Day 6: Chickpea Pancakes

Any day I have a bit of extra time in the morning I tend to crave pancakes. There’s something super comforting about pulling out the cast iron pans, and playing around with different toppings. But with my desire for sugar on the down and out (crazy, I know), I thought maybe a savoury pancake may be an ideal sit in.

I searched around the net for recipes for savoury pancakes and came up with this one. I got it from the Not Eating Out in New York food blog, but the author picked it up at a cooking seminar in NYC. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand so I improvised a bit and here is my take on the NEOiNY recipe:

Savory Chickpea Flour Pancakes

1 1/4 cups chickpea flour (or gram flour) (I used a mix of chickpea/fava)
1 tsp salt
1/2 small red onion, very finely chopped
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced broccoli (or other veg)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Spices: 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cumin
1-inch piece of ginger, very finely chopped (I didn’t use this time but would have been good)
2 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped (ditto)
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Makes 8 pancakes but 2 pancakes make a great breakfast with a protein topping.

Place chickpea flour in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup water and stir to make a smooth batter. Add the spices, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato/veg, garlic and cilantro. Mix well and set aside for 15 minutes.

Place 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir once and place about 1/3 cup batter into center of skillet. Tilt pan to spread (as if making a crepe). Cover and cook for three minutes. Turn over and cook, uncovered, for one more minute; it should be golden. Repeat with remaining batter, stirring before using. Serve hot with hummus, chutney, hot sauce or whatever else you want. I actually also added some flaked smoked fish into the batter for added protein.

Result? I found them a bit dense but yummy nonetheless. Might have been because of the chickpea-fava flour mix or maybe it needed more water. Regardless, it was a success! And now I better get on with my day

Day 5: Back to the Bowl

Yesterday morning was a bit of a rush job, but I was determined not to slide. I pulled out the old multi-task hat (actually it rarely gets put away) and made a ‘cheesy-rice-broccoli-hummus’ bowls for breaky. This is one of those “mess-in-a-bowl” recipes that may not look that awesome but rates high on the ease and flavour factors. I can’t say I really have a recipe for this one, but here’s basically how to do it:

Cook 1/2 cup of rice/any grain (I used arborio rice since it’s kind of creamy if you stir it a bit). Ratio of Water: Rice is 2:1. (Rinse the rice thoroughly before putting it in the pot).

Once the rice is about 10 minutes from being done, toss in some broccoli or other veggie of your choice to steam. At the very end I added 1/2 a tomato to just barely cook.

Remove from heat and add in a few spoonfuls of hummus, 1-2 tsp of nutritional yeast, some salt & pepper, 1 Tbsp oil and/or Nut butter (I think I used macadamia nut butter and a bit of flax oil) and any seeds you have around (I used local hemp seeds).

Mix’r on up and you’ve got breakfast! It was a bit much for me to eat in one sitting so I took the rest for what turned out to be a much needed snack later in the morning…after I had spent a couple hours doing local food workshops for elementary kids!

Day 4: Polenta Success!

Ok, I’ve picked myself off, dusted myself off and have moved on in the world of savoury breakfasts. Today I made a successful foray into another previously uncharted territory of corn. I made polenta!

But first, a few thoughts:

In my week of savoury breakfasts, I am definitely noticing a striking resemblance of my breakfast choices to foods typically consumed at lunch and dinner. But to be honest, I’ve been having trouble coming up with good breafkast ideas that don’t include soy. Tofu scrambled “eggs”, soy breakfast sausages/veggie bacon are traditional vegan breakfast solutions but aren’t an option for me. A) I’m allergic to soy and B) the stuff is nasty. Have you ever tried composting tofu? Come back to it 6 months later you’ll still find it hanging out. Gross.

Secondly, don’t despair if you’re not into corn! Although I’ve definitely been on a mini-corn-kick, it’s just because I’m just curious about it since I’ve never really used cornmeal. Stay tuned for something different soon though…Variety is good for the soul and the stomach!

Back to Polenta. I took a recipe from the Get it Ripe cookbook and played around with fillings. The recipe called for blueberries but to make it savoury, I used a roasted red pepper sauce in half, and a mango salsa in the other half. The roasted pepper version was better, but regular salsa would also have been good, as would have regular pasta sauce, or maybe even pesto.

Here’s the recipe, slightly adapted from the Get it Ripe version. Check out Jae’s blog, Domestic Affair, with lots’a vegan whole foods recipes.

