Chickpea scramble with hemp seeds - Two ways

When I mentioned my recent purchase of hemp seeds, several of you expressed interest in how the seeds could be used. Following on from my sweet recipe for orange and hemp seed energy balls, today's post features two variations on chickpea scramble that incorporate hemp seeds in the mix: tomato, paprika and turmeric scramble, and carrot and coriander scramble.

Tomato, paprika and turmeric scramble

I love chickpea scrambles for their versatility and often make them as part of a meal for Mini Bite. They are good for little hands to pick up and I like that they can be varied to include whatever ingredients I have in the house, whilst keeping a core base that provides carbohydrate and protein. By adding hemp seeds you get healthy fats too.

Tweet

Orange hemp energy balls

It has been a long time between hemp seed recipes. Indeed, it has been a long time since I have had hemp seeds in my kitchen. I am pleased to have a bag on the go again now and suspect you will see more recipes featuring the seeds before too long.

I like hemp seeds for lots of reasons, including, if I'm honest, their amusing hippy connotations. I feel a bit like I should be living in a commune and wearing tie dyed clothes when I use them. They are also from the same species as cannabis and so (to a closeted, non-adventurous soul) it feels rather daring to pick them up in a local store. Those points aside, hemp seeds are fantastically nutritious - rich in healthy fats, protein, iron, and a whole host of vitamins and minerals. They also have a nutty, earthy flavour that I very much enjoy.

Tweet

Peach and hemp snack balls

I have had these snack balls in mind for a while now. In fact, I bought the dried peaches over a month ago. Somehow, it has taken until now to make them - a slightly ridiculous time frame given they take about 5 minutes to prepare.

I am glad I did eventually get to these, because they delivered exactly what I was hoping for. The peach provides the dominant flavour, but hemp seeds and puffed cereal mellow out the sweetness and give texture contrast too. These are a little lighter to eat than traditional fruit and nut balls, but are just as satisfying.

Tweet

Pumpkin scones, the savoury edition: Hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and herbs

Earlier this year, I made pumpkin and date cardamom scones and I loved them. A lot.

What I didn't mention at the time was that I also made pumpkin savoury scones, with hemp seeds, nutritional yeast and herbs. I loved them too, a lot.

I had put this recipe aside for Vegan MoFo*, thinking it would be in October and I might partake. Given Vegan MoFo is this month, and I have no other posts to deliver today!, I'm bringing it out now instead.

Tweet

Roasted pumpkin and cauliflower with molasses, hemp seeds and quinoa

This is a recipe for busy weeks, where time dictates that cooking must be practical but you want it to be fun as well.

It is a recipe for autumn days, where turning your oven on is a novelty after months of avoiding anything that might increase the temperature of your summer-heated house.

It is a recipe for evenings when you want a dinner that will cook itself, giving you time to tap-tap-tap at the computer, or talk to your partner, or perhaps just fold some washing.

It is a recipe for warmth, nutrition, flavour.

It is a recipe for weekends where work is required, and every minute seems to be accounted for.

It is a recipe for sharing, or for keeping to yourself.

It is a recipe for life, whatever it throws up.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Roasted pumpkin and cauliflower with molasses, hemp seeds and quinoa

Easy, delicious, and can stand alone or pair with a protein-based side

Vegan

Serves 2-3

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 butternut pumpkin

1 head of cauliflower

1 tbsp blackstrap molasses (or other molasses, or maple syrup)

1 tbsp water

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp hemp seeds

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked

Nuts or seeds, extra, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to high (200'C) and cut the pumpkin and cauliflower into chunks. Place in a large oven-proof dish.

Combine the molasses, water, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast and hemp seeds in a jar of bowl, and whisk to combine. Pour over the vegetables. Roast in the oven for at least one hour, checking after 30 minutes.

About 15 minutes before the vegetables are ready, rinse your quinoa and then combine with 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil. Reduce to simmering, cover, and allow to cook for 10 - 15 minutes until fluffy.

Combine the vegetables and quinoa, and sprinkle with nuts or seeds if desired.

Submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend March 28th to April 1st 2013.

What are you eating (or doing) this weekend?

Tweet

Homemade hemp seed milk

I remember when Angela at Oh She Glows wrote, in relation to a home composting system, that "my transition into a tree-huggin, hippy, vegan is now complete" (in May 2011).

I am pretty sure that homemade hemp seed milk puts me in the tree-hugging, hippy, vegan category too. There is just no way to make it sound normal. Ricki seemed to agree when she talked about it recently, with her post titled hippie dippy hemp milk.

