Green cooking with malunggay

In 2007, the Department of Agriculture (DA) dubbed malunggay as “the next big thing in Philippine agriculture." Health booster The low maintenance malunggay plant — which is a rich source of iron, ascorbic acid, phosphorus, and calcium — can help control blood pressure, heal swollen joints, prevent diabetes, and strengthen lactating mothers. It is a highly marketable "green" commodity. Malunggay or Moringa leaf originated from the Indian sub-continent and can also be found in South America, Africa, and Asia. It is said that the Philippine variety is one of the best in the world. "Malunggay can save lives, increase incomes, generate millions of jobs, utilize vast tracts of idle agricultural lands, make the Philippines globally competitive, impact local and international market, and help attain socioeconomic equity," explained Alice Ilaga, director of the DA’s Biotechnology Program. Tasty variants Sure enough, malunggay-based or malunggay-enriched products now abound in store shelves. Several food products have been fortified with malunggay including ice cream, bread, pasta sauce, chips, and even polvoron. Not surprisingly, instant noodles, the Pinoys’ favorite quick-fix meal, soon followed suit. There are now a lot of instant noodles infused with malunggay. This is right in tune with the global green trend. People are making an effort to live healthy, which, naturally, includes eating more nutritious food. Instant noodles fortified with malunggay isn’t meant to replace the real thing. It is, however, a good enough supplement when you can’t get honest-to-goodness malunggay. You could also cook regular noodles with some fresh malunggay leaves. Fresh recipes Those who want to incorporate more malunggay into their meals should try out recipes that have a fresh twist. One such recipe is the Malunggay Carrot Juice concocted by Nieva Josefina M. Marcelino and Jonnah Laine V. Toy of Florentino Torres High School for the Oh! My Gulay Contest, which was staged by the DA to encourage Filipinos to cook affordable and nutritious food using local agriculture products. In any case, you can do a lot with malunggay-fortified instant noodles. You can put in chicken slices and other chopped vegetables. It’s a great meal to enjoy when you need to have something healthy real quick. – FVI, GMANews.TV