Roasted Eggplant Topped with Tomato Salad

It has been a little while since my last blog update. Apologies, apologies. It has been over a week without gluten and dairy and let me tell you, it has been great. I am feeling wonderful! So happy my body is reacting so well to this. It is definitely a positive reward for not being to eat a lot of things -- and not to mention, a great motivator to try out new recipes!

I have always loved vegetables but even more since the change of diet -- my vegetable intake has massively increased. Baby carrots and celery sticks are pretty much my go-to snack and cooking with fresh goods -- basically only vegetables in my case -- has been the best way to keep it gluten and dairy free.

This recipe has been one of my favorites to cook for many years. However, I used to cook this recipe with mozzarella cheese previously. This will therefore be my attempt to try it without!

Roasted Eggplant With Tomato Salad

Roasted Eggplant Topped with Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 aubergine or eggplant
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes
• 1 red capsicum
• A handful of fresh basil
• 2 tsp pine kernels
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil (for taste and greasing)

Roasting the Eggplant:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut the eggplant into 2 inch slices. Places the eggplant pieces on a greased baking sheet (greased with vegetable or olive oil) and drizzle some salt and olive oil onto the eggplants. 
2. Bake the eggplants for about 10 minutes. Turn them around and bake for another 5 minutes. THe eggplant pieces should be yellow-brownish. Roasting is complete!

Making the Tomato Salad Topping

1. Cut the tomatoes and capsicum into small pieces. Slice fresh basil into small strips. 
2. Mix all the cut ingredients into a large bowl. Add the olive oil and vinegar. Mix and add in the pine kernels. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place the topping on the roasted eggplant pieces. Put back into the oven for another 5 minutes. Can be served warm or cold!

When the Roasted Eggplant Pieces Come Out of the Oven!

Roasted Eggplant

I Love the Smell of Fresh Basil!

The Tomato Topping

The Finished Goodies!

This recipe was really a success! Eggplant is my weakness -- probably my all-time favorite vegetable. I was extremely satisfied that this recipe tasted so good even without the mozzarella cheese. It is extremely easy to put together as it barely requires much preparation. Also, the fact that it looks so colourful is a wonderful reward and not to mention the smell of fresh basil. 

Looked and tasted delicious!

Chocolate Chickpea Cake -- The Chickpea Weekend Continues...

I still had a lot of chickpeas left over from my massive 'chickpea boiling' session earlier this weekend. I thought it was a great opportunity to satisfy my sweet and chocolate cravings by making a cake out of it.  I know, it sounds a little odd.. chickpeas and cake? Yeah, I was a little skeptical about it too. I read though, that it makes for a great substitute for flour in cakes. Because it sounded so odd to me, it made me even more curious to try it out. Plus, the chocolate cravings were really at an all time high this weekend and I needed to change that. I told my sister about making this cake -- who is also allergic to gluten -- and she immediately reacted with "ew." Time to prove her wrong. (Spoiler alert: I sure did prove her wrong!)

Chocolate Chickpea Cake!!

I used this recipe for the chickpea cake. However, I did alter a few things; I used caster sugar instead of white sugar and used bars of chocolate instead of chocolate chips. This is probably the fastest cake I have ever made!! Super duper easy and you need very little ingredients.

Side note -- you do need a food processor to make this cake.

Chocolate Chickpea Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 bars of semisweet chocolate (113 grams each) -- melted in microwave
• 570 grams chickpeas
• 4 eggs
• 185 grams sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

It All Began With a Bunch of Chickpeas...

...And Two Bars of Semisweet Chocolate

I found chocolate bars that are a 100% cacao, meaning that there is no milk added to the chocolate and therefore dairy free and friendly to those who are allergic! Generally when chocolate says it is "unsweetened" it means that it does not contain dairy. 

-- I made the mistake of eating a piece of this chocolate by itself. Wow: terribly bitter and strong!!! Unless you really love dark chocolate and I mean, VERY dark chocolate, I suggest to not take a bite. Luckily it will be mixed in with the chickpeas!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease a 23 inch cake tin.
2. Place the chickpeas and eggs in a food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add in the sugar and the baking powder. Process until the ingredients are mixed well together. Finally, add in the melted chocolate and continue to process. Put the ingredients in the cake tin.
3. Bake the cake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick, fork or knife comes out clean after inserting it into the cake. Let the cake cool, take it out of the tin and dust it with icing sugar to finish!

The Mixture

Ready for the Oven

Hot Hot Hot Out of the Oven

Ready to be Eaten!! -- From Chickpeas to Beauty

To be quite honest, I was very pleasantly surprised that chickpeas had the ability to be turned into THAT -- something so wonderful looking and sweet. Chickpeas are quite the powerful food! Of course, I made my entire family try it. My sister mentioned it to be "the best cake ever." A great improvement from "ew." I myself found the cake a little bit dry and the chocolate taste a little too strong -- because of the very dark chocolate used. Although, I thought it tasted good. I guess it all depends on your chocolate preference.

I will definitely make this again in the future but try to play a little bit with changing the moisture and strong chocolate taste. I think that maybe I should try using dairy-free milk chocolate chips. That way the dark chocolate taste will not be so strong. Minus the little critical points, the cake was lovely!

