Golden couscous salad

It has been a while between couscous recipes. There is no particular reason for this, other than the usual one of my favoured foods going through cycles. I may be re-entering a couscous phase since reminding myself of how easy it is to make.

Today's salad is golden in lots of ways. There is orange in three formats (zest, juice, segments) plus grated carrot, chopped butternut squash and turmeric. Coriander, ginger and a dash of soy sauce round out the flavour mix, whilst chickpeas and spinach leaves round out the meal. It all comes together very easily and the result is hearty enough to stand alone as a meal, whilst also being well suited to picnic-style eating or a barbecue side dish.

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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.

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Satay chickpea stew with grains

This recipe is really an adaptation of Angela's Oh She Glows 'Soul Soothing African Peanut Stew'. I mentioned last November that I had tried and enjoyed that dish, and realised on making this that I was channeling Angela's flavours. My version is a little simpler than the hers though, and is designed to be served with grains rather than as a stand alone meal. I liked it a lot and am documenting it for my own future reference as well as to share with you!

To me, meals like this are the ultimate comfort food. As is obvious from this site, I love chocolate and desserts and they are comforting too in their own ways. However, there is something warming and comforting about a big bowl of full-flavoured vegetables and grains. It's like a wholesome hug.

I used tinned chickpeas for this, in part from laziness and in part because I wanted to use chickpea water to thicken the stew. If you cook yours from scratch, just reserve a little of the cooking water to add to the mix.

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Triple chickpea stack

I had such fun making and naming this dish. There is something about three layers of chickpeas, in three different forms, that appeals to my kitchen creativity. If the photos don't immediately give it away, the three forms here are chickpea flour (besan flour) pancakes, whole chickpeas, and hummus.

This can be as easy or complicated as your life permits. I cooked chickpeas from dry and made the hummus myself, but then took a short cut with ratatouille and used a commercial tin for that. If you needed a meal in a hurry, you could use tinned chickpeas and store bought hummus; if you are more organised than I was you could whip of ratatouille yourself.

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Cookie dough protein pudding cups (vegan and gluten free)

I have previously had success making desserts with chickpeas and bananas, in the form of banana-cinnamon pudding and coconut banana chocolate-coated truffles. Today's pudding cups drew inspiration from both of those recipes, as well as my chickpea-containing cookie dough truffle balls. The result was a dessert (or snack) that delivered on every front: nutrition, taste, texture and convenience.

If you haven't used chickpeas in sweet dishes before, rest assured that you can't taste them if you use a sufficient balance of other ingredients. The dominant flavours in these cups are banana, vanilla and the chocolate topping - a mix that really does resemble cookie dough, especially with the subtle tones of almond butter underneath and the smooth but thick texture the chickpeas provide. Pear is the other ingredient I used in these, and it adds extra sweetness without distracting from the flavour profile.

 

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Smoky paprika risotto with chickpeas (and giveaway winner)

I was recently pleased to pick up some liquid smoke in the supermarket. I haven't cooked with it since we moved to the UK and have missed the option of smoky, South American style dishes. Mr Bite was less pleased as he is not a big fan of liquid smoke flavoured meals. However, sometimes I exercise the cook's prerogative and serve them to him anyway...

It is perhaps not very surprising that where I loved this dish, he just tolerated it. I am posting it anyway because I am confident that in this instance, his lukewarm attitude stems from his dislike of the ingredients. If you are kind, you probably won't give this to someone who isn't a big fan of liquid smoke or chickpeas. For everyone else - I am certain it will be enjoyable!

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Giant couscous with greens, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas and tahini

I'm on a real tahini streak at the moment. My jars of peanut butter and almond butter have been untouched for weeks, but tahini is featuring pretty much daily. I've come to expect this from myself and am sure I'll move on to a different ingredient love soon. For now - tahini it is. As a result, you get to share in a few tahini recipes and today's bowl meal is a savoury counterpart to my tahini chocolate oat balls of last week!

 

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Giant couscous salad with chickpeas, sweet corn, paprika and tomatoes

Have you tried giant couscous? I picked a pack up last weekend after searching fruitlessly for regular couscous in the supermarket. I still don't know where they were hiding the regular sort, but I am glad I was prompted to give this variety a go. It is utterly delicious and (I think) far nicer than regular couscous!

I used the couscous for a simple salad to take to a shared work lunch. In the end, most of our team forgot about the lunch, so it was cancelled and I was left with a large container of this to eat solo. I've spread it over the week and haven't minded at all. In fact, I liked it so much that I plan to make it again for the rescheduled work lunch.