While it may sound a long way from 'normal', hemp seed milk does seem to be growing in popularity in North America (and with Australians based within North America). Consistent with this, there are quite a few different recipes around for hemp seed milk. Bryanna Clark Grogan includes step-by-step instructions and some possible variations for the process. Most recipes include agave syrup as a sweetener but the ratio of water to hemp seeds varies enormously, from 2:1 (2 cups water to 1 cup hemp seeds) to 12:1.

I decided to follow the ratio recommended in one of my vegan cookbooks, The 30 Minute Vegan (Reinfeld & Murray). This suggests 4 cups of water to 1 cup of hemp seeds and also advises soaking the seeds for four or so hours before blending. Many online recipes skip over the soaking, but I didn't find it too difficult to put the seeds and water in the fridge ahead of time. I didn't bother with the sweetener, figuring I would try it plain first and adjust after if necessary.

The process is really very easy. Basically, you soak your seeds in water then whiz them up in a blender. The pictures below show the transformation, with a fairly dirty looking water with seeds in it (top) being converted to a fluffy, creamy 'milk' (bottom).

If you stopped here, you would still have seeds floating in your milk, so this is where a nut milk bag or cheesecloth comes in. I have seen the bags in various health food stores and they aren't expensive. Simply pour the milk mixture through the bag, with a container underneath to catch the strained liquid, and then squeeze out the seeds that are left behind. It's a fun process.

I did end up with a sludge after the straining, which may suggest I didn't squeeze the seed remnants enough. I will look into possible uses for the leftover seeds in the future, as it felt like a waste to throw them out. (Does anyone have any suggestions?)

When you have strained your liquid, you end up with a thick, creamy hemp seed milk that is ready for hot or cold drinks, cereal, or drinking straight up. Homemade nut and seed milks reportedly keep for about 3 days in the fridge, and I found my version to last well over that time frame.

Version 1 - super creamy

I wasn't sure what to expect from hemp seed milk, and was concerned it might be a little bitter. As it turns out, I really, really liked it. It is nutty and a little earthy, but not at all bitter - and keep in mind I didn't add sweetener. It works brilliantly in coffee, and in chai lattes.

I did find the 4:1 ratio to yield a very creamy milk, and I ended up trying to water my first version down. After reading Bryanna Clark Grogan's post I realised that her lighter, 12:1 ratio recipe was probably closer to the sort of milk I usually use (unsweetened almond milk) and more aligned with my tastebuds. The only problem with a 12:1 ratio is that you can end up with a lot of milk, far more than I would get through in three days.

Given the above, I made my second batch with 1 cup of water and just 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds. This gives a 12.5:1 ratio and has the benefit of making a small serve, perfect for one day or so.

Version 2 - a little thinner

I found this second version to have a much better consistency, and I think you can tell from the photos that it is thinner. If you like creamy milk then my first batch would probably suit you well, but if you're used to almond milk or skim / semi-skim cow's milk then the second version is more similar to those products.

Basic hemp seed milk

See Bryanna and Ricki's posts for additional tips and ideas

Makes 1 cup; increase ingredient proportions to taste or need

Vegan

Ingredients

1 tbsp hemp seeds

1 cup water

Method

Soak the hemp seeds and water for 4 hours, or longer, in the refrigerator.

Transfer the seed/water mixture to a blender and process until creamy, about 30 seconds.

Strain the mixture through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Hemp seed milk on weetbix, and hemp seed milk in coffee - a good Sunday morning

To my delight, I have also hit upon consistent success with using non-dairy milks in coffee, which is something I had a lot of trouble with in the past. I now use at least 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (vs. about 1 tbsp when I used cow's milk) and warm it in the microwave before topping up with hot water. This prevents the curdling I used to experience, and I really enjoy the resulting flavour. 

I never would have thought I could enjoy milk, non-dairy or not, but this is one area where I am pleased to admit that I was wrong! I don't see myself drinking it plain any time soon, but I am getting through over a litre a week now (mostly almond milk, when I'm not playing with hemp seeds) and it's a shift I'm very happy with.

I am linking this post into the Healthy Vegan Friday event hosted by Gabby, Shelby and Carrie.

Have you made nut / seed milk at home? Or tried commercial hemp seed milk?

Tweet

Pikelets with peanut butter, banana and hemp seeds

I have a question for you.

What do you think of when you hear "peanut butter and ____________"?

If you're American, it might be jelly.

(Actually, even if you're Australian it might be jelly, even though 'jelly' is actually 'jam' to us.)

It might be chocolate.

Or toast.

It might even be a spoon.

If you're me, it is peanut butter and banana.

It seems I'm not alone: there are 27.900,000 Google results for 'peanut butter and banana', to 3,230,000 results for 'peanut butter and jelly'.

