Chickpea salad

I saw this recipe for chickpea salad on g+ about three weeks ago and since then I have made this salad three times. We like it that much. It is a similar to chicken salad and/or tuna salad but so much tastier and healthier. 

I have modified it a bit to suit our tastes. I don't ever use canned beans, I soak my own. I doubled the amount of celery as I love the crunch celery adds in these types of salads. I minced my carrots (I loathe shredded carrots), and I added capers and vegetarian fish sauce for color and flavor. The first time I made it, I followed the smashing instructions in the original recipe, that took a long time, now I just pulse it in a food processor which keeps it chunky and only takes about 5 seconds to do.

I sneak a spoonful of this salad every time I open the refrigerator if it is there, otherwise we eat it in a sandwich, on crackers, on lettuce, and I even put some in a veggie dog. 

carrots, celery, green onions, tofu, chickpeas, mayo, lemon, pickles, salt, and pepper

soak beans overnight if not longer

cook for an hour or so with salt until done

add beans, tofu, pickles, and mayo to food processor (you can add capers here instead)

blended, but still chunky

mince celery, carrots, and green onion

add mix and vegetables to a bowl and stir in lemon juice and veggie fish sauce

season to taste - more salt and some spicy

decide it needs some capers

enjoy on crackers, sandwiches

I already need to make more!

Dandelion syrup

Last year I decided to start using all the dandelions that pop up in our yard. I know they are 'weeds' but they do help the soil and they provide some of the first nectar for bees and ants and other early spring insects. I read all these great recipes on punk domestics, so this year I am making some of them.

This syrup is way better than I imagined it to be, it is delicate and floral and delicious. I used this recipe as a guide but didn't follow the measurements, because if you know me, you know I rarely measure anything. Mine is much darker than shown since we use unbleached sugar, but it didn't affect the delicious taste. We have been eating it mixed with yogurt and berries, you can add some to hot water for a sweet herbal tea, it is going so fast, I will need to make more soon.

pick dandelions in the morning

rinse gently

the work is in separating the petals from the flowerhead

squeeze and twist the green bottom

then pull out the petals

fill pot with boiling water

let sit overnight

drain and strain well

add lots of sugar and simmer on low until desired syrupy-ness (6hrs for this batch)

store in refrigerator

and enjoy where sweet is needed

Enjoy deliciousness!

Pickled onions

Pickled onions are now another of our new favorite condiments. These are quick and easy to make and they taste great on just about everything. I like to keep have a jar on hand. I have made other versions before, but this one is the best yet. As usual, a recipe from Food and Wine.

onions, vinegar, sugar, allspice, cloves, bay, pepper, and mustard

mix vinegar with spices

add sugar and cook over low heat

until sugar is completely dissolved

thinly slice your onions

add to cooled mixture

let marinate at least three days

Eat on everything!

Bunny milk

Every Easter the easter bunny brings my kids lots of chocolate and every Easter they never eat more than a few bites of each (ie the ears), so we have come up with creative ways for using that chocolate. We make chocolate covered strawberries and bunny milk. Strawberries are not quite in season yet so we will save the good chocolate for those, but in the mean time, we made hot cocoa with our big bunnies.

add bunnies to pan, if solid - chop them first

add a small amount of milk (coconut) to the bunnies

keep on a low heat

stir until chocolate is melted

then add more milk (coconut) to taste and up the volume

serve to eager children

Mmm chocolate!

Cornbread pudding

I have been slowly using up all the frozen food I put up last summer and we are almost there. We have a few bags of roasted chiles which are fine, since those aren't in season until August, then frozen blueberries, but we eat those all the time, a bag of squash which I have been throwing cubes of in things here and there, and finally a big bag of grilled corn. It was time to finish the corn so I decided on a mash-up of cornbread and corn pudding since I am not a fan of either, but my husband is. It turned out really well and the leftovers fried up nicely for breakfasts.

corn, cornmeal, flour, milk (coconut), onion, eggs, sugar, and salt

soak the cornmeal (ours is coarse) in part water part milk for a good hour or two

then add some sugar

and a dash of salt

chop up some onion

stir into soaked cornmeal with the whole corn kernels

beat eggs (if you don't want eggs, just skip, it won't puff up though)

add to mix with enough flour to make a cake batter consistency

cook in medium hot oven until it browns on top

let cool at least 15 minutes

serve slices with veggie smeat and spinach

I might actually make this again since it was so yummy.

Winter soup

I know just in time for spring, but I made this last week when we had over a foot of snow. This is a recipe from food and wine for a Nordic soup using winter vegetables. It was one of those recipes where I could read the recipe and tell we were going to like it, so I documented it. It was very yummy and I think you can use other root vegetables, I just wouldn't use potatoes or sweet potatoes since they add too much starch to the broth. The multi-onion base makes the soup.

leeks, onions, garlic, parsnips, celery root, barley, spinach, oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper

slice leeks and onions, mince garlic

saute in oil until softened

stir barley into the onions and cook a few minutes until toasty

cube parsnips and celery root (peel the celery root well)

add to base with bay leaves

add veggie stock (I used my concentrate cubes and water) and simmer until veggies are done

stir in spinach and a generous amount of nutmeg

cook until just wilted

serve with homemade crusty bread

Very satisfying on a cold day.