This is a dish that I brought to a casual dinner the other night.  It’s a hearty variation on plain ol’ hummus, of Jordanian and Palestinian origin– one that I’ve been planning to “veganize” for a while now.  I’ve been researching this dish for some time.  I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone’s mother in that part of the globe has a different recipe for it!  Some versions use ground meat (from lots to just a little), and some use cubes. Some decorate the dish with whole chickpeas and some don’t.  Yogurt or labeneh (yogurt cheese) may oor may not be dolloped on top.  Some versions are hot-spicy and some not.  (The other spices vary as well.) Some versions are served with crispy pita on the side, and others call for pieces of the pita to be the first layer of the dish, covered just before serving by the hummus and other ingredients. I even read one recipe that called for soaked pita bread pieces to be stirred into the hummus.

So, you see, you have a great deal of latitude with this delicious dish!  Here’s my version, and, I must say, it was good!

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Nutrition (per serving): 294.5 calories; 34{ae720e0b436026f867bfa0c31185c2252a138f27e85f5f152ec5acc1c10a8cc9} calories from fat; 11.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 526.9mg sodium; 360.1mg potassium; 31.8g carbohydrates; 9.8g fiber; 2.8g sugar; 22.0g net carbs; 18.9g protein.

Lately I’ve been really excited about growing sprouts. Spring has been mercilessly taunting the northeastern U.S. for the last couple of months, and things have been looking really bleak. To keep from losing my mind, I’ve taken to “eating optimistically,” which involves eating piles of sprouts and all the raw veggies I can get my hands on. Nothing says “spring” like bringing lentils out of dormancy en masse, right? So a couple of years ago, I discovered a sprouting jar buried deep in the bowels of my parents’ basement. This was a bizarre find, to say the least, because if you’ve ever met my parents, you know that they definitely never went through any kind of crunchy hippie phase. Case in point: the jar was stored next to a doughnut dropper, a utensil which much more accurately reflects my parents’ culinary roots. Self-sufficiency obsessive that I am, I naturally decided I would get into growing sprouts … despite the fact that I’d never really eaten them regularly. Everybody knows sprouts are tiny nutritional powerhouses, but I’ve always been loath to buy them because they’re expensive and tend to go bad really quickly. As it turns out, growing your own sprouts […]

Costco carries this brand:

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We celebrated the first day of spring today with a snow day for the kids.  We are still below zero here so I am still all about the soups and stews.  If you are having warmer weather and don’t feel like soup, I don’t want to hear about it.  This recipes makes use of a quick stock–all of the veggie trimmings stuck in a pressure cooker to make a tasty broth.  Using the onion skins helps give the stock a rich colour and flavour, so make sure everything is well-washed.  As noted below, you can use this recipe to make an Irish Stew should you be so inclined.  Two for the price of one!

INGREDIENTS
Soup
– 3/4 cup pot barley
– water
– 3 tbsp oil
– 2 large onions, diced
– 2 celery stalks, diced
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 2.5 cup peeled potatoes cut in chunks
– 2 peeled carrots, halved and cut into thick slices
– 2 tsp ground coriander
– 1 tsp cumin
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– 1 tsp mushroom soy sauce
– 2 tsp hoisin sauce
– 2 cups peas
– salt and pepper to taste

Quick Stock
– all trimmings from the veggies above (well washed), including onion skins
– 10 cups water
– 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
– 8-10 fresh thyme stems
– 1 tsp salt

METHOD
1. Cook the barley: put rinsed barley in a pot and cover with 2 inches of water.  Bring to boiling, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 mins.  Drain before adding to the soup.
2. Make the Quick Stock: while the barley is cooking, put all of the stock ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook for 30 mins.  Pass through a strainer before adding to the soup.
3. Make the Soup: Heat the oil in a stockpot somewhere between med-lo to medium heat.  Sauté the onions and celery for 15 mins, or until they are a deep brown, stirring regularly.  Don’t burn them, so watch your heat.  If they are not a nice brown colour, keep going for another 5 mins or so.
4. Add garlic and sauté for 1 min.  Add the spices and fry for 1 min.  Add potatoes and carrots and mix well.
5. Add the strained stock, cooked and drained barley, and the sauces.  Bring to bubbling over high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and simmer for about 30 mins, or until the veggies are tender.  Add peas and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

TO MAKE IRISH STEW
No real recipe here, but rather some suggestions of how to use this recipe as the base for an Irish Stew.  Reduce the barley to 1/4 cup, add another onion, and more potatoes and carrots.  Add some sage to the spices.  Add a protein source: tofu cubes, seitan chunks, possibly white kidney beans. Up the water to about 12-13 cups.  Add some beer to the mix.  Cook uncovered to reduce the stew down. Thicken the stew after the veggies are cooked by mixing flour in with some soy milk and adding to the stew.  Add a few tbsp of tomato paste for a richer sauce.

And make some soda bread!

Turlock is a documentary about one singular animal rescue story. But instead of a story about one dog or a handful or piglets, this story is about the rescue of THOUSDANDS of chickens. Turlock is the story about the largest animal neglect case in U.S. history.