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Quick and easy chunky hummous

How do you like your hummous (or hummus)? I discovered on the weekend that while I like it all ways, I particularly like it thick and chickpea-y. In contrast, Mr Bite likes it smooth and mellow, with the chickpea flavour in greater disguise. This recipe is for the thicker, chunkier type. It makes a meal of crackers and carrot sticks, and I can't say I mind that Mr B is leaving it largely to me...

Hummous is hardly an innovative recipe and I'm not sure we need another contribution to the online collection of hummous ideas. This one is only lightly adapted from a BBC recipe.  However, sometimes this blog is for my own reference too! If you do need an idea for ingredient proportions, this one should suit if you like chickpeas and chunky dips. It makes a great base for falafal wraps too, as pictured below.

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Beetroot and chickpea curry, in besan flour flatbreads

I am not the biggest fan of beetroot. I will happily embrace it in chocolate beetroot brownies, or in spiralised form for raw Thai noodles, but eaten plain it is not generally my thing.

For whatever reason, I made an exception last week. The lovely thing about local market stalls is they inspire me to buy different products: in season vegetables have great appeal even if the vegetable in question is not usually my favourite. Beetroot caught my eye recently, and then I needed to decide what to do with it.

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High protein banana cinnamon pudding

As some of you gathered from my Facebook page, I was waylaid by illness this week. It has been a while since I've been really sick, and whilst this was short lived, it was sufficient to wipe me out for a while.

Fortunately I am feeling much better now, and am pleased to share this easy recipe I made a few weeks ago.

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Tomato and kale spaghetti with chickpeas

2013 seems to be the year where I go from having no pasta recipes on this blog (oh, okay, a couple) to having 7 and counting. In the last 6 months, we have had angel hair spaghetti with roast peppers, basil and tofu bacon; Asian-spiced tofu with green tea soba noodles; beetroot pasta with a spinach and white bean sauce; more beetroot pasta with cumin-spiced tomato split pea sauce; and now, this chickpea, tomato and kale spaghetti.

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Easy chickpea salad with balsamic roasted sweet potato and carrot

I seem to be constantly posting 'easy' recipes these days. I think I am overdue for an afternoon in the kitchen with a complex, multi-step dish. For now, though, easy seems to be it.

Fortunately, I think some of you appreciate easy recipes as much as I do. Also fortunately, this salad is easy and delicious. After all, can you go wrong with chickpeas, sweet potato and balsamic vinegar? I don't think so.

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Carrot and chickpea salad with orange and avocado

This salad was an impromptu side dish made to complement a roast vegetable strudel like the one I did last Christmas. The strudel was hot and appropriate to winter. The salad is probably more appropriate to summer, but it was highly enjoyable regardless. Plus, it packs a hefty dose of vitamin C, and that at least is winter appropriate.

In addition to Vitamin C, this salad provides protein from the chickpeas and it is sweet from the orange. I think corn would be a nice addition to the mix too, and in future I may try that variation.

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Harissa-spiced pumpkin and chickpea smash

I wasn't sure what to call this dish. It is a bit like a curry and a bit like a stew, but not properly either. Mr Bite called it a pumpkin and chickpea mash. I decided on smash.

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Roast vegetables and chickpeas, with apple

You provided me with some excellent pumpkin ideas when I requested inspiration in my pumpkin cookies post. Over winter, I now hope to work through pumpkin in scone, curry, bread, and cake form. I also foresee lots of roast vegetable mixes.

This easy meal is of the roast vegetable variety. To complement the pumpkin and cauliflower, I threw some apple in too. It might not be conventional, but I highly recommend it. The soft sweet apple pieces paired wonderfully with the vegetables, and made eating chickpeas even more enjoyable than usual.

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Birthdays, outings, and an Asian-inspired chickpea salad

Shadow people walking through glittering lights; Kings Park, Perth.

February is often a busy month. It is the middle of the birthday season that hits a lot of families at this time of year. My brother, Mr Bite's sister-in-law (does that make her my sister-in-law? what if the law is de facto? confusing!) and one of my school friends all had birthday celebrations in the last week.

As I've noted before, it is also the Perth International Arts Festival and we are continuing to see some enjoyable free events. The lights above are currently set up in Kings Park, Perth's main botanical gardens, as are some other light displays around Perth. We went to an outdoor street theatre a week ago where shop fronts were turned over to actors, who played out nine separate scenes over the evening.

My brother's birthday cake (not made by me).

