lentilasylum

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Cruising for Chick(peas)

Yo, chicadees and chickadudes,

I have a recipe for you. And it lets you do one of my favourite things ever- Urge your friends, face braided with unnatural excitement, to guess, just guess what it's made with. Guess.

It's kinda like a muffin, kinda like a cake and it's made out of chickpeas. 

Even my sister-in-law, who despises chickpeas with a burning passion, loved it!

What you need:

1 can of drained chickpeas 

2 beaten eggs 

juice and zest of an orange

1/4 cup of self raising flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg 

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

Rinse your chickpeas and remove any obvious skins

Pulse in a food processor until smooth (like the consistency of damp sand. It'll hold if you pinch it together)

Combine remaining ingredients, bar flour, and add to the chickpeas

Gently fold through flour

Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake for thirty mins Or until a skewer comes out clean 

Leave to cool before entering higher plane of consciousness via chickpea muffiny goodness

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gluten and sugar free/vegan anzac cookies! 

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All that and a jar of jam...

Yo yogis, yoginis and all other peeps that don't allow alliteration.

Last year I made jam for the first time. It was a ball.  But it was also time consuming and had enough white sugar in it to knock your lights out. 

So, last week, when I got to wondering why I'd never heard of banana jam before I tried out an idea to cut sugar and time in the kitchen. Without further ado- banana, date, cinnamon jam! 

What you need: 3.5 cups of fruit (about 3 chopped bananas and 6 large dates) 0.25 cup of lemon or lime juice 1.5 cups of brown sugar 0.5 cups water 2 tsp cinnamon What you need to do: Toss chopped fruit in lemon or lime juice Set aside Dissolve sugar water over high heat, bringing pan to boil Add fruit and cinnamon to pan and lower heat allowing mixture to thicken for half an hour

Keep an eye on the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to prevent your jam burning

Once the fruit has turned into a thick paste check it by dragging your spoon across the bottom of the pan.

If the jam closes slowly over the track made by the spoon then you're done!

Make sure you have sterilised your jam jars to ensure a safe product.  You can find out how to do that here: http://britishfood.about.com/od/glossary/ht/sterilizingjars.htm I have been enjoying putting a teaspoon of this in oats, yogurt and have a sneaking suspicion it might hold up on something savoury...  

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community gardens <3

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the greenest fusilli in history

pesto: ·two decent handfuls of nettles (not literally though, as you'll sting yoself!) · one handful of baby spinach · 5 sprigs of lemon-thyme · 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves removed · 1-3 garlic cloves · 1/4 white onion  ·juice and rind of lemon to taste · drizzle of good quality olive oil ·salt and pepper 

for garnish · sliced avocado · handful of mâche lettuce leaves and micro herbs · blanched broccolini  · crumbled feta  · salt and pepper 

-blanch your nettles and spinach, blend with the remaining ingredients.  - boil your pasta -mix all the ingredients together, and voila! very simple! and delicious.   

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growers market salad 

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Bircher muesli with wild figs, granny smith apple, barberries, raisins, muscatels, lemon with oat milk. Garnished with sliced banana, mixed grains+seeds, bee pollen, organic bush honey yoghurt and a drizzle of blue-gum honey.

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ROLLIN for a buzz

ok here's my simple recipe for a delish bircher 

·dried barberries ·dried muscatels ·dried apple ·dried wild turkish figs  ·bee pollen ·flax, chia, pumpkin, poppy and sunflower seeds ·quinoa+amaranth grains ·rolled oats

roll all these ingredients together, soak for half an hour in oat milk, top with some yoghurt-soy or not-, banana, and drizzle of honey if you so please.  a note for those concerned: bee pollen is a super food. be cautious with being too liberal as you must be conditioned to it. it does however have many incredible +'s  bee pollen is a high-energy whole food that supplies us with nearly every SINGLE nutrient the human body needs to survive. it is very high in protein, containing between 20-35%, including all 22 amino acids. word. 

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Pigeon hole café

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poached tamarillo creamed vialone nano+almond

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pumpkin miso soup, wakame and lady smock

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tasty tassie

i never did tell you all about how much i love australia. we just have everything! i always knew it was wonderful here, but after visiting hobart last year, i had a deeper appreciation for the wonders of our country. Tasmania holds such raw majestic beauty, unified community and creative zeal, it's a wonder that its so overlooked. The Mona -museum of old and new art- is possibly the most amazing i've ever seen internationally (i probably shouldnt say that, being a staff member of the MCA..), and worth a trip just for that. in terms of food though, there are so many beautiful places, and the interconnectedness of the local community means that the best of everything is plentiful and happily shared.  a few places that are definitely worth going to are-

Garagistes-103 Murray St  sidecar natural organic wine bar-129 Bathurst street Pigeon hole café-93 Goulburn street pilgrim coffee-run by the very talented will priestly, runner up to the international barista championships, who kindly showed me all he knew foodwise when we were down. 48 Argyle St pollen tea room-run by the sweet Shae and her partner, who are both very humble and talented. 56 Hampden Road, Battery Point and  Ethos-100 Elizabeth St 

here are some shots of the dlish food that was consumed on my trip. questions? ask! 

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Homage to our very brilliant Ottolenghi 

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Naked indiana popped down too fast

and while i'm on a surry hills rant, i think i ought to catch y'all up on the vegan pop up called Naked indiana, of which i posted a photograph a while back. run by a beautiful couple, Rebecca and Frank, this beautiful little spot lasted for a few weeks on foster street surry hills.  serving exclusively vegan goods, and mainly raw, the dishes were generous, relish and healthy. the concise menu was wholly organic and changeable daily, depending on what is fresh and seasonable.  breakfast options include sprouted granola, gluten free bircher or coconut yoghurt, all made lovingly from scratch.  For lunch options, home made pita, vegan patties, and a pleasantly colourful assortment of veg, fruit, grains, pickles and dips. drinks? fresh juices, homemade coconut water or chilled cascara cherry tea. everything is lovely, especially the two behind the cafe. they were extremely amiable and engaging, full of interesting stories and knowledge to share with a budding artist/foodie such as i. 

sadly the pop-up is no longer  around, but expect to see good things coming from this pair, as they were telling me about their plans to start a food truck which will make appearances at festivals and markets around nsw!