This is the chickpea salad that I’ve had a few times this week. Sometimes with rice and sometimes just the chickpeas, salad greens, and dressing. I also made it a warm bowl by using chickpeas, veggie balls (IKEA), basmati rice, and collard greens. (I’ll have to add a photo of the bowl with collard greens later this week.)
So you can make it a cold salad or a warm bowl is what I’m hinting at.
Ingredients:
Chickpeas (cooked/seasoned)
Veggie Balls (Or even more chickpea falafel balls.)
Greens (Cold for a salad or cooked for a bowl.)
Rice
Optional add-ins: olives or dried beets (as shown in the photo)
Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and serve with this Savory Tahini Dressing.
Hi everyone! We have started another “Immunity Series” on the Podcast. For the next few weeks, we will be focusing on G-BOMBS as defined by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. ”G-BOMBS” is an acronym that you can use to remember the best anti-cancer, health-promoting foods on the planet. G-Bombs are Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds. These are the foods that you should eat every day, making up a significant proportion of your diet. They are extremely effective at preventing chronic disease, including cancer, and promoting health and longevity.
Do you like kale? Well, here is a recipe that I think you will enjoy that includes 4 of these foods that you should be eating daily: Greens (kale), beans, onions, and mushrooms.
I chose kale greens for this recipe because they are quick to cook and actually only require wilting. This way you can have a dish prepared in no time.
Servings: About 4 when served as a side dish
Ingredients:
1 to 1-1/2 bunch of Kale greens
15 oz of black beans, rinsed (or your favorite) – That’s about 1 can or use any you already have in the freezer.
1/2 onion (red or yellow, preferably a sweeter onion)
1 cup of chopped mushrooms of your choice (feel free to mix mushroom varieties)
2 to 4 small garlic cloves
Any dried vegetable soup mix that includes vegetables such as onions, herbs, and carrots (see notes below).
Water to steam the veggies (or you can use a veggie broth)
Salt/Pepper
Directions: (Choose a non-stick pan with a ceramic coating for extra safety. If you want to use a stainless-steel pan, make sure that it has a heavy bottom. A heavy stainless steel wok works well.)
Wash greens thoroughly if not already clean. No need to dry. Set them aside.
Add about 1/4 cup of water/broth to the pan and immediately add the onions and mushrooms. Continue to cook until the onions are translucent, stirring, and adding water/broth (1 to 2 TBS) as necessary.
When onions are translucent, add the garlic and the vegetable soup mix and cook for about another minute. Again adding water/broth as necessary to rehydrate the dried vegetable soup mix. You may choose to cover the vegetables at this point to allow all the water/broth to soak in, especially if the dry vegetables are still hard.
Next, add the beans and water/liquid of your choice until the beans are thoroughly heated. (If using a can, it’s especially important to rinse the beans before adding them to this dish.)
Lastly, add the kale to the pan and stir, adding water/broth if necessary until they are wilted to your desired tenderness. You could also cover at this point for a bit to allow the kale to wilt even quicker.
Uncover, taste, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over rice or quinoa or use to stuff a baked potato! YUMMY!
Notes: The Dried Soup Vegetable Mix is one that I get from my local “Texas” store, H-E-B. The soup mix doesn’t have many spices added to it other than the dried vegetables and herbs, yet you can definitely use one that has added spices. Just be careful that if your soup mix contains salt, it’s likely that you will not need to add any additional salt.
Potato chips are not currently in my diet because potatoes should be avoided on the GAPS, SCD and Candida Free Diets. So, when I want something crunchy other than my homemade crackers, I make kale chips. I’m saving so much money by making them on my own also.
Additionally, I prefer to make them myself because I know exactly what I’ve put into them and I can “mix it up” based on my own preference. Ideally for best results, you should use a dehydrator – but an oven will work too.
These are YOUR home-made Kale Chips. So many of the ingredients listed below are optional including the nuts, but they do add a special crunch when used in a recipe. Add seasonings/spices to taste and any combination that you like (keep them light, will be stronger once dehydrated) Listed below are some that I use often.
Ingredients:
Dehydrator (or Oven set to it’s lowest setting. 200 degrees Celsius is the max temperature)
1 bunch of washed kale, not necessary to fully dry the leaves
(I’ve used both “common” kale and “lacinato” kale)
1/4 – 1/2 cup nuts or seeds (Most commonly used ones: Walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds. Nuts are optional, but most commercial recipes use them to create a denser crunchiness.)
garlic powder to taste
turmeric
cayenne pepper
onion powder
curry powder
1/4 cup (yellow, orange or red) bell peppers or tomato (these add liquid to the mixture in addition to the oil)
salt to taste
nutritional yeast will give it a cheesy flavor – use about 2 TBS or even more
Instructions:
Add everything except for kale to a blender or food processor.
Taste your recipe. Remember the flavor will be a bit stronger when dehydrated.
Add just enough water, if needed, to enable you to pour your flavor mixture over the washed kale – kale does not need to be dried. The water will evaporate.
Massage the mixture into the kale. They might begin to look a bit wilted, but that’s OK.
Spread the kale onto the dehydrator and dehydrate between 105 and 135 degrees Celsius.
(At 135 degrees Celsius, the kale will be ready in 2 – 3 hours. Yet, many raw food proponents suggest keeping temperature under 115 degrees Celsius.)
Notes:
Here is one specific flavor combination that I enjoyed recently:
1/4 cup walnuts + 3 TBS almond meal (mix with water to form nut butter/paste)
Other recipe ideas:1. Nutritional yeast is really tasty with cashew nuts plus other seasonings
2. Sunflower seeds and sesame seeds (keep whole) with coconut oil (no olive oil) plus other seasonings 3. Add Stevia for sweetness (perhaps if you are going for a B-B-Q flavor combination)
ANOTHER OPTION: You can add some Kale to one of the flavor mixtures which includes nuts and spread the paste onto a baking sheet to make homemade crunchy crackers. By adding nutritional yeast and a little cayenne, you just might end up with some "Cheez-It" type snacks.
My dehydrator is by Nesco. I purchased it from Kohl’s for about $35 (year 2012) or less when I used my Kohl’s coupon. I haven’t had the privilege of trying an Excalibur dehydrator. But this one does just fine.
