Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados

Posted in Appetizer, Beans/Legumes, Lunch, Main Dish, Raw, Salad, Side-dish by Emma P

Gosh, two weeks into January already! How time flies. How is everyone doing on their goals for the New Year? Hopefully if you have made resolutions then they’re healthy and realistic Smile .

I like to think I eat pretty well most of the time but finding what makes me feel best is definitely a journey. If you’ve been reading you’ll know that I’ve been eschewing sugar and sweeteners of any kind for some time now. I don’t think this will be a permanent change (at least I hope not!) but it has given me the opportunity to assess how much I was eating and realize that, even if the sugar was of the “healthy” kind and a lot of it from fruit, that amount wasn’t working for my body. Some people thrive on lots of fruit but I’ve been feeling better eating more savoury foods and a greater amount of fat and protein.

This was a light lunch I put together and exactly the kind of food I’m enjoying at the moment. I’ve been eating probably an avocado a day for the past week! I don’t know how I didn’t use to like them, they’re just so darn delicious. I’m sure you know they’re overflowing with nutrients too.

Along with chickpeas for a concentrated source of protein and several other flavour-boosting ingredients, this salad is tasty, nourishing and sustaining.

I thought the little “boats” looked cute stuffed with the salad but if you’re not concerned with presentation then you could just add a big scoop on top of your salad or eat it as a dip with your favourite crackers or corn chips.

Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados:

1C Cooked chickpeas (well-cooked) (RAW option: Use sprouted chickpeas)
1 Small clove of garlic, minced (optional)
1/2C Grated carrot
1 Green onion, thinly sliced
1/2t Olive oil
1 1/2T Lime juice
1t Tamari
Dash of cayenne pepper
Black pepper
1 Large OR 2 small avocados
1/4C Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Roughly mash the chickpeas in a bowl using a strong fork. I like to leave about half whole. Stir in garlic through to pepper. Slice the avocado(s) in half, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh from each half with a spoon. Dice the avocado flesh into small cubes. Mash half of the avocado into the chickpea mixture then gently fold in the rest along with the fresh coriander.

Spoon the mixture into the empty avocado skins and serve immediately.

Serves 2

I’m sharing this recipe at the “Clean Start” potluck party over at Pure Ella and the weekly link-up, Wellness Weekends.

What fruit or vegetable are you loving right now?

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29Oct2013

Smoky Black Bean, Potato & Avocado Hash

Posted in Beans/Legumes, Lunch, Main Dish, Mexican, Side-dish by Emma P

I hesitated as to whether I should post this one- it’s hardly a recipe at all really- more of a simple, tasty meal idea. I know a lot of my readers are experienced cooks, more than familiar with cooking vegan, but some of you are also just getting started cooking plant-based meals.

When I went vegan was the first time I really got into cooking. I taught myself to cook using recipes and it took me quite a while to get comfortable with experimenting in the kitchen and adapting other recipes to my own tastes, rather than following them strictly to the letter.

This is one of those basic recipes which you can follow as written, if that’s what you’re happiest doing, or adapt to your own tastes with different vegetables and spices, if you’re more of an experimental cook.

Even for those of us who cook a lot, there are days when inspiration is absent (at least for me!) and it’s nice to have a few no-brainer dishes in your back pocket for these situations.

Just a few humble ingredients, but combined with some spices and heat they turn into something a bit more special.

I made enough for 1 with leftovers for lunch, 2 small-ish servings or to serve a few people as a side-dish (I’m envisaging BBQ baked tofu, corn on the cob-if in season-and a quick green salad…). Or, if you’re following my own advice, make a larger batch and eat it for lunches a few days in a row. It will keep well in the fridge (Just add the avocado fresh to each serving).

Smoky Black Bean, Potato & Avocado Hash:

1 Medium Potato, peeled and diced
1/2T Olive Oil
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
1/2 Red Pepper, diced
1/2 Green Pepper , diced
1/2t Smoked Paprika
1/2t Cumin
1/2t Chili Powder
3/4C (1/2Can) Cooked Black beans
1/4t Liquid Smoke (optional)
1/2 Lime

To serve- at least one of the following: avocado, fresh coriander, chopped green onions, nutritional yeast, cashew sour cream, extra lime

Boil potatoes for 5 minutes, or until almost tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the onion, cook 1-2 minutes, add peppers and cook a further 2 minutes.

Add potatoes, along with spices and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are fairly soft.

Add the beans and continue to cook for a couple of minutes to allow them to warm through and soak up the flavours. Add the liquid smoke (if using) and the juice of half a lime.

Serve with your choice of toppings.

PRINT RECIPE HERE

If you’re into these flavours and are up for something a bit more involved, try my Smoky Black Bean Empanadas with Chipotle Sour Cream!

What’s your cooking style? Rigid recipe follower? Or make-it-up-as-you-go?

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27Oct2013

Miso-Curry Roasted Squash with Crispy Chickpeas & Kale

Posted in Beans/Legumes, Main Dish, Salad by Emma P

Hello all! Hope you’ve had a good weekend wherever you are in the world. Mine included some work, a trip to the farmers’ market, a rainy canal walk with a friend, and, unsurprisingly, some cooking!