Savoury Breakfast Polenta

• 1/2 cup non-GMO cornmeal
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup fruit juice (I used apple cider but maybe vegetable stock would have been more savoury)
• 3/4 cup filtered water
• 1/2 tsp olive oil, plus extra for coating the pan
• 1/2 cup savoury sauce of your choosing (e.g. Tomato sauce, salsa, roasted red pepper sauce, or pesto)

Mix the cornbeal, salt and juice (or veg stock) in a small bowl.

Bring water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Once boiling, slowly stir in the cornmeal mixture.

Cook uncovered on med-low for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot, until it is thick and smooth.

Remove from heat. Stir in the oil and then gently fold in the savoury sauce of choice. You don’t need to mix it a ton – getting a marbled effect is kind of neat. Scrape polenta into a lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking dish or pie plate. I went for individual portions in muffin cups. Smooth out evenly, and allow to set for about 30 minutes at room temperature.

Cut the polenta as desired. You can store leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days and warm it in a toaster oven or frying pan before serving.

Ta da! This one is quite the opposite of crumbly. You’ll see!

Day 3: kind of a cop-out breakfast

Ok, first of all I want to say that posting every day is HARD! Given my usual pattern of 2 posts in a week followed by a 3 week hiatus, my committment to a week of savoury breakfasts is turning out to be a committment to more than initially anticipated! I’m not complaining though. I have discovered that I really only get stuff done when I feel as if I am following through for someone else. Which needless to say is kind of concerning that I have problems being accountable to myself. But hey, it’s day 3 and not only have I had a savoury breakfast every day, but I have not had ONE CRAVING for sweets. I kid you not. And those double-chocolate chunk cookies totally had salt in them. =) just joking

Right, so today I admit to kind of copping out on the creativity front. I gave my sad crumbly cornbread a second shot by nuking it for 30 seconds (hangs head in shame for use of microwave). Topped with a roasted red pepper sauce and some smoked fish from the market, it was tolerable once again.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to put some effort into this once again and see if I can come up with something that is actually worthy of a recipe posting. Wish me luck!

Savoury Breakfast: Day 2 – Cornbread “Crumble”

Today’s savoury breakfast was cornbread. Although don’t be fooled by the picture. After I took the picture, things started to fall apart. Literally. I have never had the desire to actually throw any of my baking experiments out…but this one stands a good chance of getting tossed tomorrow. Or being stowed away for gluten-free bread crumbs.

Now don’t get me wrong, cornbread for breakfast would have been good had this recipe worked out. Served up with some hummus….yum!

You’d think that the recipes in cookbooks are taste tested. In fact, I’m pretty sure they are. So either the recipe book I used must have experienced one of the following fates:

1. Taste testers sans taste buds
2. A rush job to the printer
3. An author that thinks crumbly gluten-free breads are as good as it gets.

Now, I have to admit that there’s one more option. The recipe called for Ener-G Egg replacer and although I have it, it’s probably been in my cupboard for a decade judging by the picture on the box. I might risk it and try again with a new box…or I’m going to go back to old faithful, flax egg replacer. And maybe even a pinch of xanthan gum…

A Week of Savoury Breakfasts

I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how I can switch up my breakfast routine. Variety, after all, is the spice of life they say. Last night I had a craving for chocolate. And after whipping up a batch of chocolate covered nuts and raisins, and eating about half of the batch, I probably came close to a medical overdose of the stuff. As I tried to get to bed at 2am, my heart was racing and my feet just wouldn’t get warm. And then I woke up at 8am in pretty much the same state. So what if it was sweet dinners that pushed over the edge towards savoury breakfasts? There was no way I could down cereal this morning. I think I may have just started a trend…Savoury breakfasts for a week!

Sometimes ingenuity comes when you need it most. As I scoured my pantry for heart-rate slowing foods this morning, I decided to try a variation on something my friend Carolyn does. Every morning she tosses a grain and veggie in her rice cooker, goes and meditates for 45 minutes and comes back to breakfast! Well there was no way I was meditating in my state and I don’t have a rice cooker. But the premise worked…and I wanted to do it faster. 15 minutes later, I had such an AMAZING breakfast, I wish I had made double for lunch. Thus my commitment to a savoury breakfast every day this week was launched.

Here’s today’s magic potion. I intend to develop variations throughout the week. Pardon my uncreative recipe titles.