My peanut butter and banana connotations stem from one of my regular 3-year-old lunches, a peanut butter and banana sandwich on wholemeal bread. It is one of my earliest food memories, and strongly linked to my mother (who made me the sandwiches, and, I believe, ate them alongside me).

As I got older, I liked peanut butter and banana less and less. I moved to vegemite sandwiches with an apple on the side, leaving the peanut butter and bananas to my brother and sister. It is only in the last 5 years that I have re-discovered peanut butter (only in natural and crunchy form you understand) and I still prefer my bananas in frozen or baked form, rather than fresh.

Sometimes, though, a craving for peanut butter and banana together will hit me. I am never sure if it is physiological (healthy fats and potassium?) or psychological (the comfort of being 3?), but it is certainly a flavour combination that has stayed in my memory and my imagination.

Today, we have peanut butter and banana pikelets. They are, if I say so myself, quite delicious.

Pikelets with peanut butter, banana and hemp seeds

Adapted from my apple and sultana quinoa pikelets

Makes about 16 pikelets

Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 medium-large or 2 small bananas

3/4 cup self-raising flour

1/4 cup quinoa flakes (see note below)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

2 tsp chia seeds soaked in 1/4 cup water

2 tsp hemp seeds

3/4 cup almond milk, or milk of choice

2 tbsp peanut butter

Oil spray for coating the pan

Note. I used quinoa flakes because I enjoyed them in my apple and sultana pikelets, and still had some in the pantry. If you don't have any, or don't want to use them, you could substitute oats or plain wholemeal flour (or even plain white flour).

Method

Slice your banana/s thinly and then cut each slice in half. 

Combine the flour, quinoa flakes, bicarbonate soda, chia seeds in water, hemp seeds and almond milk. Stir well to combine.

Add the banana slices and peanut butter and mix through the batter.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and drop dessertspoonfuls of mixture onto the pan. I did 3 - 4 pikelets at a time. Cook until bubbles start to appear (1 - 2 minutes) and then flip and repeat, so both sides are browned. Repeat for the other pikelets.

I think these are best served warm shortly after cooking, but they were also enjoyable cold and should keep for several days in an airtight container. I didn't think of it at the time, but some cinnamon would work well in the mix too.

So tell me - what is your 'peanut butter and ___' combination? 

Or, what are your 3-year-old food memories like?!

This post is part of my Vegan Month of Food contributions for October 2012, and is

also submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend

Tweet

Sweet potato, chickpea and hemp seed veggie burgers

There have  been some great veggie burger posts in the last week. Angela talked about preparing and freezing large quantities of burgers, on Oh She Glows. Gena talked about building good veggie burgers, on Choosing Raw and on Food 52.

Just so we're clear, this post isn't in quite the same category. I just have a recipe.

It is, though, a recipe that I'm rather happy with. I really liked these burgers. I liked the sweet potato base, which dominated the flavours without over-dominating them. I liked the chickpeas and hemp seeds, with their joint benefits for flavour and texture. I liked the smoked paprika, the kale, and even the onion. I really liked the oats.

I'm hoping that you might like them too.

I have no doubt that these draw on a number of veggie burger recipes, including those I've seen online and those I've eaten (and made) previously. The ingredient list really wrote itself, and would be easily adaptable to your own tastes and pantry items if desired. I imagine that swapping out the chickpeas for other legumes, the oats for other grains, and the hemp seeds for other seeds would all work well. 

For now, though, here is my version.

Sweet potato, chickpea and hemp seed veggie burgers

Makes 10 burger patties

Vegan

Delicious by themselves and quite incredible when paired with tomato flavours (fresh tomato, tomato relish, or tomato sauce)

Print recipe

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced (mine weighed 675g in total with peel and 475g peeled)

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 tin)

1/2 cup rolled oats, processed into oat flour (or 1/2 cup commercial oat flour or flour of choice)

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 onion, diced

~1/3 cup chopped kale (I used about 8 small kale leaves picked from my garden; I imagine this would equate to 4 large kale leaves)

1 tsp chia seeds soaked in 1/3 cup water (mine soaked from the time I steamed the sweet potato)

1 - 2 tbsp hemp seeds (or sesame seeds, if you don't have hemp)

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 - 2 tsp dried oregano

~1/2 tsp salt

Few good cracks black pepper

Tomatoes or tomato relish, to serve

Method

Steam your sweet potato until tender and then set aside to cool (I steamed mine early in the day and then left it in the fridge until the evening).

While the sweet potato is cooling, set your chia seeds to soak and process the 1/2 cup oats into oat flour using a food processor (if using).

