Moringa Series: First Recipe

The Edible Moringa Plot (clicking on pic will enlarge)

I bopped around the internet looking for recipes utilizing moringa leaves and had the most success after googling with the term Molunggay rather than Moringa.  Molunggay is the term used in the Philippines.  I saw several variations on a basic soup, so this is what I tried last night for our first trial run:

Chicken and Corn Soup with Molunggay (Moringa) Leaves

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used three)
Corn cut from cob, or frozen kernel corn
Sea salt, black pepper to taste
De-stemmed fresh or frozen Moringa leaves

Chicken breasts, corn and seasoning go into medium pot with enough water to cover about an inch or two.  Bring to boil and then simmer a while, covered, till chicken is cooked through.  Skim off any "scum" from liquid surface, and reduce heat to low.  Add water any time it gets too low, keeping level just above the other ingredients.  Remove chicken breasts and  refrigerate until almost ready to serve.  About ten or fifteen minutes before serving, bring soup back to a low boil and add moringa leaves.  Allow to cook ten or fifteen minutes, till color is still bright but leaves are completely tender.  We added about the same quantity of leaves as there was corn in the pot, but proportions are whatever your preference is.  Add water as needed to keep soup from getting too thick.  Serve hot As Is, or take refrigerated chicken breast portion and slice thinly against the grain and serve in soup bowl with soup poured over in individual portions.  (we use the other leftover chicken for slicing for sandwich meat).

This recipe is very basic.  Improvise as desired.  I had to restrain myself from adding other favorite herbs, peppers, hot sauce, onions, etc, and will play with them another time.  But it was delicious simply with those few ingredients!

The interesting thing was that this is not typically a soup that Jack would consider very hearty.  But I used a lot of moringa in it so we could really get a taste of the flavor.  He loved it and could only eat one bowlful...and wanted nothing else afterwards, which is unusual.  It is very satisfying and filling!  We're pretty happy it's as simple to pick as getting leaves off a tree...