On the birthday side of things, my brother's celebrations provided another opportunity for barbecue-cooked tofu. This time I made tofu bacon, and my sister remarked that it was indeed reminiscent of bacon. She seems to have recently discovered tofu, or at least well prepared tofu, and now happily eats it alongside meat.

Barbecued tofu bacon

Birthday celebrations for our sister-in-law (I'm adopting 'our') were fish and chips at the Kings Park botanical gardens. It is getting dark around 7pm now, instead of the 8pm that characterised mid-summer, so our picnic was a little on the dark side. It didn't matter.

Picnicking at night has certain challenges...

I took along two salads to provide food options for me. One was a basic green salad, which others enjoyed alongside their fish and chips, and the other was an Asian-inspired chickpea salad, which I did ate rather a lot of on the night and have been continuing to enjoy since.

...but enjoyable views; Perth by night.

The chickpea salad was loosely inspired by my recent lunch at The Raw Kitchen Cafe, in the sense that it included coriander and shredded zucchini, apple and carrot. It also included cabbage, soy sauce, a dash of agave nectar, and, of course, chickpeas. I loved it. I have eaten it for at least one meal a day for four days and am a little sad that it is now finished!

If you have need for an easy, make-ahead salad dish that backs protein and vegetables in one, I hope you enjoy it too.

Asian-inspired chickpea salad

Easy to make if you have a food processor, and low fuss even if you don't.

Vegan and high raw.

Serves 4.

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Ingredients

1 medium zucchini

1 medium carrot

1/4 white cabbage

1 red apple (I used a Pink Lady variety)

1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp kecap manis (or another of soy sauce and add a little more agave)

1 tsp mirin (rice vinegar)

1 tsp agave (or palm sugar)

Method

If you have a food processor, grate the zucchini, carrot, cabbage and apple using the grater attachment. If you don't have a food processor, finely chop the cabbage and then grate the zucchini, carrot and apple manually.

Place the shredded vegetables and apple, chopped coriander, and chickpeas in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, kecap manis, mirin and agave. Mix to combine and then pour over the salad and stir through.

Serve cold.

Submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend 28th February to 4th March 2013, and

Healthy Vegan Friday #32.

What is happening for you this month?

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Lunchbox challenge: Vegetable-packed stir fried rice with beans

Cate's February challenge for 'Anyone Can Cook Vegetarian Food', over at Cate's Cates, is lunchboxes. When I saw this at the start of the month, I was quite excited. As you might guess from my obsession with small Tupperware-like containers, my personality aligns nicely with lunchboxes. They are organised, structured, and contain food. What more could one want?

It is actually a minor source of regret that I don't have anyone to pack a lunchbox for. Mr Bite makes his own work lunches, and doesn't take a lunchbox per se. Also, he pretty much has the same thing every day. The closest I can get to excitement is baking him biscuits to swap in for the commercial biscuits that he would otherwise take for afternoon tea.

Packing lunch for myself isn't as fun as making up a package for someone else...unless I have a lunchbox challenge to think about, and then it becomes a little more enjoyable.

So, thank you, Cate, for providing me with a lunchbox focus for this month at least!

My lunchbox challenge recipe is a vegetable-packed stir fried rice with peas. To round this out, I packed up a lunchbox with fruit (a plum and a nectarine), raw almonds and goji berries, and some of that vegan pebble road.

The stir fried rice recipe was made up as I went along, so it is fortunate that it turned out as well as it did. There is star anise in the mix. It is easy to make. It is delicious cold. In all, it is perfect to make ahead and then take to work, school, or just have at home for lunch the next day.

Ideally, this would be made using rice that has been cooked ahead and cooled. However, if you're like me, that may not be possible or you may not be organised enough to manage it. I didn't, and this still worked fine.

Vegetable-packed stir fried rice with beans

Makes 2 lunch-sized serves
Vegan

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Ingredients

Generous 1/2 cup uncooked rice

1 star anise flower

~1 tsp olive oil

2 shallots (or spring onions, or 1/2 a brown onion)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 small capsicum, diced

1 small carrot, diced
~1/8 white cabbage, finely chopped or shredded in a food processor

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, black eyed peas and/or white beans (I used 1/4 cup each of chickpeas and black eyed peas)

Method

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, but with the addition of the star anise to the saucepan. When cooked, set the rice aside to cool (if time permits) or to sit while you cook the vegetables.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and saute the onions until tender. Add the capsicum and carrot and stir fry briefly, about 4 minutes. Add the cabbage, soy sauce and rice and mix through well. Stir fry over low heat for a further 3 - 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas / black eyed peas, mix through, and then remove from heat.

