Chickpea pancakes
SocialJoy
Welcome to my March blog and all the news from this month. At last we can meet up with up to x6 friends in a garden and socialise. On 29th March I was at my first garden party - hurrah ! and with pubs and restaurants opening from 12th April, surely this is uplifting and positive.
I had the vaccine last week, probably like a lot of people in my age group, and we seem to be ahead on the vaccine programme compared to the rest of Europe, to protect us against Covid-19.
Am still doing the usual walks in the parks, same as everyone else and a few trips to Kew Gardens, to admire the beautiful spring flowers out. With the clocks going forward end of this month, it can only mean one thing, lighter evenings and spring is on its way !
At least we can now go to some of our gyms from end of March, and can participate in group workouts in the grounds of our club. Apart from the physical exercise, it is just great to see other people and be part of a workout group which is so much more exhilarating than online zoom classes.
WorkJoy
I have been expanding my recipe portfolio to accommodate more class uptakes and mix up the subject menus. It has been fun experimenting with new dishes that I have to eat for my dinner ! New recipes are vegan chickpea pancakes with a cauliflower puree, roasted cauliflower, red onion, pea shoots and dairy free yogurt, as per the photo above and recipe below. It is always good to add new brownie recipes, as everyone loves these treats! My favourite so far are the miso caramel brownies which are just gooey, and purely decadent! Other brownie recipes are raspberry and beetroot brownies, courgette paleo brownies and brazil nut brownies. Savoury dishes include vegan sticky chilli aubergine with brown rice,. freekah grain with poached salmon & courgetti, roasted pistachio crusted salmon with wilted spinach, salmon in coconut milk with sun dried toms, seeded hazelnut rye loaf, and peach, cherry & goji crumble and vegan rocky roads.
I received the lovely products from goodhemp.com in Devon. So now I need to incorporate and experiment with them in my cooking. The raspberry & beetroot brownies were made with the hemp milk and also the vegan rocky roads. Also made smoothies with the hemp protein powder and my porridge was made with the hemp milk too. It tastes quite refreshing as a type of plant-based milk and not sweet at all. It is full of goodness with omega 3’s and low in calories, a winner all round! I also have some hemp flour and citrus hemp oil I will be using as well.
KitchenJoy
The 02 Good Mood Foods class for a 1,000 online went very well in March. They brought their own camera & lighting man and a couple of administrators to respond to users on zoom by text. I felt it was my best performance to date, as I think the adrenalin kicked in! The time went really quick, considering I needed enough content on one subject to talk about for 1.5 hours! But for me, this is a really interesting subject on brain vs gut axis and discussing neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin that enhance our mood and mental health through food. Dopamine is good for motivation, mood and memory, whilst serotonin is responsible for happiness, sexual desire and sleep. That seems to tick most people’s boxes!
KitchenJoy also ran a promotion with 02, users, offering 25% off all my classes across the board, so now I have more online classes lined up.
Another Company approached me, redletterdays.co.uk and buyagift.co.uk which is a huge platform for me to be part of and very exciting to be selling my classes as experiences. This will go live next week.
Classes continue with NOTHS customers with vegan, brain health and chocolate course this month and It seems the chocolate course is the most popular so I am thinking of looking at different themes to compliment this class. Perhaps a fish feast? Open to offers, please ping me an email if you think of any delicious ideas!
Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 tuition. This also applies to online private cookery classes and team work building sessions.
VEGAN CHICKPEA PANCAKES WITH PUREED CAULIFLOWER & ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Chickpea Pancakes
150g chickpea flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 green chilli, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
handful of coriander, roughly chopped
To serve
dairy free yoghurt or greek yoghurt
1 small red onion
pea shoots or rocket leaves
1 green chilli
handful of coriander leaves
radishes (optional)
pomegranate seeds (optional)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 220c. Place half of the cauliflower florets on a baking tray . Drizzle with oil and season with salt. Roast for 15 minutes, or until beginning to char. Reduce the oven to 200c, stir in the spices and chilli flakes and roast for a further 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, put a pan of boiling water on and cook the other half of the cauliflower florets for about 10 minutes until soft. Drain and season with salt & pepper and a little plant based milk. With a stick blender, puree and leave aside.
Mix the pancake ingredients, flour, salt and cumin together in a large bowl. Slowly pour in 250ml of water stirring to make a smooth batter. Add the spring onions, ginger, garlic, chilli & coriander. Mix well and set aside for 15 minutes.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Ladle a quarter of the batter into the pan and tilt to spread evenly. Cook for 3 minutes. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes until golden. Cook the remaining batter to make 4 pancakes.
Spread the pureed cauliflower over the cooked pancakes and top with the roasted cauliflower, red onion, leaves, and other garnishes you desire.
. 🙂
Enjoy ……..
