baddass Split chickpeas***

So, these amazing split chickpea are super easy to cook up for a quick dinner. Throw a pot of brown basmati or brown jasmine rice on to cook at the same time, and you will be delighted. I will do a half-and-half bowl of rice and chickpeas, and lay a strip of roasted and salted pumpkin seeds down the centre for fun, taste, and texture.

equipment needed:

measuring cups
measuring spoon
sieve
pot
spoon
running water


ingredients:

3 cups split chickpeas (rinsed, not cooked)

1 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp mesquite powder
3 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp coconut manna

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp coconut oil

6 cups water (I use boiling water)


directions:

1. rinse your split chickpeas well
2. put the chickpeas in a pot or pan with all the other ingredients
3. cook until the water is absorbed. Leave a little extra liquid, it's nice that way, and it does thicken up  a lot

** Lentil Vegetable Crockpot -- vegan, whole food, delicious

The smell of this dish while cooking is out of this world. I'm such a sucker for the combination of cumin and paprika. I adore lentils. This is wonderful with brown basmati, or by itself. Huge hit with everyone. Simple, comforting, unpretentious food that cooks itself while you do something else.

equipment needed:

6 quart crockpot
knife
cutting board
sieve for rinsing lentils
measuring cups
measuring spoons



ingredients:

1 onion, chopped ( 1  cup)
2 cups chopped green cabbage
3 cups rinsed green lentils, not cooked

1/2 cup sliced dried mushrooms

2 cups chopped celery (I use the hearts for this)
2 cups diced carrot
2 cups diced asian sweet potato

4 tsp sea salt
black pepper
2 tbsp marjoram
2 tsp paprika (sweet)
2 tsp ground cumin)

1/2 cup dried apricots -- sliced

8 cups boiling water


set crockpot for 5 hours on high

savoury chickpea flour biscuits -- vegan, gluten free, nut free, grain free, delicious crackers

I have a thing for spice. Not super hot, but funky kind of savoury spices -- a glorious combo of paprika, cumin, coriander, chipotle, sea salt, and black pepper. For me, it's entirely delectable. I like it with lentils, I like it with these crackers. So good. If you have a taste for chili powder, harissa, or cumin goodness, these might be for you. Easy to make, and good for you. Makes up two full trays of biscuits.

equipment needed:

rolling pin
baking sheets
silicone mats or parchment paper
bowl
spoon
seed grinder



ingredients:

1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup ground sunflower seeds
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup ground chia
1/2 cup coconut flour


1 tsp sea salt (heaping tsp)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp paprika,
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp chipotle


1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup water + 2 tbsp water



sea salt and black pepper to sprinkle on top

1. combine ingredients
2. roll out in 2 pieces on silicone mats
3. score into squares
4. place the silicone mats onto baking sheets
4. sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper
5. bake at 345 for 30 minutes

Lumahai's Carrot-Green Soup with a secret ingredient **

My six year old thought we should reserve all the carrot tops from the bunches we bought today and create a soup out of it. I suggested that pureed soup, thick and creamy, might work. He recommended we start with an onion. I suggested the leafy bits of celery hearts we have would add a nice dimension to the soup, and added that I thought perhaps some of our green cabbage, white sweet potatoes, and split indian yellow peas would give us the body and creaminess we wanted, while giving us enough sweetness to offset the bitterness of the carrot greens in a pleasing way.

This is what we came up with, together. I adore cooking with my son. I adore cooking. This was grand. I love his recipe ideas!!

I taught him the correct way to hold and use a gigantic chef's knife shortly after he turned six and I figured his hands were both big and strong enough to start handling this instrument under supervision. (I've also taught him out to cut bread with a bread knife.)

Today, he did most of the chopping of and adding of the ingredients to the pot.

Anyway, I think this soup is delicious, and I love the flavour. Cumin and carrot greens -- who knew??

