Recipe | Chana Masala (non-traditional)

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Before I get any hate from hard core Indian food snobs about this not being a traditional Chana Masala recipe - I AM NOT CLAIMING IT IS. I understand that some key ingredients are left out ( It's not exactly easy to obtain an ingredient like amchoor powder for me). I am also aware that I introduced some new ingredients (I like zucchini, so what?). I was just working with what I had on hand and catering the recipe to what I like. I wanted this to be relatively easy and equally as tasty. I hope you can look past these minor details and try this recipe out for yourself. It's quite good, if I do say so myself, even if it isn't traditional. One day I'll try my hand at a traditional recipe, but for now this is a great alternative.

1 large white onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
2-3 small potatoes, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup low sodium vegetable stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 heaping tbsp mango-ginger chutney
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet to medium heat with some olive oil. Start off by sauteing the potatoes because they'll take the longest to soften up. After about 5-7 minutes, add in the other vegetables. Saute together with some salt and pepper for another 5-7 minutes.

Introduce the drained and rinsed chickpeas to the veggie mix. Then add the cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, and turmeric to the pan to wake them up a bit. Stir to coat all the veggies with the spices.

Now you can stir in the tomato paste. When the tomato paste becomes fragrant, add the mango-ginger chutney and the chili-garlic sauce. Stir to combine everything.

Add in the vegetable stock and simmer until the liquid reduces by about half (15 minutes or so) Season with more salt and pepper if necessary. 

(what it should look like BEFORE it has reduced)

Serve over jasmine rice or just eat on its own.

Enjoy! :)

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Recipe | Spicy Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Burgers

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1 small eggplant
1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 scallions, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chili lime spiced cashews
1/2 cup quick-cooking or instant oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 tbsp sriracha hot sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

To start off these burgers, you're gonna want to roast your eggplant. I used a small one, but whatever size looks good at the grocery store will work fine. A larger eggplant will yield you an extra burger or two and you might need to add a little more of the spices.

Anyway, preheat your oven to 450° Fahrenheit, line your baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Slice your eggplant in about 1/2 inch slices and line them on the baking sheet. Drizzle the slices with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Roast them for about 5-7 minutes on one side, flip them, and then roast the other side for about 3-5 minutes.

While your eggplant is roasting, you can start processing your other ingredients. I have a really small food processor, so I needed to process everything in steps - that's how I'll write out this recipe. If you have a large food processor, go ahead and just dump all the ingredients into it and pulse away.

Anyone with a small food processor, here's what you can do:

Start off with the cashews - you want to get them to a crumbly consistency, but not like bread crumbs. Pulse them for 10-15 seconds to achieve this texture and then add them to a big bowl.

Next, you might have to do your can of beans in two steps. Just pulse it until the beans are mashed up a little bit. I like a chunkier burger, so I didn't process my beans for a long time. It's up to your personal preference though. Add your mashed up chickpeas to the bowl with the ground up cashews.

Take your roughly chopped scallions, oats, chia seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until everything looks evenly combined. Add this mixture to the bowl. 

You can add the sriracha, or whatever hot sauce you chose, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and vegetable stock right to the bowl and bypass the food processor. Stir up all the ingredients to combine and evenly distribute all the spices.

At this point, your eggplant should be finished roasting  Remove the eggplant from the oven and turn the temperature down to 400°.

Go ahead and roughly chop up the eggplant - CAREFULLY since you just took it out of the oven and it will be hot! (feel free to let it cool off for a little while) - and then add it to the food processor. Pulse for 15-20 seconds, or until it's at your desired consistency. Add the eggplant to the bowl with all the other ingredients and give it one last stir and a taste to check for seasoning.

Grab a handful of the mix and start forming your patties. I was able to get 7 burgers when I made this. I just put the patties on the same baking sheet and foil I used to roast my eggplant - I just added a little more non-stick spray. Line your patties up and bake them for 7 minutes one one side, flip them, and bake for another 5-7 minutes on the other side. 

While your patties are cooking, you can get your burger toppings ready. I just served mine on some toasted organic whole grain bread with mixed baby greens and tomato slices topped with honey mustard.

Enjoy!

- Sam :)

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Recipe | Smokey Avocado and Chickpea Dip

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1 15 oz can of Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 avocado
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large food processor and pulse until the desired consistency is achieved. My food processor was small so I processed the garbanzo beans, added them to a bowl, then processed the garlic and onion and added that to the bowl, then I just added the avocado straight to the bowl without processing, added the spices and olive oil and mixed everything together with a spoon.

Serve this as a spread on a sandwich or just dip your favorite pita chips in it. I won't judge you if you decide to just eat it with a spoon, though

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Recipe | Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers with Stuffed, Oven-roasted Avocados

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FOR THE BURGERS:

1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 egg, beaten.
1 carrot, shredded
1 zuchinni, shredded
1/2 onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
1 roasted red pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese - save 1/4 cup for after you combine it in the food processor
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup flat leaf parsely, roughly chopped
the zest of one lemon
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
salt and pepper to taste
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil

(makes 8 burgers)

Add all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is combined into a smooth-ish mixture. Transfer the mixture to a separate bowl and incorporate the reserved 1/4 cup feta cheese. Add more bread crumbs if the mixture feels too soggy. To make these vegan, just omit the cheese and use an egg substitute - like arrow root or a flax mixture (i don't know the exact measurements. just google it)

Set a large skillet or griddle to medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray or add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Form the mixture into patties. Sear on both sides for about 3-5 minutes each. The burgers WILL be squishy and a little messy, this is OKAY! They won't fall apart, but they will be mushy.

FOR THE AVOCADOS:

4 ripe avocados, halved and de-pitted

1 cup button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 soy sausage, diced

1/2 tomato, diced

some fresh mozzarella, diced

a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 450°F. 

Scoop out the majority of the avocado's flesh from each half, mash up with salt and pepper, and set aside in a bowl.

Set a large skillet to medium heat and add some oil. Brown up the soy sausage pieces - about 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan, chop up into tiny pieces, and set aside.

Saute the onions in the left over oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and some salt and pepper. Cook together for another 5-7 minutes, or until the onions get caramelized and the mushrooms soften up and brown a little bit. 

Combine the sausage pieces and the mushroom and onion mixture with the mashed avocado you set aside. 

Fill the avocado halves with the mixture... about 3 tbsp should fit into each. It really depends on the size of your avocados, though.

Stick in some pieces of the diced tomato and mozzarella in each avocado half. 

Bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

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Recipe | Pan-Roasted Spiced Chickpeas

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1 can of Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
a couple tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Set a large skillet to medium heat. Drain, rinse and DRY the chickpeas. DRY THEM REALLY WELL OR THEY WON'T GET AS CRUNCHY. Add them to the hot pan with some oil and coat them well with it. Add the spices to the pan and stir to combine.

Cook everything together for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure every time you stir them, they end up back in a single layer so that every chickpea is touching the hot pan to get crispy. You might need to add a little more oil throughout the cooking process to avoid sticking. I only had to do this twice and ended up using about 2 tbsp all together. They should achieve color that looks like this after 20 minutes:

Feel free to make them darker if you like, this is just how I preferred them. You can put them over salads, mixed in with rice or pasta dishes at the last minute for that extra crunch, or you could just eat them plain. Enjoy!

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