TMZ: Tomatoes, Mung Bean Sprouts and Zucchini

TMZ is one of my little kitchen conjurings which includes tomatoes, sprouted mung beans and zucchini. Many are probably wondering: “What to hell are mung beans?” Well if you have ever purchased spouts to make chop suey and home, you’ve been eating sprouted mung beans, and you probably didn’t even know it. 

Back Story

Practically everything I dream up personally in my kitchen is in order to eat food that is good for me, nutritious and tasty. While this is a stretch, how I came across the idea for using sprouts in my cooking, came about due to the fact that many friends in Ukraine were constantly posting pictures of their mushroom foraging outings. They were making me jealous and I decided to go to a site I had bookmarked many years ago. It was site where you could purchase your own DIY home mushroom kit. 

While poking around the site I came across a number of different videos about sprouting. Thus the exploratory adventure began to learn more about how to sprout seeds for human consumption, and the benefits of eating sprouts. I will include more about that in a subsequent post. Within this recipe I will also include the ingredients for a spice mix I like to use in a number of different ways. Primarily I use to dredge some of the meats I like to prepare either on top of the stove in my cast iron pan, or in the oven. Though I like that mixture and the flavour it provides so I’ve started using in a variety of things I prepare. 

Ingredients

One-half (1/2) teaspoon allspice 

One-half (1/2) teaspoon finely ground black pepper 

One-half (1/2) teaspoon finely ground cumin 

One-half (1/2) teaspoon finely ground turmeric 

 One (1) teaspoon ground flax seed (can be purchased ground, I prefer to grind my own) 

One and half (1 ½) cups of mung bean sprouts 

Two medium sized tomatoes 

Two small zucchini 

Two table spoons, Virgin Olive Oil 

Vessel

One six-inch cast iron frying pan (a personal favourite cooking tool of mine)

Putting it Together

This has to be one of my simplest recipes that can be put together quite quickly, when you have all the ingredients and have prepped them. Slice your tomatoes into pieces, the fluids of the tomatoes add to the overall cooking process. Slice your zucchini into pieces from three to five mm thick. Pour two tables spoons of olive oil into your pan and add all your ingredients to the pan.

 The temperature you cook this meal at is not critical, though you do want to make sure all your ingredients are cooked. You will be able to determine this when you notice that most of your tomatoes have broken down, your bean sprouts have softened up and your zucchini slices have become almost translucent.

It is at this point that I add the spices and mix everything around making cure that all your vegetables are well coated in the mixture. Once this is don let everything simmer a a low temperature with something covering the pan. The reason to do this is to allow the fluids from the vegetables, which are significant in tomatoes and zucchini, to not evaporate into your kitchen, but to condense on the cover and be returned into the cooking process. 

The reason to do this is to allow the fluids from the vegetables, which are significant in tomatoes and zucchini, to not evaporate into your kitchen, but to condense on the cover and be returned into the cooking process. Benefits This dish is low calorie and high in protein and many different nutrients. Recently, during this crazy pandemic and self-isolation, I’ve been revisiting many different books in my library. Particularly, those that can help me better understand the foods I eat.

In one of the books, The Ripple Effect: Sleep Better, Eat Better, Move Better, Think Better, by Dr. Greg Wells I learnt the following. In order to get the most bang per calorie buck I would have to optimize the nutrient-to-calorie ratio in the foods I eat. On the same page I came across an interesting formula: “H = N/C, which translates as health = nutrients per calorie consumed.” This was derived by Dr. Wells from a book by Dr. Joel Furhman entitled Eat to Live. 

Dr. Furhman has developed something he calls the ANDI, which translates to mean: aggregate nutrient density index. While, I haven't used it in the past I will use it as a cheat sheet in making my choice of foods when in doubt, about my food selection.

In a snap shot this is what TMZ looks like. However, please note that this familiar “Nutritional Facts” label and the % Daily Value has been calculated for my personal weight. I weigh 121 kg, so I’m pretty certain if you weigh less, these values will be higher for you personally.

Though we can even dig a lot deeper into what this meal is comprised of using tools available in this day and age on the Internet.  Below, is an extremely detailed nutritional analysis of what I call TMZ. 