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 large cooking onion, diced (yellow kind)

2 cups chopped green cabbage

1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup split yellow indian peas, very well rinsed
2 cups diced sweet potato

3 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cumin

10 cups boiling water

black pepper


3 cups carrot-greens, washed and chopped (mostly the frondly bits, removing the toughest parts of the stems)

2 tbsp marjoram


directions:

1. saute/sweat/cook down the cabbage and the onion with some of the sea salt -- we let ours get a tiny bit brown, to be honest -- 5 or 10 minutes, not long
2. layer in the celery, split peas, sweet potato
3. sprinkle on the salt and cumin
4. pour on the water
5. cover and let simmer for 40 minutes
6. add the carrot greens
7. simmer for 5 minutes
8. take off the heat
9. puree with a hand blender, and add salt and pepper to taste

** we found a wild carrot in our garden, and added the carrot, sans greens, whole to the pot to simmer for the  cooking time, and then removed before pureeing

Vegan Sausages, the party version

Once in a while my son asks me to buy sausages. Then he won't eat them. I think they are often either too bland or too spicy. These are a nice balance of flavour with a pleasant, toothsome texture. I made 'em small this time -- like cocktail sausages, I guess. The process is simple, the ingredients are wholesome, and the result packs a vegan protein one-two punch. Not having an actually sausage skin to stuff this into isn't really a problem as the dough will hold its shape nicely. The only fiddly bit is forming the dough into a whole big bunch of small little sausages. Can be cooked ahead then heated up when needed on the day!!

ingredients:


1 cup cooked moong dal (cooked to a porridge)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion
2 tbsp sun dried tomato
2 tbsp hemp hearts

2 tbsp sweet potato flour
1  cup vital wheat gluten

3/4 tsp sea salt
 1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano

1. puree the lentils, water, coconut oil, onion, , nutritional yeast, sea salt, and other seasonings
2. in a separate bowl, stir together the gluten flour and the pureed mixture gently with a spoon
3. shape into sausages
4. steam in a covered casserole for 45 minutes in an 345 oven

Socca again -- this time to go with the green curry

ingredients:

2 cups hot water
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
black pepper
1 tsp fennel seed

1/2 cup ground flax
1 cup chickpea flour


directions:

1. combine and whisk
2. bake on cast iron griddle for 1 hour

The fennel seed in this version makes it a perfect side to the green curry. Yum!

Sweet Potatoes and Lentils, IN the Crockpot!

January settles in around us, and there have been days in which we've reached nearly -30 with the windchill. How does a bowl of hot stew sound? Pretty good to me. Crockpot, do your thing.

Don't get too hung up on exact measurements. If you put in a little more or a little less of a particular vegetable, it won't make much difference. Just enjoy the process, and enjoy the results. I rough cut all the vegetables -- as opposed to dicing with precision -- to get them into the crockpot ssssssssuper fast. Things to do, people to see, you know how it is. Actually, just more play time with my son.

The resulting stew is really everything a stew should be: full bodied, full flavoured, mellow, yummy, comforting, and delicious.



ingredients:


2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup finely chopped onion

2 cups small lentils (green, masoor, dupuy)
1 cup sliced dried mushrooms (crumbled up) (I think they were shiitake or something bigger ...
5 cups water


coarsely chopped:

3 cups sweet potatoes
2 cups diced carrot
2 cups diced celery
300 g spinach diced


3 cups napa cabbage, chopped small

4 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
handfuls fresh herbs -- I threw in some very large sprigs of rosemary and oregano


500 g broccoli florets


directions:

1. turn your crockpot on, and set the timer if you have one. I think medium heat for 6 hours should do the trick.
2. layer in the ingredients as follows: coconut oil, garlic, onion, mushroom pieces, lentils, celery, sweet potato, carrots, spinach, sea salt, cumin, chili powder, water. Herbs.  Lots of herbs. Now. Later. Herb it up.
3. throw on the nappa cabbage.
4. when the stew is cooked, add in the broccoli and let the residual heat cook it up once you've turned your crock pot off, or cook it for a little while but not too long.
5. think of all the friends you'd like to feed with this yummy stew, and remember how lucky you are to have them.


You can serve this with a loaf of freshly baked bread, or some savoury muffins. Or whilst wearing a hula skirt and a kind of absent-minded smile. Your choice, really. I know what I'd choose, but that's just me.

Actually, we ate our with savoury corn muffins and top hats -- spats optional. No elephants in attendance this time.

Lentils again -- a polenta topper?

