Category: Legumes

Curried Chickpeas and Onions with Roti , Fresh Juices…Meatless Monday Ideas

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 I’m in love my juicer again and having a ball. What’s propelling me ,among  good health, is an opportunity I’m exploring involving a portable juice stand this summer on Saturdays at a Farmers Market in the area. It’s not set yet, but I’m thinking about it hard. When my Mother had cancer she loved a nice simple glass of carrot juice.  For some reason I shied away from it, preferring to use my juicer for apples, and citrus. I’ve been missing out! One of my favorite go to morning drinks  to sip on at work is a chilled carrot and apple juice. It’s so delicious and surprisingly filling.
Apple Juice helps aides Obesity, Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidneys,liver, gallstones, colitis, gout and dysentery. 
Carrot Juice improves vision, aides recovery after physical or mental stress to body. Fights cancer, anemia, and tuberculosis. Its also increases appetite and strengthens immunity.
  The fun is playing around with your own proportions and mixes. The key to great  tasting juice is allowing it to chill but consume within a that day.
If you cant find or afford Organic Produce try this recipe I found on Tipnut.
Homemade Vegetable Wash
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
2 TBS baking soda
2 TBS lemon juice 
Mix ingredients then pour in clean spray bottle. Spray fresh vegetables & fruit generously. Sit for 5 minutes then rinse off well.

Note: Make sure to first mix ingredients in deep container since there will be some fizzing from the baking soda & vinegar.

Carrot Apple Juice
4 small- medium organic apples
4  organic Carrots
I don’t bother peeling the apples but I do skin the carrots.
Cut into manageable pieces and extract in juicer.
Carrot and Sweet Lime Juice
I found these sweet limes in the Latin Market. Popular in India, they are more sweeter, and less acidic than limes. They are known to help upset stomachs and used as throat remedies.The taste reminds me of a mild sweeter grapefruit .
3 sweet limes either pressed in citrus juicer or peeled and cut into wedges to extract juice
4  small to medium carrots.

 
As you know if you read this blog Certain Someone is a Carnivore. I find myself using the times he’s away on business or working late , to indulge in lighter , meat free recipes. He does loves curry as a spice however. Maybe acquired from eating the fabulous curry wursts in Germany growing up. So when he flew in late on Meatless Monday  night and wanted to know what the good  scent was that filled the hallways of the condo. I said it was my dinner and he probably would not like it ,as it had no meat. I save some leftover and served it to him later on in the week as a side dish. He totally liked it. You can eat this a side or just an main course. I used frozen Roti, an Indian pan fried flat bread which is unleavened as compared to Naan. Either or can be used, but this is a good option for those searching for unleavened  foods. I found in the Asian stores. But check your local grocer ad these items are showing up in  more mainstream markets.
* Note: You can add the shredded carrot puree from juicer to this dish as well.
Curried Chickpeas and Onions  with Roti
serves 2
 1 can or jar of Chickpeas/ Garbanzo beans rinsed. 
( I will always advocate for fresh/dried but these will work in a pinch for time)
1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbs vegtable oil
1 tbs curry powder
1 tsp Fenugreek powder ( optional)
1 tsp Tumeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/2 cup water
Rinse and drain chickpeas. Set aside.
In a skillet heat vegetable oil and add  curry, fenugreek ,chili,turmeric, white peeper . Stir around until fragrant and add onions. Reduce heat to medium and saute until softened, about a few minutes. Add chickpeas, and saute until coated in spice and oil mixture. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for  5 minutes .Taste and adjust with sugar and salt.
Prepare Roti according to package instructions and serve with curried Chickpeas. I use two Roti’s per person.

The Best Ever Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

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If you have followed me on Twitter you know I have been away in Boston the past week. What an amazing city! Coming from Maryland, I thought we had the edge on seafood. But Bostons seafood was amazing, On a limited budget I ate very well and worked off all the good food walking and touring this most important of American cities . One thing I saw were these cute little bean crocks to make authentic Boston Baked Beans. I love a good baked bean. I have been to many a picnic where cooks try to perpetrate by doctoring up canned beans. One of my favorite cooking memories were my mother and I attempting to make out our own baked beans from scratch. I remembered it took hours to cook. Craving baked beans, but not wanting to run the oven in this summer heat , I opted for my crock pot/slow cooker.Many of my foodie friends associate slow baking beans with winter and fall. But isn’t a good baked bean dish quintessential to summer time and BB Q’s? While I cooked this via crock pot, I finished them of in the authentic crock for 45 min or so sprinkled with brown sugar in the oven. Let me say the house smelled fantastic turning the key and entering to find the beans cooked perfectly.Enjoy.

