Quinoa on a bed of Mung Bean Cream and Asparagus in Pesto Sauce

This is a lovely summer dish, light and very nutritious! Remember that the mung beans need to soak a night before cooking them.

Cook the quinoa with a pinch of salt. Once it's absorbed all the water and you've turned the gas off, stir a bit of olive oil in with it.

Mung Bean Cream

Ingredients:

- mung beans: you'll have to decide the quantity yourselves because I didn't even look how much I poured in: cook them until they are soft and all the water has been absorbed (don't cook them in too much water, because it's a pity to have to throw out all the "good stuff").

- 6cm piece of leek

- olive oil

- salt

- chilli powder

- 1 tsp of ginger powder

- 1 tsp of turmeric powder

- 2 tsp of fennel powder

- 1 big sage leaf

- a handful of fresh coriander leaves

- a bit of water

Stir fry the leek in the olive oil until it's soft, and add the big sage leaf in as well (you can leave it whole). Add the mung beans and a bit of water - here's the thing: you don't want to add too much water because we're not making mung bean soup. If the consistency is too dense, you're always in time to add more water. I started off with too much water, and it then meant me standing there for ages waiting for it to absorb....Add the spices, and then woozz it up with a food processor (the hand-held ones...no harm if you don't have one...well, just use what you've got). Once it's cooled down a bit and you're close to serving time, add the handful of fresh coriander leaves and woozz the whole thing up again. Voilà! Add some fresh olive oil and you are done!

Asparagus in Pesto Sauce:

Cut the asparagus stems into rounds, and then steam: don't overcook! It's nice to keep them a little crunchy.

Prepare the Pesto Sauce using fresh basil, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a few pine nuts: woozz up the ingredients in a little food processor.

Mix the asparagus and pesto together.

Display the dish beautifully, as though you were serving a king, and bon appetit!