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 small onion finely diced
1 tbps ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp sea salt

2 cups small green lentils, uncooked
4 cups water
500 g green peas
2 tbsp marjoram

300 g chopped spinach


directions:

1. saute onion with spices, sea salt, and coconut oil until translucent
2. add the lentils and peas with water and marjoram
3. simmer until water absorbed and lentils are soft
4. add the chopped spinach and cook for 5 minutes

Serve on a bed of polenta with a nice tomato sauce garnish ...

Sauteed Savoury Vegetables -- A change of Pace

In my house one thing is absolutely true: sauteed broccoli is a safe choice. For this reason, we eat sauteed broccoli nearly every night. Broccoli will pretty much always be eaten with gusto, be enjoyed by everyone, be accepted universally, and won't necessitate coaxing, bribery, threats, or hostage situations.

That being said, my little-rock-hard-fossilized-carbonized-but-vegetable-loving heart yearns for ... more. But not more Broccoli. Broccoli ... just doesn't always cut it. Yes folks, I want to branch out.

This week I got some cauliflower at the farmer's market. But the idea of a simple saute of veg in coconut oil with a sprinkle of sea salt just didn't ... move me. Fortunately the farmer's market yielded some other finds: onions, broccoli, and carrots to go with that cauliflower.

The resulting saute with some spices is vegetable dominant flavour wise, but lightly savoury, for something more than just the usual simple and green side dish. I haven't really included quantities, because the spicing should all be to taste, and the vegetables will vary in size. I swear the carrot was the size of my son's arm, and the cauliflower was the size of two normal caulis (so I used half) ... but the ratio doesn't really matter. It will be delicious any way.

ingredients:

extra virgin coconut oil

1 cooking onion, chopped

1 carrot, sliced 

1 cauliflower, into florets

1 broccoli, into florets

ground cumin

ground turmeric

chili powder

sea salt

black pepper

directions:

1. in a large saute pan, saute the onion, carrot, and cauliflower in coconut oil (use enough!)  over low heat with some sea salt, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, and black pepper to taste. I prefer cooking over a low enough heat that I need to keep the lid closed to help steam the veges

2. when the veges have achieved that 'cooked' look, add the broccoli, toss well, and cover to cook for a few minutes.

serve!

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Chickpea, and Pumpkin Seed Saute -- Delicious Autumn Fare

A trip to the farmer's market (the Lesieville market on Sunday morning) netted new carrots as big as a baby's arm, and as chubby and stubby, too. We have our cache of sweet potatoes, the asian kind, from the sweet potato man, both purple and white. In the freezer, divided up into parcels of a few cups each, are cooked chickpeas. So, with what was readily at hand, I became inspired to make dinner. This dish is so simple and took just a few minutes to prepare. The hefty chunks of sweet potato and carrot meant it took a little while to cook, but nothing crazy. It was ready in plenty of time for dinner.

The pumpkin seeds add texture, and the spices blend their flavours beautifully with the ingredients. I'm really into cumin and turmeric right now, even going as far as to load up my breakfast porridge with them the past few days. 

I 'diced' the carrots and sweet potatoes so roughly that the pieces are quite large and chunky, but hey it only took me about 3 minutes to get everything into the pot.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

2 cups roughly chopped sweet potato

2 cups roughly chopped carrot

1 1/2 cups chickpeas, cooked

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

directions:

1. put the coconut oil, spices, and pumpkin seeds in a large skillet, saute pan, or pot and cook lightly for a minute

2. add the carrot, sweet potato, and chickpeas and toss well to combine everything.

3. cover the pan/pot and cook on low heat until carrots are tender. If you need to, you can add a splash of water (if things start sticking).

4. serve with sauteed kale and a salad of tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper.

Hummus -- The Chickpea Variations

When life hands you lemons, make hummus. I'm afraid I took that adage seriously, and made a rather lemony hummus. See, I hate raw garlic. Loathe it. I'm not judging all you raw garlic lovers out there, and I'm not trying to convert you to my anti-raw garlic ways. I know there are many supposed and even demonstrated health benefits from raw garlic, however I would postulate that when it comes to raw onion and raw garlic, I seem to have a bit of a food sensitivity. So, you will find no raw garlic and no raw onion in my recipes. Now, I suppose I could have oven roasted some garlic whilst roasting my sesame seeds. However, I didn't.