Crock Pot Boston Baked Beans

1 lb dry Navy Beans or Great Northern Beans

12 oz-1 lb salt pork with rind

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 onion chopped

1 onion studded with cloves( about 1 tsp worth)

4 cups water

ground black pepper

Soak your beans over night covered in cold water. The next day drain water. In a small pot of boiling water, boil the cubed or cut up salt pork for a few minutes to remove excess salt. Remove salt pork from water and place on the bottom of crock pot. Place the clove studded onion in crock pot. Cover with soaked dried beans. Add mustard,ground black pepper, chopped onion,brown sugar,molasses. Pour 4 – 5 cups of cold water over the beans and spices. Beans should be covered but not excessively so. The slow cooking adds moisture.Turn on your crock pot/slow cooker to the setting of 10 hours.

After 10 hours you can finish of individual servings on mini crocks sprinkled with brown sugar in a an oven at 350 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I think this perfect for this months My Legume Love Affair #14 hosted by the founder Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.

Green Hummus From Fresh Garbanzo Beans…MLLA11

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While looking on at clearance fruit and vegetable racks at Pete’s the other day, I came across a huge bag of fresh Garbanzo beans.
I had to ask the clerk what they were exactly. See, I’m used to the dried yellow variety or the ones in cans. The lovely Caron Golden, an expert on the many uses of fava and Garbanzos sent me her link to some great recipes. She advised to savor the garbanzos alone as snack to ‘taste the green’, and boy was she right!Be warned the shelling and popping takes a while, but the result is worth the effort. I decided to do a simple ‘hummus’ variation, served with quartered baked tortillas. I’m submitting this to Lori Lynn for My Legume Love Affair Eleventh Helping, created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.
Fresh Green Hummus
2 cups shelled Garbanzo Beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Spike salt free( I am restricting my salt intake)
or sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
chili oil to drizzle
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Tortillas baked and cut into quarters.
Shell Garbanzo beans. Lightly steam until just tender. Remove from heat. In a glass bowl with an immersion blender, puree beans, spices, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Place in serving dish. Drizzle hot chili oil on top. Serve with baked tortillas that have been quartered.
Please vote for me in Ile De France Recipe Contest.

My Legume Love Affair 10 Roundup

This was my first time hosting a large event and I was so impressed and happy with the entries I received for My Legume Love Affair created by the brilliant Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. Keeping this month to Starters and Desserts was somewhat limiting ,but we received a jewel box collection of recipes from around the world. Check out these healthy treasures and consider them next time you are looking for something a little different and makes everyone say Wow.
So lets break it down into 2 sections:
Starters

Christine of Kits Chow created these exquisite Korean mung bean pancakes,Bindae Duk.
Jeanne,my African sista from CookSister, made these elegant chickpea & paprika crostini.

Susan, My Legume Love Affairs creator made just in the nick of time Steamed Red Bean Buns.
Bea and Jai from Jugalbandi make for us Horse Gram Cocktail Fritters.

indosungod from Daily Musings gave us Swiss chard and Black Bean Empanadas
Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf is a person after my own heart with these black eye pea patties with a hot chili sauce.
Uma of Vegan Orbit gave us this tasty carrot and lentil soup.

Kalaivani of Little Taste Buds created Chickpea and green pea soup. Double whammy of legumes!
Lori, next months host from Taste With The Eyes, always served up inspiration with Cilantro scented navy bean hash with smoked salmon rosettes.

365 Days of Pure Vegetarian makes for us the perfect snack food Homemade Falafel

Sumy of Make the Impossible …Possible,made Payaru thoran . A small serving of this would kick off any meal.


