falafel

falafel....

i am at a loss for words so.....just. here is the recipe.

4 cups chickpeas 

(from my freezer) canned is ok too....but on all the recipes i researched, they said for some reason, that starting with dried beans and cooking them makes a difference.....i did that the other day then put them in my freezer, so that's what i used.....pulse a few times in the processor, then add...

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 or 4 tablespoons flour or bread crumbs

1 teaspoon-ish ground cumin

1 teaspoon-ish ground coriander 

1/2 teaspoon hing (or onion or garlic of some sort)

maybe a half a bunch fresh flat parsley leaves

small hand full fresh cilantro

sprinkle in some red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

mix up in food processor until it's all good and mixed. kinda pasty.

so here is where things can....and did go terribly wrong! i filled my frying pan with an inch or so of oil. i placed little flat balls of my mixture in the oil and within a few minutes they melted into nothing.....so i added a bit more flour...my friend christie thinks the oil wasn't hot enough. could be. but, anyhooo.....it all worked out amazingly!

place in pita with hummus, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, avocado :) and a simple yogurt sauce! (below)

one part tahini

2 parts plain yogurt

fresh lemon juice

salt

enjoy!!!

morning rituals...

Seed toast and a couple cups of coffee

Taking my time to wake up in the morning is my ritual, along with coffee and seed toast! and just let me be honest for a sec here...I am totally confused when I wake up, so taking my time to get to a coherent place in my brain is kind of a requirement. last summer I decided that, for whatever reason, I needed flax seed oil in my life. so I came up with this kick ass morning food!.....well, I think it's kick ass anyway :) 

in a small bowl....

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons flax seeds  (grind them in a coffee grinder. I grind until they are somewhere between coarse and fine. jess, however, likes hers fine. experiment)
1 tablespoon organic flax seed oil
1 teaspoon bragg's liquid amino
1 small dab of your favorite mustard (spicy brown mustard is my favorite, but the yellow stuff is good too)

now just mix up (it will look kind of dry....keep mixing it up. it will be kinda crumbly) and plop it all on a piece of yummy bread....personally i choose the butt end of a loaf of dave's killer bread. it's all seedy and organic and goes really well with my concoction.

you can get really good prices on nutritional yeast and flax seeds in the bulk section at Winco


happy morning :)

Chickpeas!

mmmm....today it's all about beans. because i love them. my friend briton freezes beans in glass mason jars. a freezer full of beans....nice. this is my plan for today. chickpeas. then i'm making this amazingly yummy sandwich spread using the chickpeas, veggies, herbs and spices...

speaking of the freezer, i had to defrost the beast that lives out with my car......holy puddle in my garage! but, at least it is now ready to hold all my beans :)

.....soaked a bunch of dried chickpeas over night that i had in the pantry.

* slowly cook all day in the slow cooker...

* add salt for the last little bit of cooking

* once all soft, drain and rinse the chickpeas and let cool completely.

* fill jars to 1 inch below the top

* put lids on and freeze! 

a happy freezer is a freezer full of beans!

So this delicious sandwich spread i mentioned is supposed to be a fake or vegan version of tunafish....but tunafish is so gross. i once ate a tunafish sandwich in the 6th grade that had been in my backpack for 2 days. i won't go into the details, but i'm pretty sure i almost died. so, i must think up another name for it. 

anyhooo.....

this is my twist on my friend sandra's recipe....and yes it is amazing :)

in a food processor put roughly 2 cups chickpeas and maybe some chopped celery and green or red bell peppers...pulse 3 or 4 times

next add:

a wooden spoon full of veganaise

a squirt of your favorite mustard

splash in some rice vinegar

splash of braggs liquid amino

shake in some celery salt or seeds

a sprinkle of hing (asafoetida powder) or just dice up some onions (sandra likes this the best!)

a teaspoon or so of dill weed

salt and peper to taste

pinch of cayenne or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes

i like to throw in a couple slices of pickle as well, but that's up to you.

now.....make your sandwich! i like to top with tomato, sprouts, lettuce and avocado (because avocado is good on anything and everything :)

summer time means I get to obsess about food :)

lentil soup....with sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado and lime....

summer time. now is the time i get to wake up...NOT GO TO SCHOOOL :) and say to my self over a nice cup o' joe (made by joe...with love) what am i going to make for dinnah? hmmmmmm? today there wasn't much laying around so i opted for good ol' lentil soup.

.....but i jazzed it up a bit. made it fancy. yeah. it's summer.

here's the spiel (sheesh. jess. why can you spell so good? hmmm?)

this is a sloooow cooker recipe...i am very fond of these things.

10 cups of water
1 16 oz bag of dried lentils
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
maybe a titch of thyme and oregano...ok not "maybe", just do it.

veggies! today i added sweet potato, celery, carrots and chopped spinach...you can do any veggies you have around the house. sometimes i don't have any, so i go strait lentils and maybe, if you wanted, a couple cubes of veggie bullion...but totally not necessary.

put all that stuff mentioned above in the slow cooker on low for like 6 or 7 hours
or high for 4-ish hours 

ok. now that the lentils are all soft like butter...

get a little pan, add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and heat it up.

add to oil:
1/2 teaspoon hing.....("asofoetida powder" indian spice found at indian or world markets.....or just onion or garlic...but seriously... the hing has a unique flavor that is delicious and keeps people guessing :)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

fry up the spices and dump into the soup!

add:
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
1 small can of tomato paste

let simmer for a bit...

time to eat!

top with avocado, cilantro, lime, salt and pepper....maybe serve over rice...maybe a scoop of sour cream....or nothing. your choice.

alone in my head. hmm.....make food for the week. make food for the day. stay alive. not think too much. comfortable in my skin. finally. now that it's a little bit wrinkly and soft. happy to redeem or reawaken the little girl who loves textiles wrapped around her to feel pretty. happily watering the weeds to just have them yanked out of their dirt so the tomatoes can be put in. the summer has come and the gears are still in high. just siting in the skin i'm in. noticing my place in the universe. my universe. i love it. my son is a star on my wrist. my jess will be there as a bird. hazel is the moon and leila a tiger....all things in the sky except the tiger. hmmm....aaauuuuuummmmmmmmm the moon is the universe and so is the star... they light the path of the tiger and the bird sits in the sky. amen to my scrambled mind. amen to my scrambled mind.