Squash is definitely one of my favourite foods at this time of year and I adore seeing all the different varieties piled high at the Farmers’ market. I snapped a quick picture yesterday as they were too pretty not to share.

I managed to resist buying them all and reminded myself that the market will be there next week and the week after and so on…so there will be plenty of time for more squash. I did pick up one though. I don’t actually know what variety it was, I mainly chose it because I liked the colour/markings and because it wasn’t as huge as some of the others. I am cooking just for me most of the time!

I so enjoyed my Thai Tempeh Red Curry last week and still had half of the little jar of paste sitting in my fridge so was keen to do use it in something else.

In this recipe chunky pieces of squash and chickpeas get a generous coating of a blend of red curry paste, miso and olive oil, before heading to the oven for a roasting. When the squash is lovely, soft and sweet and the chickpeas are crisp, they’re mixed up with silky ribbons of kale, massaged in a dressing made from the leftover miso-curry sauce, along with pumpkin seeds and fresh coriander for added yumminess.

This recipes’s a cinch to put together, especially since this squash was actually easy to chop! I have a scar on my thumb testament to a previous battle with a butternut…

I used these Tamari-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds from Clearspring, as I was feeling extra lazy and didn’t want to get out a pan to toast my pumpkin seeds. Though thinking about it now, you could just throw raw pumpkin seeds onto a baking sheet and roast them for a few minutes while your squash and chickpeas are in the oven.

Miso-Curry Roasted Squash with Crispy Chickpeas & Kale:

(Adapted from Super Natural Every Day)

1 Small/Medium Squash (Mine was 500g/Just over 1lb), cut into large chunks/moon shapes (if you’re using a butternut you’ll need to peel it)
1 1/2C/1 Can Cooked Chickpeas
1/4C Olive Oil
1/4C (scant) White Miso
1T Red Curry Paste
2T Lemon Juice
3C Kale (I used Cavolo Nero), de-stemmed and cut into ribbons
1/3C Pumpkin Seeds, Roasted
Large Handful of Fresh Coriander/Cilantro, roughly chopped or simply de-stemmed

Combine the olive oil, miso and red curry paste in a small bowl and toss about 1/3C of this with the squash and chickpeas in a large bowl. Use your hands to make sure it’s all coated. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes, until squash is tender and chickpeas are crisp.

Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice into the remaining miso-curry mixture until emulsified. In the large bowl you used for the vegetables, toss the kale and the dressing (you may not need all the dressing). Massage with your hands until the kale shrinks down a little and gets silky.

When squash and chickpeas are cooked, toss with the kale, remove to serving dishes or a platter, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and coriander, and serve.

Serves 3-4

PRINT RECIPE HERE

My Warm Butternut & Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing is another of my favourite squash recipes. What are yours? Send them my way please!

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13Sep2013

J is for…

Posted in Main Dish, Mexican by Emma P

Jackfruit!

This one’s been making the rounds of the vegan blogosphere and I bought a can a while back from a great local ethnic store hoping to give it a try myself, only to forget about it in the back of a cupboard.

I didn’t actually know what it was, so turned to Wikipedia…

In case you’re in the dark too here’s some info:

The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family. It is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia and also widely cultivated in tropical regions of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

It can be used both ripe and unripe:

- Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes etc.

- Unripe fruit, or young green jackruit, like the kind I used, is typically prepared as a savoury dish, used in curries, salads etc. It has a mild flavour and distinctive meat-like texture which is often compared to chicken.

I didn’t give up animal products because I didn’t like the taste of meat so it’s pretty fun to find something with a meat-like texture which isn’t a processed product. My Mum, an omnivore, enjoyed this too.

I was in the mood for something a little spicy so chose to use it as a filling for fajitas (of sorts…) with Mexican spices, sweet potato fries and plenty of guacamole.

There are lots of recipes for this sort of thing online but if you’re interested in what I did, my recipe’s below.

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas:

1 Onion, diced
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
2t Ground cumin
1/2t Mild chili powder
1/4t Smoked paprika
1/4t Oregano
1/2t Salt
Dash of cinnamon + cayenne pepper
565g/ 20 oz can of Jackfruit in brine or water, drained
1t Tamari
Squeeze of lime
1T Maple syrup

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add garlic, spices and salt and cook for another minute to toast the spices. Add jackfruit and break it up a little with a spatula. It will soften up as it cooks so don’t worry if it’s in large pieces at the beginning. Add tamari, maple syrup and squeeze of lime and continue to cook for approx 30 minutes until brown with some crispy edges, stirring every now and again to break up the jackfruit. It should look like shredded chicken!

Serve with your favourite Mexican side-dishes- guacamole, cashew sour cream, sweet potato fries, salsa, salad, tortilla wraps etc. (N.b. I made Angela’s Spelt Tortillas and rolled them a little thicker)

Other jackfruit recipes I like the look of are these Mu Shu Jackfruit Lettuce Wraps, these Jackfruit Crab Cakes and this Spicy Jackfruit Salad. I’d love to try jackfruit in a curry as well, maybe a Thai Green Curry to use my green curry paste!

Coconut and Berries

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Tag Archives: Cilantro

Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados

Smoky Black Bean, Potato & Avocado Hash

Miso-Curry Roasted Squash with Crispy Chickpeas & Kale

J is for…

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