Nutrient Mung bean sprouted Zucchini Tomatoes Weight 310.5 g 392 g 246 g Calories 93.15 82.32 44.28 Vitamins Choline 44.7 mg 16.5 mg Folate 189.41 mcg 78.4 mcg 36.9 mcg Folic acid 0 mcg 0 mcg 0 mcg Niacin 2.326 mg 2.764 mg 1.461 mg Pantothenic acid 1.18 mg 1.439 mg Riboflavin 0.385 mg 0.141 mg 0.047 mg Thiamin 0.261 mg 0.165 mg 0.091 mg Vitamin A 65.2 IU 1920.8 IU Vitamin A, RAE 3.1 mcg 98 mcg 103.32 mcg Carotene, alpha 18.63 mcg 248.46 mcg Carotene, beta 18.63 mcg 1104.54 mcg Cryptoxanthin, beta 18.63 mcg 0 mcg Lutein + zeaxanthin 0 mcg 302.58 mcg Lycopene 0 mcg 6329.58 mcg Vitamin B12 0 mcg 0 mcg 0 mcg Vitamin B12, added 0 mcg 0 mcg Vitamin B6 0.273 mg 0.557 mg 0.197 mg Vitamin C 41 mg 133.7 mg 33.7 mg Vitamin D 0 mcg 0 mcg 0 mcg Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.31 mg 1.33 mg Vitamin E, added 0 mg 0 mg Vitamin K 102.5 mcg 19.4 mcg Minerals Calcium, Ca 40.37 mg 82.32 mg 24.6 mg Copper, Cu 0.509 mg 0.38 mg 0.145 mg Iron, Fe 2.83 mg 3.1 mg 0.66 mg Magnesium, Mg 65.2 mg 129.36 mg 27.06 mg Manganese, Mn 0.584 mg 0.768 mg Phosphorus, P 167.67 mg 364.56 mg 59.04 mg Potassium, K 462.64 mg 1799.28 mg 583.02 mg Selenium, Se 1.9 mcg 1.2 mcg 0 mcg Sodium, Na 18.63 mg 11.76 mg 12.3 mg Zinc, Zn 1.27 mg 3.25 mg 0.42 mg Proteins Protein 9.44 g 10.62 g 2.16 g Alanine 0.307 g 0.557 g Arginine 0.612 g 0.451 g Aspartic acid 1.487 g 1.301 g Cystine 0.053 g 0.114 g Glutamic acid 0.5 g 1.141 g Glycine 0.196 g 0.404 g Histidine 0.217 g 0.231 g Isoleucine 0.41 g 0.384 g Leucine 0.543 g 0.623 g Lysine 0.515 g 0.592 g Methionine 0.106 g 0.153 g Phenylalanine 0.363 g 0.376 g Proline 0.333 g Serine 0.102 g 0.435 g Threonine 0.242 g 0.259 g Tryptophan 0.115 g 0.094 g Tyrosine 0.161 g 0.286 g Valine 0.404 g 0.482 g Fats Fat 0.56 g 1.57 g 0.49 g Saturated fatty acids 0.143 g 0.325 g 0.069 g Butanoic acid 0 g 0 g Decanoic acid 0 g 0 g Dodecanoic acid 0 g 0.012 g 0 g Hexadecanoic acid 0.099 g 0.278 g 0.049 g Hexanoic acid 0 g 0 g Octadecanoic acid 0.025 g 0.035 g 0.02 g Octanoic acid 0 g 0 g Tetradecanoic acid 0 g 0 g Monounsaturated fatty acids 0.068 g 0.122 g 0.076 g Docosenoic acid 0 g 0 g Eicosenoic acid 0 g 0 g Hexadecenoic acid 0 g 0.012 g 0.002 g Octadecenoic acid 0.068 g 0.114 g 0.074 g Polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.18 g 0.662 g 0.204 g Eicosatetraenoic acid 0 g 0 g Octadecadienoic acid 0.13 g 0.247 g 0.197 g Octadecatetraenoic acid 0 g 0 g Octadecatrienoic acid 0.05 g 0.416 g 0.007 g Fatty acids, total trans 0 g 0 g Carbohydrates Carbohydrate 18.44 g 12.19 g 9.57 g Fiber 5.6 g 4.3 g 3 g Sugars 12.82 g 6.47 g Sterols Cholesterol 0 mg 0 mg 0 mg Phytosterols 46.58 mg Other Alcohol, ethyl 0 g 0 g Ash 1.37 g 4.12 g Caffeine 0 mg 0 mg Docosahexaenoic n-3 acid (DHA) 0 g 0 g Docosapentaenoic n-3 acid (DPA) 0 g 0 g Eicosapentaenoic n-3 acid (EPA) 0 g 0 g Theobromine 0 mg 0 mg Tocopherol, alpha 0.31 mg 1.33 mg Vitamin D (D2 + D3), International Units 0 IU 0 IU Water 280.69 g 363.5 g 232.52 g

So now you have the complete run down on what is in TMZ. My post on sprouting will be out shortly.

Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant