Chickpeas are the new black

The chickpea (or garbanzo bean) is the first bean I was introduced to before becoming vegetarian. I was around 13 at the time and we were living with my aunt Pauline who suffers from many food sensitivities and who has an illness that forces her to "pay attention!" to all labels, all nutritional content, etc. was making végé-paté with chickpeas on the side. When she gave me a taste it ingrained in my mind as a wholly different taste and texture, it was one of those food defining moments. In french chickpea is "Pois Chiche" and it wasn't uncommon for me to ask her every now and then to make me that "chiche-bean thing" that I tasted that one time, etc. When I was recovering from my eating disorder the chickpea was the only food I could mentally handle, and so I made endless amounts of hummus with carrots which was my diet for a while until I could introduce other foods into my diet. I'm grateful for the chickpea, it's amazing source of protein, and zinc. In case you care as much as I do, it offers a very high level of dietary fiber, can lower cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, and is a source of calcium almost as high as a glass of milk or a serving of yogurt.

Its used to make falafels and hummus, and chickpea flour is used to make flatbread, or coat and batter veggies before frying, this magical bean can also be fermented into some kind of alcoholic drink AND is still grown in some parts of the world as a replacement for coffee beans! Coffee from chickpeas! Who knew? A yes, the chickpea. You my friend, are fabulous. For me, chickpeas go hand in hand with beautiful and colorful spices: paprika, turmeric, curry powder, garam masala, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne oh wow those colors!
So I made three chickpea recipes.

Chana masala

Serves 2, I pretty much followed the recipe I found here since it was my first time making it. I think next time I'll put less Cumin. Cumin has this weird effect on me, it numbs my tongue if I put too much in and I can't taste the other spices. It's not an allergic thing, I think it's more that it's one of those spices that should be savored, not in the forefront of the taste palette.

1 tablespoon olive oil for frying
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
1/2 tablespoon coriander rub
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground curry (I think I'll use Tumeric next time, I didn't have any but the original recipe called for it.)
1/2 pint chopped tomatoes (I used plum tomatoes for their sweet-taste)
1/2 cup water
13-ounce cooked chickpeas
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lime juice (I'll try adding a bit more of the lime juice next time. I enjoy a citrus in my spicy foods.)

In a pan, cook the onion until soft and a bit carmelized. Add the crushed garlic and cook for another minute or so. Stir in the coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Cook briefly, for about half a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for about five minutes or until tender. Then add the chickpeas and water, bring the mixture to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Add the paprika, garam masala, salt and lime juice and cook for about 10 minutes. Then eat it up!

Roasted and spiced crunchy chickpeas
I love my salt and I love crunchy snacks! So much that I've had to consciously limit my popcorn intake (even though I make it from kernel and use sea salt). So I'm always roasting grains and seeds and making little salty snacks like this one.

3 cups chickpeas (cooked)
2 tbs olive oil
1½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder (the recipe asked for turmeric but I didn't have any.)
1 tsp mustard seeds (I used a pickle mix of spices which had mustard seeds in it.)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp paprika (I will be trying Hungarian paprika next time for a smokier taste.)
½ tsp raw sugar
1-1½ tsp rock sea salt, coarsely ground

Mix spices well first (all except for salt), then add to chickpeas, then add oil, mix all of it well until chickpeas are coated in that gooey goodness. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet, bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes. I recommend tossing them every ten minutes or so so they don't burn, and push the baking until 40 minutes so that they get nice and cripsy (but not burnt!!!) There should still be some color on them when you take them out even if dark redish brown. toss the salt in the chickpeas in a bowl and let cool. They will get crispy once they cool completely. Then serve as a salty snack.


Chickpea patties
I saw a few burger recipes and just made this one up. When I do it again, I'd add a few more chili pepper flakes, and more lime and orange juice to increase the potency of the flavors.

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup of sprout combination (I used bean sprouts, and small navy bean sprouts, I'd add alfalfa sprouts next time)
zest and juice of 1 lime
zest and juice of 1/2 an orange
1 1/2tsp of paprika
1tsp of salt (add more if required) & pepper to season
3 eggs
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 masa flour
1 medium red onion
1 tsp chili flakes
Olive oil to fry patties

I made my own sprouts. Check out this link for details!

Fry onions until golden or caramelized. Blend chickpeas, paprika, lime and orange juice and zest together in a bowl. Add all ingredients to the chickpea paste except for the masa flour and the corn meal and mix well. In small bowl cover cornmeal with boiling water until it absorbs, then add to chickpeas. Slowly add in the masa flour until mixture becomes easy to handle into patties. Then fry (yes, I said fry, this takes a bit of olive oil to crisp up the patties. So it's not a uber healthy patty recipe ;) in a pan until golden on both sides: 3 minutes on each side.


I had mine on top of homemade pita bread, crisped and thinly spread with a little mayonnaise and Thai mayonnaise, lettuce, and the patty. Was delicious.

FOOD FUNK

FINALLY! My first post! My name is Wendy and I am the third contributor to We Curate Food. Don't let my lack of blog posts fool y'all, I am extremely excited about this collaborative blogging endeavour. I have been obsessed with food blogs (as well as mommy blogs and hippy sustainable farmer blogs) for years and am keen on contributing to We Curate Food!

The reason for my delay in posting is that I am in a food funk. Do you ever get sick of food? You know that feeling when all of your reliable go-to meals seem uninspired? When the thought of making another veggie lasagna is unbearable? That is how I feel right now. Food. Funk.

My relationship with food is admittedly a tumultuous one. And by tumultuous, I mean I often have to give myself a shake and an attitude adjustment. (Admitting it is the first step, right?) Long story short, I developed food allergies later in life. Up until the age of 16, I could eat whatever I wanted. Oh! The luxury! To be able to sit down at a restaurant and order anything my heart desired! Those days are long gone. My food allergies have multiplied and increased in severity to the point where I have to carry Benedryl and an epi-pen with me at all times.
Currently, eating out or even buying pre-prepared appetizers/sauces/meals at the grocery store is like a game of Russian Roulette. I know that it could be worse (oh hello Celiac disease!) but in my weaker moments I long for the pre-allergy carefree days of yore.

I am allergic to black/white/red pepper, chillies and jalapenos. Black and white pepper is hidden everywhere - in products where it does not belong, as far as I'm concerned, and where you would least expect it. For example, black pepper is sometimes found in bread and wine. BREAD AND WINE! And I don't mean the "peppery" taste of an Australian shiraz, I mean actual pepper is thrown in during the filtering process. Is nothing sacred?

In some respects, having food allergies is a blessing in disguise; it forces me to read every single food lable. Consequently, I am aware of all of the gross and unnecessary chemicals included in our food. And the sodium! I dare you to look at your cereal box label - you'll be horrified by the amount of sodium in it. This heightened awareness spurs me to purchase as much organic food as my husband and I can afford and to make as much food from scratch as our time will allow.

I will end this introductory post with a challenge. (Read: plea) One of the things I miss the most is a good salsa. I have been unable to create salsa sans chillies and jalapenos and have it taste good. To date, all of my attempts have been epic fails consisting of chunks of tomato, some limejuice and a few sad pieces of cilantro. So, fellow foodies, help a sister out! Do you make salsa from scratch? Do you have any recipes you'd like to share? A (non-lethal) good salsa recipe is a surefire bet to release me from this food funk!

Canning or procrastination?

I have three shows to curate, one long essay, one art blog, one extended artist interview, and two big art projects to start researching, I'm moving provinces in three weeks, and my apartment is a constant mess. I'm overwhelmed, and can't seem to get things going. When I'm at my worst, I do all the regular self-care stuff, the bath salts, the yoga, the cleaning, the going to bed early, the giving myself a little break once in a while. But when that's not enough, I try my hand at doing something nice for someone else. It's cheesy, but it really makes me feel better.

A good friend of mine's mother passed away a couple of months ago. He lives out of the city and I feel helpless so I thought I'd put together a little care package to stand in as a hug. The trick is that I have to be able to send it via mail, and it has to last at least a couple of weeks in a box just to be sure. I decided on a really random package of Nova Scotia Oatcakes (we lived in Nova Scotia together), and a few preserves of appetizers (he likes fancy little things like nice little home made apps, ect): sweet pickled beets and green onions, pickled mushrooms. I added a little Chinatown special in there for him too. Who doesn't like Pocky sticks!!!???

A little random care package, but if I know him, I think he'll really appreciate it. I also made myself some pickled swiss chard since I hate waste and those beautiful swiss chard shoots are too good to just steam the color out of them. I adapted a few pickled recipes depending on what ingredients I had. I'll get to taste my own batches in a week and I'll update on the taste.

Pickled Swiss Chard Stalks

2 1/2 C chard ribs, trimmed of dirty ends and cut to desired length
3/4 C red wine vinegar
1 C water
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorn 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
3 ea whole cardamon pods (I cut them in half with scissors) 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme

Prepare a bowl of ice water, set aside. Chop up the swiss stalks, in a large pot boil water and throw the stalks in for 1:30minutes. Strain the stalks and throw them in the iced water to "shock" them. Set aside in glass mason jars.

VERSE: This is a popular method for freeze-drying your vegetables if you then want to freeze them. It preserves and lightly cooks the veggies so that all the nutrients stay in the veggy, and then you can just steam them lightly from frozen to cook. I do this with beets, any greens like broccoli, spinach, etc.

Put rest of ingredients in saucepan and bring to boil. Then pour to cover over swiss chard stalks and close mason jars tightly. When the jars cool, the lids will seal and voila, you've got canning!

CHORUS: the same bring to boil then pour over veggies, then close tighlty method applied to pickled beet recipe below.

Pickled beets with green onions

2 bunches COOKED small beets – ends trimmed and scrubbed (RESERVE LIQUID FROM BOIL)
2 long green onions – sliced once the long way and then chopped in wide chunks
1/2 cup liquid from boiled beets
Left over swiss chard stalks but optional
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup raspberry red wine vinegar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon pods (I cut them in half with scissors)

Pickled mushrooms

One small package of button mushrooms
4-5 Cloves Garlic finely chopped or squashed
3 Tbs spoons lemon juice
1/2 cups raspberry red wine vinegar
2 Tbl spoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp peppercorns

Put rest of ingredients in saucepan and bring to boil. Then put mushrooms in and simmer for 10 minutes. Then put in mason jars tightly. When the jars cool, the lids will seal and voila, you've got canning!

Nova Scotia Oatcakes (for some reason, oatcakes are specific to Nova Scotia. Something about the Scottish cookie tradition.... Make this, eat them, you'll love 'em. Also, I made these plain, but you can add all kinds of yummy things like nuts and seeds and make them to your taste.)

Nova Scotia oatcakes

3 cups rolled oats
3 cups flour
1 cup of sugar (I thought the oatcakes were too sweet so I'd reduce that to 3/4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of shortening (I know. I put in 1c of shortening and 1c of butter. Still. I know.)
1/2 cup of cold water

Combine all dry ingredients and then cut in the shortening with the pastry cutter that I showed you how to use in this post. Only add a LITTLE bit of water to MOISTEN the dough. You do NOT want to add a lot. Try 1 tsp at a time. Once the dough is moistened enough to roll into loose ball, spread out on counter in 1/2 inch thickness (use oats on counter so it doesn't stick). cut into desired shape (I chose heart-shaped), place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 C for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Lastly: how's THAT for procrastination.

I eat because I run...

I run. Ok, I run a lot....marathons even. Yep. Marathons. 42.2km at a time. This past April, I ran the Boston Marathon one of the most prestigious marathon's of them all. It was perhaps one of the most amazing experiences of my life, by far, but it also took a lot out of me.







Part of what is difficult about being a marathon runner (an incredibly picky flexitarian marathon runner, no less) is trying to get enough of all the good stuff into your body to keep you going. Sounds easy enough, I know, but it isn't always!

Part of being a runner is also (le sigh) somewhat being tied, in one (semi-embarrassing) form or another, to the cult that is the Running Room. Having taken one or two of their clinics back in the day, I've been on their mailing list for about seven years, and receive their bi-monthly running magazine. It is essentially a large ad promoting the store and its brands, but it does, from time to time, have moderately interesting articles in it, and a half-decent recipe section.

This month, they featured two recipes that appeared to be incredibly simple, and rather freshly inspired. Finally, the other night, I found myself with a little bit of time to devote to cooking after work, and decided to tackle their Olive, Dill and Smoked Salmon Salad. Of course, as you will remember, I am not one to stick exactly to recipes, and so, put a tiny twist on some of the ingredients they suggested; opting for fresh apricots instead of the dried versions, and capers over green olives.

Salad
1 cup wild rice, cooked and cooled
1/2 cup each chopped apricots and diced red pepper
1/4 cup each capers and fresh chopped dill
150g smoked salmon, thinly sliced
Dressing
3 tbsp lemon juice 1tbsp each olive oil, maple syrup and grainy Dijon mustard 1 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

The directions could not be simpler: toss the salad ingredients then add the dressing, toss a little more and that's it.

I served it with a side of steamed red chard (here's something else you can also do with red chard!) and Tuscan Tomato Soup. MS and I each got our fair share, and there there was plenty left over for lunch the next day. (I wouldn't recommend letting it sit more than a day or so in the fridge, so that the salmon stays its freshest.)

This salad was the perfect mix of salty 'n' sweet and the wild rice adds an amazing nutty flavour. (I've converted to using wild rice in basically every rice recipe that allows!). This one bowl meal literally has everything a runner (or any moving body, for that matter) needs to keep their energy up. And I ate it all, because I run.

For the love of the grill!!

We have a lerrrrvly new gas range, but in the sweltering sizzle that is and Ottawatian summer, we just can't stand to use it! In honour of yet another day of scorching heat in our fine city, here are some shots of some of our favourite bbq'd dinners.

Skewered Shrimp; Wild Rice; Bok Choy with mushrooms and sprouts; Carrot Sesame and Spring Pea Salad

The Classic: Grilled Veggies and Corn, Tofu Burger with Avocado and Sprouts

Tomato Salad, Fresh-water Pickerel with Cayenne, Cilantro, Lime and Sesame Seeds

The Saturday Morning Alchemist

I am notorious for adapting recipes - moding them and tricking them out, to be healthier, tastier, or well, just more to my liking! This is the selfish side of baking and cooking that I enjoy! I admit, my experiments do at times run amuck (thank you MS for his patience with me in this!) but ultimately, it is the fun of inventing, discovering, of being a kitchen alchemist that keeps me coming back for more!

Case in point is the "basic" bran muffin recipe I found about four years ago, that I have been continuously tweaking and pimping out each time I bake them.

This Saturday, I took them on again, and have to say that, I may have reached a nearly perfect batch – they are not too wet, not to dry, and altogether packed with amazingness.

Obviously, it would be hypocritical of me to suggest following this recipe exactly (although I would not entirely discourage it!) I say, take this one, try it, and then make it your own!

Here’s how she goes:
In a medium bowl, stir together:
1 cup milk/soymilk (soured with 1.4 tsp vinegar)

1 cup natural wheat bran

Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix:

1/2 cup dark spelt flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of sea salt

cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger (to your tastes)

In a third bow, mix together:

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup black strap molasses

128 ml jar of organic baby food (I like using prune puree, but you can use a prune/pear blend; apple sauce or any other fruit sauce/puree you fancy)

1 banana mashed

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup cooked red quiona

And add 1-2 handfuls of any/all/a combination of the following:

Pumpkin seeds
Fresh berries (LOVE blueberries)

Chopped nuts (my favourite are walnuts)

Dried fruit (figs are always a hit)

Add this wet mixture to the bran, stir gently, and then stir all the wet ingredients into a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. The trick here is to not over-stir the mixture or else you run the risk of having tough muffins in the end, and really, who wants a tuff muff!