What I did instead was use some less traditional flavour enhancers.  Your typical hummus calls for garlic, tahini, lemon, parsley, and salt. I kicked the lemon up a bright and sunshiny notch, added some  cumin, chili powder, sea salt, black pepper, and of course parsley. The result is a flavour that is bright and fresh. I think it's possible to reduce the amount of lemon without sacrificing the integrity of the hummus, but I have to admit I like it like this.

Toasting sesame seeds in a ceramic pan

equipment:

food processor
coffee/seed grinder


ingredients:

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or canned -- rinse well)
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp sesame seeds -- toasted, then finey ground in your seed grinder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

4 tbsp fresh parsley , chopped, and more for garnish

1 cup water


directions:

1. puree the chickpeas with the water and lemon juice until smooth and pleasing
2. add the ground sesame seeds, sea salt, cumin, chili powder
3. smile and do a little dance
4. when fully mixed and adjusted for taste, pulse in the chopped parsley (you don't want the parsley to become completely homogenized. Unless you do, in which case whizz away, my friend.)
5. garnish with parsley

We used this as a dip for carrot medallions, put some on lettuce leaves and rolled them up, and spread it on crackers. It can be thinned down to use as a sauce for steamed broccoli etc. It can stay unrefrigerated during the day, so can be put into a small container and taken for lunch with carrots to dip in it. Some schools prohibit the use of sesame in addition to all nuts, so if this is the case, either substitute raw hearts or ground roasted pumpkin seeds for the sesame seeds, or skip it entirely. I'm going to be so screwed when my son starts school if his lunches can't include nuts of any kind!!

Hummus seems to have great appeal for toddlers, which is convenient for me, as this creamy combination of chickpeas and sesame seeds is high in protein, iron, calcium, fiber, etc. Not to mention high in deliciousness ....

Tomato and Chickpea Soup -- Another Heavenly Winter Soup

We've been on a soup kick lately, and I've got another fabulous soup for you that is chock full of fabulosity.  We all enjoy a hearty winter soup with a slice off a freshly baked loaf of bread, and perhaps a side of grape tomatoes or sauteed broccoli. Or both.

When I give my son soup, I tend to give it to him without much broth. He doesn't seem to enjoy the broth part of soup, although he enjoys the rest of it. Definitely not a candidate for consomme, even if we weren't vegetarians. So you can probably guess that his is the bowl that doesn't have the vegetables submerged. I personally think this broth is fantastic, and judging by the number of slices of bread my husband used to mop his up, I think he thought it was good to the last drop too. (And then he finished the little broth that had been at the bottom of our son's bowl, too.)

This is not a crockpot soup, although you could probably cook it in a crockpot if you are so inclined.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil

5/8 cup red onion, finely chopped (10 tbsp, or 1/2 a cup + 1/2 of a 1/4 cup, in case your 5/8 measure has gone missing ...

1 tbsp garlic, finely minced

3/4 cup carrot, finely diced

3/4 cup celery, finely diced

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 cups sweet potato, diced

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

275 g cocktail, cherry, or grape tomatoes, chopped (approx 1 1/2  or 2 cups)

125 g cauliflower, defrosted if frozen (approx one heaping cup)

3 cups water

1 1/2 tsp marjoram

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

black pepper at will

directions:

1. saute the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery in the coconut oil in a medium or large dutch oven along with 1 tsp sea salt, cumin, and chili powder

2. when the onions and garlic are fully cooked, add the tomatoes, and cook them down just a little

3. add the cauliflower and sweet potato, and the chickpeas, along with the water, and the rest of the seasonings.

4. bring your concoction to a simmer and allow to simmer happily for 1 hour, covered.

The other vegetable ingredients make a very rich tasting, flavourful broth, which provides a wonderful back drop to the tomato.

Samosa Wednesday

My mother-in-law is a lovely woman. I'm very fortunate when it comes to in-laws in general, I must say. However I mention Kathryn specifically because she really really REALLY likes these samosas. Which is great, because I think sometimes my in-laws just think my food is plain old strange. But these samosas are a crowd pleaser. Easy to do up ahead of time and freeze. Delicious quickie dinner when pulled out of the freezer and into the oven. Or great when made fresh and eaten the same day. I've been known to do up double or triple batches to freeze for upcoming parties. They bake up beautifully right from frozen, (along with my version of panzarotto which I will share no doubt at some point) and have never let me down. We've even had our friends Karen and Aidan over for a cooking lesson and dinner to learn how to make them (and of course eat them after, but they didn't need any instruction on that part). These samosas can be made in parts, so it's helpful for when you don't have a large chunk of time all at once. You can mix the dough at one point, then set it aside tightly wrapped. You can make the filling days in advance if you like.


Part 1) dough


ingredients:


1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
2 cups kamut pastry flour (finely ground, whole grain)
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt


3/4 cup filtered water + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar


directions:


1. put the flours, salt, and oil in a food processor. pulse a few times to thoroughly combine.
2. turning the machine on, slowly trickle in the water (and vinegar) until the ingredients clump together and form a dough. If it seems too dry, add more water whilst the processor is on, a teaspoonful at a time. You do not want to add too much water, because then the dough will be very hard to work with. Too little water and the dough will be too crumbly.
3. take the dough out of the food processor, wrap it in parchment and put it in a plastic bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to rest. (you can also make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge. However, it will need to come to room temperature before you can use it.




Part 2) filling


ingredients:


1 clove of garlic, finely minced (1-2 tbsp)
1 onion finely chopped (approx 1 cup)
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric


3 - 3 1/2 cups sweet potato, cut into small pieces
2  cups cauliflower, chopped (or kolrabi, nappa cabbage, celery, carrot, etc)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper


directions:


1. saute the garlic and onion in coconut oil with salt, cumin, and turmeric until cooked through
2. add the sweet potato
3. add the cauliflower
4. add the chickpeas
5. add the salt and black pepper
6. saute until everything is cooked through. Adjust seasoning to your taste as needed


This recipe will make approx 24-36 samosas depending on how big your balls are. When our friends came over for dinner, it fed 4 adults and 2 toddlers with enough left over for lunch the next day.


Part 3) samosas


directions:
1. take the fully rested dough, and divide into 20 g balls using a kitchen scale. Or if you are not as ocd as me, just make ping pong ball size dough balls. Try to make them even. Using the kitchen scale method, I got 35 balls this time. You could make 'em a touch bigger and get 24 balls, but I like this size best. Keep the balls covered by a piece of parchment topped by a damp towel to keep them from drying out. This is very very important!

2. one by one, roll the dough balls into circles, put some filling in the middle, and fold three sizes to make a triangular package. You should probably roll the dough on baking parchment or a mat of your choice. I find this dough easy to work with and somewhat forgiving.

3. place the samosas on a lined baking sheet. You don't need to leave a lot of space between, but you also don't want them to touch.

4. here, you have to make the decision to bake or to freeze. If you elect to freeze your bounty for later, put the baking sheet fully loaded into the freezer. Once the samosas have frozen solid, put them in airtight freezer bags. They can be baked right from frozen in about 40 minutes at 345.
5. If you choose to bake them now, put your baking sheet in the oven at 345 for about 25 or 30 minutes, until they seem adequately brown for your liking. If you want to bake them in a few hours, cover the samosas on the baking sheet with a piece of parchment topped by a damp towel
6. serve with some kind of seasonal salad (chopped tomato) or side vegetable such as oven roasted broccoli. If you like mango chutneys and dipping sauces, go for it. We don't, so we never use em. The secret is adequately seasoning the samosas so they can really stand on their own without sauce.


These samosas are easy. They are admittedly a wee bit time consuming, but being able to break the procedure into steps and/or make them at ahead of time and freeze makes them convenient. I like things I can do in steps at my leisure.


Let me know how they turn out, and what vegetables you decide to use in them. Really, almost anything will work. We've done spinach and ricotta fillings, lentil fillings, sweet fillings such as dates and pecans (and callebaut chocolate chips), raspberries and chocolate, apple and walnut. But the good ol' sweet potato and chickpea is definitely a standby. Squash might be nice ...