Creamy Spinach with Mung Beans

The fresh and wholesome taste of green mung beans was one of the great revelations to me when I started cooking Indian vegetarian food more than two decades ago. Light, refreshing, nourishing and slightly starchy in flavor, mung beans are a colorful and delicious platform for dry curries using spices, ginger, coconut and vegetables. The fact that they cook up more quickly than most whole beans is a bonus for cooks in a hurry.

This mung bean and spinach curry makes for an easy and light but complete and filling delicious meal when served with fresh cook white rice — or a fragrant saffron rice as I have done here. Cooked with a ginger, tomato, coconut and an assortment of spices, the curry has a complex layering of flavors that belie the simplicity of putting it together. It's a fine curry to serve at any time of year.

How to Freeze Grapes

For those who adore fruit, frozen grapes are quite a treat. Slightly firmer on the outside than the flesh beneath the skin, the grapes maintain a crunchy texture with the added bonus of an extra burst of sweetness and chill — snacking on a few of these is like having a couple of bites of refreshing sorbet on a warm summer day. A snap to prepare, frozen grapes keep well for a good few months in a sealed bag. Not only are frozen grapes a sweet standalone snack or feature on an appetizer plate, they also happen to be a delicious addition to smoothies. Be sure to serve some up in yogurt or a bowl of granola. You many also wish to consider using frozen grapes in recipes calling for frozen berries and fruits.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

Many of us might feel the need for a protein boost from time to time to boost our strength or reserves. Protein bars are an easy and efficient way to get this boost, but if you're like me you might find not only that store-bought protein bars are expensive but that most of them don't really taste all that great — kinda funny, in fact, even if the strange taste is tolerable.