When the sweet potato is cooled, roughly mash it and the chickpeas in a large bowl. Add the oat flour  (or flour of choice) and oats and mix through. Add the remaining ingredients and mix through.

Allow the mixture to stand in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to several hours.

When the mixture is ready, preheat your oven to 180'C and line two baking trays with baking paper. 

Shape the mixture into approximately 10 patties. Bake on the prepared baking trays for 30 minutes, or until crispy.

Serve in burger buns, with rice, or simply with salad. Tomato accompaniment is highly recommended.

I found these re-heated well, which can sometimes be a challenge with veggie burgers. The texture is softer when they're warmed in the microwave, but the patties still held together and the outside retained a certain crispiness. The flavours, if anything, improved with time.

All in all? I think I will be making these again.

Do you have a favourite or 'go to' veggie burger? 

Submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend

Tweet

Hemp seed muesli squares and apple, zucchini and hemp seed pikelets

After my short but busy trip to Sydney, it was with some relief that I landed back in Perth last night. Sydney is a lovely place, but it isn't home, and juggling my usual work tasks from afar, around 8 hour training days, was starting to take its toll!

The other nice thing about coming home, as I've discussed before, is returning to a house full of the foods I like, including all the 'little' ingredients that you wouldn't pick up when away. Herbs and spices, for instance. A range of teas. A range of cereals. And, as of recently, hemp seeds.

I was impressed at how many of you were keen to pursue hemp seeds when I mentioned them in my April recap post. Prior to Theresa's post and give away, I hadn't really heard of them - but then, I'm so often behind the times. From a nutritional perspective, hemp seeds are worth looking out for. They contain all 10 essential amino acids and a number of fatty acids. I have mentally filed them in the same category as flax and chia seeds, although I'm not sure how correct that really is.

The thing about hemp seeds, though, is that it's actually illegal to sell them for eating use in Australia. I don't really know what to make of this or how to interpret it in the context of hemp seeds being available, but there you go.

Putting legalities aside, here are some of the ways I enjoyed hemp seeds;

• Mixed into smoothies, as we saw
• In banana softserve with coffee (pictured above) - something about the hemp, coffee and banana combination worked incredibly well
• Mixed in with yoghurt and oats
• Tossed through a salad with chickpeas
• In muesli bar squares (see recipe below)
• In pikelets (see recipe below)

There is a clear bias here towards the breakfast and snacks category, and I haven't yet tried these in any savoury recipes. I will, though, and Theresa noted they worked well in soy burger patties. For now, I'll leave you with these recipes and will look forward to reading more about how others use the seeds.

Hemp seed muesli squares

Makes 16 squares
Soft and chewy, these squares are full of flavour but have a far shorter ingredient list than most commercial varieties
Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup puffed millet, or puffed cereal of choice (puffed rice would work fine, for instance)

2 - 3 tbsp agave (I used 2 tbsp and these were barely sweet; use more to taste)

3 tbsp unhulled tahini

1 - 2 tbsp hemp seeds (I used 1.5 tbsp)

1/4 cup sultanas, or dried fruit of choice

1/2 cup apple sauce

2 tbsp water

Method

Preheat oven to 160'C and line a square baking tin with baking paper.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Press into the baking tin. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until set and slightly browned.

Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Apple, zucchini and hemp seed pikelets

Makes 16 pikelets
Sitting at the intersection of sweet and savoury, and of breakfast and lunch, these work well at any time of day
Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup quinoa flakes

3/4 tsp bicarbonate soda

1 chia egg or commercial egg replacer to the equivalent of 1 egg (or 1 egg)

3/4 cup almond milk

1 medium apple, peeled and diced

1/2 small zucchini, peeled and diced (Note. I would grate the zucchini in future)

1/4 cup sultanas

1 tbsp hemp seeds

Method

Combine the oats, quinoa flakes and bicarb. soda in a medium bowl. Mix the egg replacer and milk together in a separate bowl, then add to the dry mix and stir well to combine. Mix through the apple, zucchini, sultanas and hemp seeds.

Heat a non-stick pan and cook 4 pikelets at a time, flipping them when they are starting to bubble and turn golden brown.

I liked both of these products, but as noted would grate the zucchini in future - it was a bit odd having the chunks alongside apple and sultanas. The muesli squares were also barely sweet, so I would recommend 3 tablespoons of agave (or other liquid sweetener) if you want something sweeter.

Would the products have been as good without the hemp? That I can't really say, but I did like knowing the seeds were in there, and it seemed like it improved the texture and flavour. All in all, I'm very happy with it as an add in.

Have you ever used hemp seeds? Do you have any favourite uses?

My hemp seeds were provided from Hemp Seeds Australia, via Theresa at The Tropical Vegan

Tweet