Measure out 1/3 cup or so of mix into muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. I usually check at the 22 minute mark with my trusty toothpick, again, to avoid the tuff muff scenario!

Serve them up alone, or with the nut butter/jam of your choice.

I paired them with a fresh fruit salad of mango, banana, blood orange, blueberries and plums on the weekend. Heaven in my mouth!

Buckwheat. The fruit seed.

I discovered buckwheat in Toronto when I was really into roasting seeds and grains for salads. Roasting these little flavorful seeds add a wonderful crunch to salads, and I actually eat them straight once in a while when I feel I need a little energy boost.

Buckwheat, though thought of as a grain is actually a fruit seed linked to rhubarb. Buckwheat flour is a really great alternative if you're sensitive to wheat. Other benefits of buckwheat are high or moderately high levels of anti-oxydents, protein, compliments vitamin C by extending its effect, and is apparently good for helping to lower cholesterol levels. It's also rich in magnesium, which I'm always conscious of adding in my diet since I tend to exhaust myself a lot, and magnesium is the first thing to go when we're going through stress, lack of sleep, etc. Ever have that annoying twitchy eye thing for weeks at a time?? That's a sign of magnesium depletion.

I've roasted my buckwheat straight up on a cookie sheet for a few minutes at 350C, and I've also cooked it like a hot cereal. Buckwheat tastes really potently nutty, a really amazing taste to compliment with something fresh like fruits or in salads. I guess that's why bees who pollinate buckwheat flowers produce a special nutty-flavored dark honey.

For this breakfast cereal, I use roasted buckwheat simply because I want that crunch. So I only add it in once my hot cereal is ready to eat.

(2 servings)
1- 1/5 cups of water
1/8 cup of buckwheat
3/4 cup of old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of fresh or frozen currants (or a sweeter fruit of choice. I like a tarty fruit, hence the currants)
1/4 cup of dried thomson raisins
1/4 cup a mix of nuts: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
soy milk or milk to taste

For my daily breakfast cereal, I bring my water to boil, then lower the heat to low, put all ingredients (except buckwheat) in together, stir, and then let sit for about 1 minute on low. Then I add in the buckwheat and let sit for 5-10 minutes. I usually make enough for two days, one day I eat it hot, the next day I just add milk and have it cold. Voila, easy and filling breakfast.

Random pop culture link: learn about the controversy and impact of the character "Buckwheat" in the television series Our Gang. Controversial because of his representation of the pikanniny stereotype.

Bread. hmmm.... failing sucks

One of the things I love to hate about food and baking is failure. I fail at baking a lot. I explain it by thinking that either the temperature or humidity levels are too high, but then I have friends who somehow SOMEHOW manage to make french macaroons (my personal nemesis), on tropical islands (Andrew T. you mock me!!!) kind of show me that maybe, just maybe, I just suck ;) Or maybe it's Karma, or maybe the stars, or maybe.... well anyways... But I try anyways, because I like a challenge. So today I decided to bake this no yeast Irish brown bread from the "Kiss my Spatula" food blog.


The mixture was fine, the mixing fine, the ingredients fresh, the cooking time perfect and yet the inside came out too heavy and moist. I think I may have taken it out of the oven too early. The bread is tasty, but I like a dry bread.... Most people... Like a dry bread. OK, well, here are the pictures. I consider this a half-fail. I'll try it out again, cause it only took an hour and a half to make and bake. The second picture shows my pastry cutter. My mum taught me a long time ago that when you have to cut butter into bread or teabiscuits or pastry, you have to cut it in with this magical tool until every grain of flour is "wrapped" so to speak, in butter (see this in the third picture). Another thing she taught me was that "folding in" something really has to be done delicately. It's literally folding together the wet with the dry until it's still a little crumby but sticky at the same time (fourth picture). This recipe asked to knead only 4-5 times. Very gentle....