This can be served immediately, but is delicious served cold.

Submitted to Cate's February lunchbox challenge for 'Anyone Can Cook Vegetarian Food'. 

Do you make work lunches or packed lunches for anyone else? If so, do you take a lunchbox or just random assortments of food? 

Despite my enjoyment of this challenge, I will confess to my work lunches more usually being of the random assortment variety than the neatly packed lunchbox variety!

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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)

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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

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Red pepper hummus, and quinoa with purple kale

Thank you for your well wishes regarding my migraine, general 'wrongness', and overall finish to last week. I am pleased to say that the weekend brought happier times and this week things have been smoother - and migraine free.

The red pepper hummus featured today wasn't made last weekend, but it was a happy contributor to the one before. It stems from Mel's generous gift package including more than just liquid smoke. Her smoky paprika and chile chipotle powder are both new additions to my kitchen, and I suspect my experimentation with them will continue for some time yet.

Red pepper hummus - note the scrap of paper which allows me to tell you what I put in it...

My first 'experiment' was to add some of each powder to a bowl of chickpeas and vegetables. I realised afterwards that Johanna's kale and chickpea bowl on Green Gourmet Giraffe featured cayenne pepper (chilli pepper), and I may have benefited from modelling my ingredients on hers. She used a pinch of cayenne pepper, whereas I used a very generous dash of both the smoky paprika and the chile chipotle powder. This is how I discovered that chile chipotle powder is spicy! For some reason it hadn't dawned on me that it was actual, smoked jalapeño chilli, with all the heat that brings. It was an enjoyable bowl, but a warm one...

After this impromptu creation, I was a little more cautious. I was still stuck on chickpeas, though, and red pepper hummus seemed like a good way to bring together the chickpeas with modest chilli tones. There are a few sources of inspiration out there if you want to make a red pepper hummus of your own - I did recall Johanna's version this time around, as well as Angela's recipe on Oh She Glows, and a Google search brings up many more varieties.

My hummus probably drew inspiration from all of these places, but didn't follow one particular recipe. It included half of a large roasted pepper and just one-quarter teaspoon of the chile chipotle power, as well as half a teaspoon of smoky paprika. It worked well and I really enjoyed the twist on regular hummus, as well as the colour of the dip. However, I think my caution may have led me to over-compensate and under-season, just slightly. I would probably increase the spice again next time, particularly for the paprika.

I enjoyed this dip as a dip, but something about it called 'quinoa'. I don't know why. My tastebuds just wanted it to be placed on top of a pile of grains and vegetables, and I was quite happy to indulge them. This also gave me an opportunity to use the purple kale I had discovered. After not having any kale for months and months, my local markets now seem to have it in green and purple varieties, much to my delight. 

The quinoa mix was simple, with nothing more than quinoa, vegetable stock and vegetables, but it provided a perfect base for the smoky dip. My taste buds were happy. It was a great dinner for one (quinoa and chilli and kale aren't really Mr Bite's sorts of foods...) and very enjoyable to take to work for lunch.

And if you happened to have some of those smoky almonds? Throw a few of them in too. Highly recommended.

Red pepper hummus with a dash of smoke and spice, served with quinoa with purple kale

Red pepper hummus

With inspiration from Johanna's smoky red pepper hummus and Angela's ultra creamy red pepper hummus

Makes about 1 cup

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (1 tin) cooked chickpeas, drained

1 small or 1/2 large red pepper, roasted or grilled and then cooled (I grilled mine as part of dinner preparations the evening before, in medium slices for 6 - 8 minutes on each side)

1/2 - 1 tsp smoky paprika

1/4 - 1/2 tsp chile chipotle powder

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp maple syrup

Dash of salt and pepper

Method

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

Note. I used the lower end of the ingredient ranges for the paprika and chipotle powder, but would increase them in future.

Quinoa with purple kale

Makes 2 serves

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Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup vegetable stock

1 small or 1/2 large red pepper, diced

1/2 large zucchini, diced

4 leaves kale, roughly chopped

Method

Place the quinoa and vegetable stock in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the vegetables and cook on low heat for a further 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just cooked and the quinoa is fluffly.

Serve as a side dish or topped with red pepper hummus and optional almonds.

Seriously, wonderfully, brilliantly good.

As for the rest of the hummus? It's been a versatile dip, and I've enjoyed it in a number of ways - one of the more notable being as a zucchini stack.

I am definitely fond of these new spice additions to my cupboard.

How do you like to use dips - for dipping, or as part of meals? And have you ever caught yourself out with spice quantities?!

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