iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, vitamin B1 and many more. They are truly a powerhouse of nutrition. I guess you can’t really say the same about Tic Tacs. If you haven’t had mung beans before or weren’t sure how to use them, we strongly encourage you to try them out with this recipe!
All of the ingredients
The key ingredients for this mung bean salad are the pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, walnuts, sumac, pul biber and the fresh herbs. In Turkish and Cypriotic cuisine pul biber (or Aleppo pepper) is a pantry staple. Unlike many other pepper varieties, pul biber is a relatively mild variety of pepper and has a fruity flavour. Therefore, you can use it raw without having to worry. Sumac is made from a specific type of dried berries and it has a tangy citrus-like taste. This adds some extra acidity to the salad. Additionally, the sumac helps to bring out all of the other flavours in this dish.
- Pul biber and sumac – aren’t the most well-known and common spices to use in Western society, but they are essential ingredients in this recipe as this is where a large part of the flavour comes from.
- Mung beans – have a delicious bite and are great to use in salad recipes such as this one.
- Walnuts – give this salad a lovely nutty flavour and add some extra texture.
- Olives – are our salty ingredient (alongside the salt, obviously). You can use whatever type of olives you like or have on hand.
- Tomatoes – add some moisture to bring all of the flavours in the salad together and prevent it from being dry.
- Green onion, fresh parsley and pomegranate – are the finishing touches to this recipe. I’m not much of a baseball fan, but these 3 ingredients are really what smashes it out of the park and make sure this mung bean salad recipe is a home-run.
Nutritional information
As mentioned earlier in this post, this mung bean salad recipe is high in protein and dietary fiber. However, there are also some other nutritional benefits to this recipe which you might want to know about. Pomegranate seeds contain a lot of anti-oxidants, which are important to fight inflammation. They can help to prevent chronic diseases. Walnuts are also high in anti-oxidants and are rich in Alpha Lineolic Acid. This is an omega 3 fatty acid. It has been shown to improve heart health. Red bell peppers are high in vitamin C. Vitamin c is essential for the absorption of iron.
Substitutions and Variations
- Green onion – you can use finely diced red onion instead.
- Pomegranate molasses – swap with equal amount lemon juice (best results with pomegranate molasses though).
- Mung beans – if you do not have mung beans or can’t find them, you can use lentils or chickpeas instead.
FAQ
Turkish inspired mung bean salad
- Total Time: 45
- Yield: 2 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A delicious mung bean salad packed full of flavour and high in protein and dietary fibre. This is an easy, healthy and delicious salad. Great for lunch or dinner and especially perfect during summer!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) bulgur wheatÂ
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) dried mung beans, rinsed
- 1/4 cups (25 grams) walnuts, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp pul biber
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cucumber, core removed and thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup (15 grams) fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 6 olives, roughly chopped
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- In a pot, over medium heat, add water and bring to a boil. Once the water boils, add the rinsed mung beans to the pot and cover with a lid. Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, until the mung beans are cooked through but not falling apart. You still want the beans to have some bite.
- Place a pan on medium heat and add 300 ml of water. Cover and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the bulgur wheat to the pan, give it a stir and cover with a lid. Reduce heat to low and allow to cook through for about 10 minutes.Â
- To a large bowl, add walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses, sumac, half of the pul biber, 1/3 of the garlic and salt. Give it a good stir and let it sit while you work on the next step.
- Place a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the red bell pepper to the pan together with 2/3 of the garlic and half of the pul biber. Sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the mixture from the pan to the bowl and give it a good stir.
- Add the cooked bulgur wheat and mung beans and all of the other remaining ingredients to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Ready to serve!
Notes
Nutritional facts are estimates. If you want to be sure about the nutritional facts, be sure to check your product labels.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Salad
- Cuisine: Middle-Eastern, Turkish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 757kcal
- Sodium: 1,6g
- Fat: 27,6g
- Saturated Fat: 3,8g
- Carbohydrates: 92g
- Fiber: 20,7g
- Protein: 25,2g