Indrani of Appyayan made Masoor Dal Vada ( red lentil fritters). Legumes make the best fritters.


My fellow Chicagoan Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté rose to the occasion with this wonderful starter that captures the season of spring. Sauteed Morel Mushrooms and Fava Beans .

Ashwini from Nanna Adige gives us two starters for a Ugadi feast,Thondekayi Palya and Black Eyed Peas Vada.
I also received another entry from Ashwini for Sprouted Pulses Roti.

Divya of Dil Se made a comforting dish of Khichdi

LK at Food For Tots made a delicious Black Beans Soup

Funny how different cultures have variations on the same theme. I went back to my roots and made Akara( West African Black Eye Pea Fritters), a childhood favorite.
Desserts


Priyasuresh, of Priya’s Easy N Tasty Recipes created Channadal N Coconut Kheer. A lovely treat.


Elizabeth from Our Kitchen made a healthy new take on a familiar treat, Black Bean Brownies.


Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen makes Besan-Coconut Burfi (Chickpea Flour-Coconut Indian Style Fudge)


Uma from Vegan Orbit makes another version of Kheer for us with Moon Dhal Kheer


Kevin from Closet Cooking made these yummy Japanese Dorayaki. I could eat these as both a starter or dessert.


Michelle from Big Black Dogs created these Chocolate Peanut Roll cookies which look to die for.

I don’t know why she calls herself Msmeanie when she creates treats that are so sweet and nice.Chana Dal Burfi from Chocolate Chip Trips.Try saying that a few times.

A&N from Delectably Yours made a Hayagreeva,a Bengal Gram dessert and recollects family memories.

Soma from eCurry makes a Sweet Peanut Brittle Bar .

Being the hostess I felt obliged to make both savory and sweet entries. Here is my Adzuki and Sesame Seed Cookies.
And the winner of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is (names drawn from mixing bowl)
Jeanne from Cook Sister! Email me for details on how to get your prize.

So there we have it. Quite a collection. Be sure to visit Mays host Lori for deatils on MLL11.

Akara ( Black Eye Pea Fritters)…My Legume Love Affair 10


Akara is a typical West African snack made of Black Eye peas.Its confusing because I have seen many names and spelling for this dish. The Congo Cookbook cites 11 names for this dish. I remember eating these when my father made them as a child. I actually posted these once before on the blog as a New Years appetizer since they had the requisite black eye peas. that would bring in good luck for the year. What made my fathers so yummy was the addition of chopped shrimp . What I love about this recipe is that you can play around with your spices and additions. Along with the traditional ingredients I choose to add ground shrimp powder, minced sun dried tomatoes for extra flavor. I also purchased a small bottle of palm oil in the African shop. Palm Oil is favored in West African cuisine and highly coveted. You can debate on the health aspect of it, but one thing is certain, its aromatic and imparts a wonderful flavor and research is backtracking and taking a second look at it.I say all in moderation. Palm Oil gets its rich red color from beta carotene. If you don’t have or want to fry in palm oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil work just as fine.


Akara
1 1/2 lbs of Black Eye Peas soaked overnight in water
2 tbsp rice flour
1 small onion chopped fine
1 green bell pepper chopped fine
2- 3 eggs to bind
water
1 tbsp ground shrimp powder
4 sun dried tomato’s minced
1 tsp curry
1-2 chilies chopped( depends on your spice heat threshold)
salt and pepper to taste
palm, vegetable. or peanut oil for frying

Rinse the black eye peas which have been soaking overnight.In a food mill grind the beans . Take a blender or food processor and add the ground beans , eggs,and some water . Mix until you you have a light paste( not to runny, but enough to hold shape while frying). Add your dry seasonings and chopped onions, peppers, chilies and sun dried tomatoes.
Add a few tablespoons of oil in your fry pan. Heat the oil. Carefully drop spoonfuls of the bean mixtures and fry until golden and done in the center. Be sure to turn the bean cakes as you fry to make sure its fries evenly.

Akara is my second entry( a savory one as compared to sweet one before) this month in MLLA 10… Starters and Desserts created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. You still have time to submit your entries this month. Starters, desserts, light snack, etc. Get creative with legumes!