I have always been more of a cooker than a baker and am always terrified of taking on a baking project. I have a fear of massively messing it all up and it tasting horrible, especially with something completely different like a cake made out of chickpeas... But I guess this one was a success for the most part! My family was for sure happy with how it tasted and I for sure, have satisfied my chocolate cravings! 

Good night!

Chana Masala -- Indian Chickpea Curry

I had been boiling chickpeas for so long that I was quite eager to begin cooking the recipe I had been anxiously waiting to complete for a while. I decided to make chickpea curry -- also knows as Chana Masala. Chickpeas are a great source of protein and a wonderful carbohydrate fulfill-er. They are currently also one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. That is because I haven't really cooked much with them before and never realized how many cooking options they provided. It is like a new discovery! Also because I really love hummus.

The Chana Masala I Completed Today! -- Proud Moment.

I really love Indian food -- as I may have mentioned earlier. It is probably on the top of my all time favorite food. Sometimes I get Indian food cravings very badly. This time was one of them. I thought it was the perfect time to make a curry out of the chickpeas that I had just finished boiling. I found this recipe online from smittenkitchen and adapted it a little!

Chana Masala

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions -- chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger -- minced
• 2 medium tomatoes -- chopped
• 1 fresh green chili -- chopped (optional depending on your spiciness preference)
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp dried mango powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp cayenne powder (optional depending on your spiciness preference)
• 2 tsp paprika 
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 cups boiled chickpeas
• 1 tsp salt

-- Do not be put off by the amount of spices that are in this recipe. I know the list looks long!! They are actually quite attainable and affordable (in Singapore that is). You can buy them at most local supermarkets or Indian stores. The dried chickpeas can easily be attained here as well. Besides, the color and fragrance of the spices combined is a wonderful reward! I love love the smell of these spices all mixed together. Pure greatness to the nose. 

The Beauty of Spices!

Some of the Chopped Goodies

The Chickpeas -- still excited they are finally cooked.

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions, garlic, green chili and ginger. Cook for approximately five minutes or until onions begin to brown. Reduce heat.
2. Add in all the spices, mix and cook for another minute or so. 
3. Add in the tomatoes and mix well. Immediately after, add in the water and the chickpeas.
4. Let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add salt to taste and it is ready to be served! 

Done!

Yum yum yum

The chana masala turned out wonderfully! I was extremely happy with how it looked and tasted. Especially after a dissatisfying chickpea boiling session the day before, this was quite a rewarding cooking experience. The cooking of the masala is actually very fast and quite an easy dish to make. It was however, a little on the spicy side. I really enjoy spicy food but if you are not a spicy eater, I definitely suggest eliminating the cayenne pepper or cutting it in half. That stuff is SPICY and powerful. 

I ate this with some brown rice. It was a lovely lunch! Myrthe is happy.

Hasta la vista!

The long long process of boiling dried chickpeas

Let me start of by saying that in order to boil dried chickpeas yourself, you only need three ingredients: dried chickpeas, water and patience. A lot of it.

The Dried Chickpeas 

I decided to boil chickpeas myself because of the preservatives (containing gluten) that a lot of canned goods contain. Well, it all started with me buying a bag of dried chickpeas and looking on the internet for tips on how to boil them. I read that you have to soak the chickpeas in water for a whole night and then boil them in water the next day for only an hour. NOT IN MY CASE! It took me about 10 hours of boiling the chickpeas before they were ready. A little bit longer than I expected..

After a Night of Soaking

The Boiling Begins...

I began boiling the chickpeas and made sure that the water added is at double the level of the chickpeas. I brought the water to a boil, lowered the heat and let it simmer for an hour. After an hour, the chickpeas were still as hard as ever.. Another hour passed by... followed by another one... until four hours had passed and I needed to go somewhere. I decided to turn of the heat and continue when I returned. I ended up boiling the chickpeas until midnight and they were still not ready!!! What was I doing wrong?! But the lady on the internet said it would only take an hour?! Lies. Don't trust them. So I went to bed. I was frustrated because it wasn't ending up the way I hoped. My goal was to have at least one chickpea recipe finished in the afternoon.

I hoped to have better luck in the morning. I went for a different approach.. I took out the high pressure cooker:

The Chickpea Saver!!

A high pressure cooker allows you to cook above a 100 degrees (yes, I am talking in Celsius) because it is air tight? I am not a scientist or genius in that field but I think that is the correct explanation. This would hopefully speed up the cooking process. AND IT WORKED!! I was so excited. Within an hour the chickpeas were cooked and ready to be used! Ah, I didn't know anyone could be so excited about a bunch of chickpeas until this moment today. I had a little victory dance going on in the kitchen.

The Chickpeas are Ready for Cooking :)

I am thinking that maybe I did not soak the chickpeas for long enough. Maybe it needs to be for 24 hours or so. Next time I will definitely soak them longer. Oh, and immediately turn to the high pressure cooker.

Conclusion: if you want to cook your own chickpeas, clear your schedule for the day and bring your A-game in terms of patience.