Falafel Friday:
Boringly, I had the same food as Sam on Friday. Having received the daily phone call asking for lunch advice, I quickly dispensed with my plan of going to freshii to sample their overpriced salads. Whilst thinking of lunch ideas, I realised that crunchy, hot falafel smothered in hummus and accompanied by that pickled purple vegetable that nobody knows what it is (I think it's turnip but it could quite easily be pickled Snozzcumber [see above] for all I know/care. It's just SO purple and pickly) was exactly what I wanted. I've discovered a little underground food court between Yonge-Bloor Subway station and Holt Renfrew so a quick trip there resulted in a styrofoam container loaded with all the veg, rice, beans and falafel I could possibly manage in one sitting. In fact, I didn't manage it in one sitting. I ate it all afternoon and had just half a Ristorante pizza for dinner. A good day's eating.
One thing that I have certainly noticed, even in the short time I've been vegetating, is that I am less full after eating and hungry more often, but I can actually only eat quite small portions because the foods I am eating are so filling. Beans, gnocchi etc really fill you up quickly without seeming to eat that much. The outcome of this is that I'm eating small amounts and more often which is probably much better for me than having massive feasts at irregular intervals! I'm sure this is more a result of a more considered approach to what I am eating than anything else. Consciously attempting to meet my daily nutritional requirements with limited resources is resulting in some well rounded meals. I'll have to see if I can find a way to keep that up beyond Easter because I find that I'm not so tired after eating this way.
Sandwich Saturday:
Saturday was a day of food adventures. I went to Chinatown and Kensington Market to pick up a few ingredients to use in future vegetarian cooking including: tamari, tahini, quinoa and of course, cheese. Cheese shopping whilst vegetarian is dangerous, especially in Kensington Market. One cheese very quickly turns into 5 when a middle aged Eastern European lady is force-feeding you sample after sample, barely giving you the chance to mutter muffled protests through mouthfuls of smoked gouda and gorgonzola when you only came in for some olives in the first place! But, I love cheese...so I guess it's not the end of the world.I took the opportunity to swing by the Urban Herbivore - little brother of Fressen vegetarian restaurant - which serves vegetarian salads, bowls and sandwiches. I picked up one avocado sandwich (picture above) and one grilled celery root (celeriac to the British) sandwich. I had half of each, reserving the other half for Sam to eat when she got home from work. A full review of these will appear shortly on my much-neglected blog In Search of a Sandwich. Needless to say, they were delightful, filling and lasted me much of the day. A few boiled Chinese vegetarian dumplings dipped in apricot mop (what else?) with a splash of soy sauce rounded off the day nicely.
Something Sunday:
Today I nibbled on various leftovers throughout the day - sandwiches, salads and other bits and pieces that were left from the week. I'd been planning to do a big cook some time this weekend but work, shopping and general tiredness appear to have gotten in the way slightly. I managed to find some energy this evening to experiment with my newly purchased immersion blender. So, I made hummus with sundried tomatoes, and a broad bean and pea hummus-type dip which is called Bisarra (well it's usually just broad beans but I think I've made my thoughts on peas clear). The thing I like about hummus is that it can be whatever you want it to really. As long as you have:
Chick peas
Garlic
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Tahini (this sesame seed paste is a traditional but not an essential ingredient of hummus. It adds quite a nutty, savoury flavour and reduces the amount of oil needed because it's moist and quite oily itself. It is a little unpleasant on it's own because it's so intense. If anyone wants to try some, I have tonnes)
You can really add anything you want or adjust the proportions to your own tastes. I go quite light on the oil, one fat clove of garlic, a couple of tablespoons of tahini, quite a hefty splash of lemon juice, and finish with salt and pepper. This gives me a nice tangy hummus that is a bit thicker than most of the ones that you buy. Adding some sundried tomatoes just makes it even tangyer (or is it tangier? That's in Morocco isn't it? How fitting) which is how I like it. Using roasted garlic makes it quite rich and delicate which people often prefer because the raw garlic does slap you in the face a little, and then slaps everyone you talk to for the rest of the day in the face as well. Really any of those flavours you associate with the Mediterranean can be easily incorporated into hummus. I wonder how it would be with apricot mop? Why didn't I think of that earlier?! It could only be amazing.
The Bisarra was more of a spicy dip - with some smoked paprika, cumin and a little cayenne thrown in. Otherwise, besides the tahini, the basic recipes are pretty much the same. It's amazing how far the spice goes though - the beans really take on strong flavours well. I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the Bisarra - I think it needs a little work but I liked the bean/pea combo and I'm always a fan of spice. More work to be done on that one.
These two, served with a rosemary focaccia, some olives and a watermelon and feta salad (cubed not crumbled feta though - crumbled feta annoys me) and I was a very happy, slightly more Mediterranean, temporarily vegetarian, chap.
John
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