Quinoa-Dahl-Veggie Breakfast Bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup split mung dahl (i.e. green mung beans with the shells worn off so it cooks faster and gets a bit mushy). Rinse thoroughly
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
• 1.5 cups water (The water ratio cooking instructions for these two ingredients are 3:1 and 2:1 respectively. So this means 3/4 c + 1/2 c = 1.5 cups)
• Chopped veggies of your choice to steam:
• 1/2 cup total of Broccoli florets, chopped Carrots and chunked turnip…could have done more though

Method:

1. In a small pot, combine the grain + bean + water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook covered for ~10min.
2. Add in veggies on top to steam. Leave covered for another 5 minutes. (note: if the grain/bean mix runs out of water before your veggies are cooked, add a bit of water to the pot).
3. Remove from heat and add the following toppings:

• 1 Tbsp macadamia nut butter
• 1 Tbsp flax oil
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp ground flax seeds
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Serves 2 or 1 hungry person. This is sure to kick any morning sugar cravings to the curb!

But my heart is still racing….. 

Just out of my own curiosity, I wanted to see what the nutritional breakdown of this baby would be….yikes, Looks like it’s a heavy baby! I think I’ll cut the nut butter or flax oil next time.

Cals 295, Fat 15g, Carbs 30g, Fiber 5g, Sugars 1.5g, Protein 11g

Local Garlic: Like Mangoes off a Tree

Have you ever been to a tropical country and eaten your favourite tropical fruit, be it pineapple, mango, or banana, and noticed how incredibly awesome it tasted? If you have, the “yum” moment was probably closely followed by an “ah-ha” moment when you realized that the imports we receive here in Canada can’t possibly compare in flavour since what we get is picked weeks before it reaches peak ripeness. The same goes for lots of food…which is why it’s so great to eat local food when it’s available. Being eaten so soon after being picked bumps up the flavometer rating no question.

Now with the fall having fallen, and winter on its way, a sadness always has set in for me since I’m seeing fewer and fewer local foods available on my co-op shelves, and fewer produce vendors at the local farmers’ markets. I’m always a bit sorry at this time of year that I didn’t devote more time to preserving the local harvest when I had a chance.

But wait! Lo and behold, there’s still lots of garlic!

If you’ve ever tasted locally grown organic garlic you’ll understand my excitement. Just like the mango off a tree, this stuff’s flavour dwarfs imported garlic BY FAR.

Although garlic can be stored throughout the winter, you won’t find it in your health food store for much longer, given the limited supply of these delicious gems. So if I were you…I’d be stocking up right about now. PLUS it’s a great holiday gift for those of us wanting to coverty convert our friends and family to locavores and organic advocates (shhh, don’t tell my mom)

Where to Get It…

Farmers’ markets are probably your best bet at this point, as health food stores may be losing suppliers. The Cutting Veg, an organic garlic farm located in Brampton, Ontario, still has a good supply of garlic. And when I say “garlic” I mean 7 varieties originating from all over the world! It’s part of their Global Garlic Project to keep genetic (and flavour) diversity alive.

OK, enough of the beating around the garlic scape. Here’s a little shameless promotion for my friends at the Cutting Veg:

Local, Organic Garlic Available: Have you secured your winter supply of local, organic garlic?  Grown on The Cutting Veg Organic Farm in Brampton, 7 varieties of Organic Garlic are still available for order, specifically:  Italian, Korean, Persian, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Yugoslavian, and Russian.   For more information about the specific varieties, or to download the order form, please visit http://www.thecuttingveg.com, or contact Daniel Hoffmann at daniel@thecuttingveg.com.  Set yourself up for a winter of good health, and fabulous flavours with local, organic garlic from The Cutting Veg.  Also, local, organic garlic makes for great holiday gifts!

Yeeeaaaahhhhhh, Garlic! 'nuff said.

Local Flavour: Hibiscus Café

Hibiscus Café. 238 Augusta Ave. 416-364-6183  

Hours: Mon-Sat noon-6pm…(but prone to change)

I don’t normally do ‘restaurant reviews’. And I can’t guarantee that they’ll become a trend for me, simply because the number of places I can eat semi-freely are few and far between. So, understandably, coming across a place that actually serves a range of Emily-friendly foods is reason for great fervour and excitement in these parts.

The scene unfolds in Toronto’s Kensington Market – a neighbourhood known for progressive culture and independent food markets. The area is generally bustling with all walks of people and shops are colourfully adorned, either by their own doing or that of a local graffiti artist (legal or volunteer).

Hibiscus is one of those places that you’ll walk by a hundred times without really noticing. I know that’s what I did. It’s unassuming and subtle, but it s a rare gem amidst its many haggard neighbours. Much like the kind folks who own and operate the shy but warm cafe in my favourite part of town. Take a seat, and a smiling face will meet you, bring you a glass of water, and happily explain the ingredients of any salad, soup, or vegan gluten-free desserts available that day.

