Lentil Socca

My chickpea flour is all gone and with no dried chickpeas in my bulk foods stash (and not really into going through another ear piercingly loud experience), I made lentil flour! I dumped some dried brown lentils that I had into the food processor, turned it on and walked away. Processing the lentils was a way less painful experience, thank goodness.

It did not turn out custard-y like classic soccas do but that easily could be me leaving it in the oven for too long. I also used a spring-form pan this time and it was like magic! Super easy to pop it out so I didn't have to deal with the socca sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Lentil Socca

I am not sure if it is technically a socca since I used a different bean flour than chickpea but that's what I'm callin it anyways.

Ingredients:

1 c lentil flour

1 1/4 c water

1 t salt

any other flavorings and add ins that you choose! (my favorite so far is sliced onions and olives)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Whisk together all ingredients until smooth.
Pour batter into an oiled 10" spring-form pan (ideal) or pie pan.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the socca is pretty firm to the touch.

 Toes

Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard, and Red Lentil Soup

Really really really amazing soup. Perfect amount of spices and different textures. A great (and obvious) continuation of my Indian kick... From Cheap Healthy Good.

Ingredients:
2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 t cumin seeds
1 t black mustard seeds
2 t oil
1 T fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 c water
3 c dried red lentils, rinsed (Any kind of lentil or split pea would do)
1 T mild curry powder
1 bunch Swiss chard

Directions:
In a large pot, heat 1 t oil and cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Move onions aside in pot and add second teaspoon of oil and whole cumin and mustard seeds.
Stir seeds with spatula for about 30 seconds.

When mustard seeds begin to pop, stir together spices with onions.
Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
Add water, sweet potato, lentils, and curry powder and stir.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about an hour or until lentils are tender.

Wash and chop Swiss chard and set aside. (I rolled up leaves and cut them to make long ribbons. Also, I chopped the stems separately)
Stir dal occassionally to prevent sticking and burning.

When the dal is tender, turn off heat, remove lid, and stir in Swiss chard.
Replace lid and allow chard to wilt for 5–10 minutes.

Coconut Dal

Last night Poonam and I decided to hold a snowman protest. What's this you ask? Well we built a bunch of angry looking snowmen on the U-M diag holding signs protesting global weirding.

My sustainability soulmate.

Some notable signs:
Climate change is getting worse. And you still won't get a snow day.
Sustainability is common sense. Do you lack it?
Yo! My snowballs are freezing!
Your lack of concern is giving me blue balls:

We spent about 2 hours in the snowpocalypse, making about 20 angry snowpeople (some a bit too anatomically correct...). A special thanks to all of the friends and random passerbys that helped in the building process! It was pretty satisfying seeing just about every person walking through the diag whip out their phone and take a picture of our semi-inappropriate demonstration ;)

Ultimately, I trudged home with wet pants, socks, gloves and feeling awful. After passing out for 2 hours I awoke famished and yearning for something warm. Enter:

Coconut Dal

From Open-Ended Question.

Ingredients:

1/2 c coconut oil

1 c dried coconut flakes (1)

1.5 T brown mustard seeds (1)

1.5 T cumin seeds (1)

2 t ground cumin (1)

2 t ground coriander (1)

2 t ground cardamom (1)

1 t turmeric (1)

1/4 t cayenne (1)

1/2 c fresh ginger, minced

2 large onions, diced (I only had 1 onion but it turned out good still!)

3 green chilis, seeds removed & finely sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced (3)

2 large tomatoes, diced (2)

2 c split red lentils (1)

9 c water (divided)

2 tsp salt (added after dal is cooked)*

Directions:

Melt coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large pot.

Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and dried coconut.

Cook until seeds are sputtering and fragrant, stirring frequently.

Add dry spices (not salt) and stir until well mixed (Add small amounts of water if spices begin burning/sticking to the pot.)

Add garlic, ginger, onions (and chiles if you have them) and cook until onions are translucent, 5-7 min.

Add tomatoes and 1 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes, until tomatoes are broken down.

Add lentils and remaining water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat until simmering and cook until lentils break down and become mushy, about 45 min.

Add salt and garnish with chopped cabbage, carrots or cilantro!

*Do not add salt until after lentils have cooked. Salt interrupts the cooking process of the bean.

(1) People's Food Co-op bulk section

(2) Locavorious

(3) Tantre Farm

October Birthday Feast

Last night, in honor of my lovely roommate, Marcy, and in celebration of her 20th birthday, I cooked up a harvest feast. Probably not the most logical use of my time considering I have a physics exam tomorrow but hey, we all have our vices.

Say "Hello," Marcy!

The following recipe is based off of a recipe from the food blog Sprouted Kitchen. I highly recommend perusing the Sprouted Kitchen archives because not only are the recipes delicious but the pictures that highlight the ingredients and dishes will make you drool and fall in love with food all over again.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

Ingredients:
2-3 large sweet potatoes
1 c chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans), soaked overnight*
3 small onions
3 T olive oil
1 t cinnamon
2 T honey
2 t nutmeg (I didn't have any so I used ground cloves...)
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used about 4 cloves but that's because I am a garlic fiend)
1 t cayenne pepper (optional)
1 t salt
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Ground pepper
Rosemary and/or thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add soaked chickpeas. Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for an hour, or until chickpeas are soft. Drain.
While the chickpeas are cooking, peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and lime juice.
Pour over sweet potatoes and stir. Add drained chickpeas and onions and about 2 T of dried rosemary and stir.
Dump the mixture onto a baking sheet and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender, stirring halfway through.
Remove from oven and season with salt and pepper to taste. If any lime juice is left over, squeeze over the dish.

*I used a 16 oz. can of chickpeas from my pre-challenge stash


Golden Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Almonds

Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts
olive oil
salt
pepper
almonds, chopped

Directions:
Remove unsightly leaves from Brussels sprouts and cut in half lengthwise. Toss with about 1 T olive oil.
Heat 1 T oil over medium heat and add Brussels sprouts. Cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
Roast almonds over medium-low heat until golden brown and fragrant, stirring often.
Mix Brussels sprouts and almonds.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.