And then there's the finished product. Looks beautiful. For most breads, if you knock on the top of a bread and it sounds hollow, the bread's ready. One of my HUGE mistakes in all my cooking is my anticipation. It screws me in the end. I can't wait for it. I cut my loaf of bread as soon as I took it out of the oven. I'm almost positive this is a big no-no with this type of bread (no yeast and heavy wheat flour = moist bread) and that the inside would have continued to absorb the moisture and bake until it cooled. Sadly, the outside was perfect, but the inside a little bit too moist for my liking. Still... tasted ok. Ah well, next time.

Lesson of the day: respect the bread, respect the process.
Edit: If I slice it in thin slices and toast it, it's really tasty!

Art link: Check out this weird "The Bread Art Project", where artists donate "bread art" and each art piece stands for a contribution of one dollar given to the foundation that works towards ending children hunger in America. hmm... interesting....

Speaking of Ottawa bread: Check out Ottawa's Enriched Bread Artists, a collective of artists from Ottawa!

mini quiches!

I wasn't working from any recipe (which is normally how I make quiche!), and had to rush them a bit. Green and yellow zucchini, spinach, brown mushrooms, red onion and a tiny bit of sharp white cheddar; 6 eggs, soy milk and of course, cherry tomatos on top. Normally I make one large quiche with a buckwheat crust, or go crustless for a frittata, but tonight, inspired by finding Muffin Tin Mania, I thought I could miniaturize my own ad-hoch version. I would portion them out differently the next time I make them, and take more care chopping up the veggies. However, for a rushed job, they turned out not too bad and the leftovers can be taken for lunch too - pocket-sized!

link love

For my first post, I wanted to share the website that started me down this road: Design*Sponge
I started visiting it for design inspiration and upon discovering their recipes section, I became obsessed. I have to admit that I haven't actually tried to make many of the recipes...yet...but can categorically say that this site is my all-time favourite, go-to eye candy and generally, just makes me really happy!

ice breaker

Thanks Rhiannon for setting up this blog!!! I'm happy to share and looking forward to learn from you ladies!!!

As a little ice breaker, I thought I'd post a first post about why I love food so much. Feel free to do the same or break the ice in your own way :)

My dad worked in restaurants almost his whole life either as a server, Maitre d'hotel or Sous-chef, he once served the Queen in Moncton at the restaurant "Les Deux Fourchettes"! heehee. He taught me how to flambe (pretty much everything), how to open a bottle of wine without "bruising" the wine, and how to crack a lobster the Acadian way, with no utensils. Growing up we'd eat different foods, escargot for super, and sometimes me and my brothers would make a flambe steak dinners when my parents would come home from work. My mom taught me how to make a fancy meal using a minimum of three ingredients and spices. Being poor never stopped us once from having a great meal on the table.

My taste for food was based on a french cuisine tapestry. Sadly I suffered from an eating disorder for around 8 years as a teenager and didn't really appreciate anything about food. A major diss for food! But it's food that saved me from this curse (if you will...) when I lived in Toronto for two months in my third year college and was exposed to healing ingredients I'd never thought about before. Turmeric, fresh ginger, miso, edible flowers, and about a hundred spices I fell in love with. When I came back to Fredericton after my internship I cooked straight through the summer, filled my freezer, and my spice cupboards!!!

Years later I completely recovered from the ED and fell in love with the healing power of food. Anytime I've got shit to work out or love to share, food is the first place I look. What am I eating? How am I spending time with it? How am I making it? etc etc etc.

I was a vegetarian for many many years until I traveled through Europe for the first time and again was exposed to so many new dishes I couldn't resist. I tasted a Spanish chorizo that changed my taste buds forever.... I still mainly cook vegetarian foods, and love experimenting with weird candy recipes, stuff that I find adventurous, but I also appreciate culinary meat dishes and am keen to learn. If I could only get someone else to prepare the raw meats... ewe.

I think food is revolutionary and is at the foundation of our day to day, in economy, in society, in politics, in relationships, in communities, in culture, etc.

AHHHH FOOD!

xoxMireille