On top of all this, what keeps me coming back is the vegan, gluten-free brownies they sell. For a mere $2 (everything here is affordable), you can treat yourself to a generous square of chocolate-y heaven, for which even a dairy- and gluten-loving palate would crave seconds. Set me up with one of these guys, a cup of tea, and a book or my laptop, and I’ll be set for at least an hour. These folks will never rush you out…in fact they even assured me I could stay past closing time if needed!

I have to say, that after having received some sour service from disgruntled employees or owners at nearby eateries, the genuine customer appreciation Hibiscus offers was a breath of fresh air. BlogTO knows what I’m talking about. In Devon Scoble’s review of Hibiscus, she writes:

“Masochistic fans of hipster pretense and unfriendly service are advised to quit eating and head to American Apparel instead, because while Hibiscus Café is bang-on the trend meter with its super healthy fare, the service is anything but snotty.“

Couldn’t have said it better myself. This place has totally fulfilled my need for a warm, calm, and quality café that I can default to whenever in need of a snack or some time to myself.

Chocolate-peanut butter crispy square: A close second to my beloved brownie which happened to be sold out today.

Menu faves:

• Aforementioned Brownie, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crispy Square, Buckwheat Crepes & vege-licious Salad Bar.

Reasons to love it:

• Happy cooks, Emily-friendly food (with options!), & free wi-fi

Room for improvement?

• If only it were open on Sundays! But we all need a day of rest I suppose….

Gluten-free Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

As promised since my last post (a mere 10 minutes ago) here is a recipe I’m working on. Your (honest) feedback would be appreciated!

Pumpkins are in season right now so I encourage you to roast your own instead of the canned stuff. Your local farmer will thank you.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

*makes two dozen brownies

1/3 cup cocoa powder + 1/2 cup water, stirred together in a small pot
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups oat flour or Gluten Free Rolled Oats, pulsed into flour in a food processor
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup ground flaxseed + 3/4 cup warm water, stirred together and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken
2/3 cup maple syrup/agave
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin
~1/3 cup added water (less/more depending on dryness)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup maple syrup/agave
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil and 8×8 inch pan.

2. Add the oil to the cocoa/water mixture and heat on a stove top, stirring occasionally, until the oil is melted.

3. In a large bowl whisk together oat flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together flax/water mixture, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add these wet ingredients to the oat flour mixture.

4. Divide the dough equally into two separate bowls. Stir the chocolate mixture into one of the bowls of dough. Fold in the optional chocolate chips.

5. In a food processor, mix the roasted pumpkin, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup, making a purée. Add this to the other half of the dough and stir it well. Now, you should have a bowl of brownie batter and a bowl of pumpkin batter.

6. Scoop half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out as evenly as possible using a rubber spatula. Add half of the pumpkin batter on top of the first layer of brownie batter and smooth it out evenly being careful not to mix it up into the brownie batter. Add another layer of brownie batter and finish the layering with the rest of the pumpkin batter. After smoothing out the top, run a butter knife through the batters to create a swirly, marbled pattern. Be sure to not miss the edges.

7. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool in the pan, cut into squares and enjoy! (The original recipe called to bake for about 1 hour, but I thought that was too long. Try it for longer and let me know what happened.)

NOTE: To make bite size brownies, add a dollop of chocolate batter to the bottom of muffin cups and then mix the resto of the two batters together in a bowl (enough to create a swirl pattern) and then portion out the remaining batter into muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes.

Stay tuned for a peanut butter version….

I’ve been busy…

Once again, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything on here. For those of you who have come looking for new material and have clicked on, disappointed, I sincerely apologize. However I think being a delinquent blogger comes with the territory of trying to live a healthy balanced life. Believe it or not, we bloggers exist outside of the internet too! Although I have to admit I wonder how those ‘daily blogger’ types manage to come up for air long enough to garner new material in the real world.

Ironically, in my absence, I have actually been spending a lot more time cooking. You’d think all foodies do is cook. But that is a myth. In reality, all foodies just think about food. How we interact with the stuff is entirely another issue.

I’m going to try and post more “food” recipes as opposed to desserts. The problem with desserts is that I eat them. It’s terrible, I know. I try to pawn off my baking experiments onto friends and coworkers…who all seem more than willing to oblige in taste-testing. Yet I have to say it’s hard to get an honest piece of feedback when giving away baked goods…no matter how bad they are.

Stay tuned for a brownie recipe I’m working on…if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get some honest feedback from you!