Walnut Paste or Meat - Tuna Fish Substitute

Greetings!

I saw a few recipes online talking about "Taco Meat" using walnuts and it interested me. This recipe is not like the ones I saw because they included ingredients like sundried tomatoes and whatever else. I decided to just use my usual go to ingredients for practically everything I make and was pleasantly surprised by how DELICIOUS this nut meat (or paste) is!!!!!!!!! I love it combined with the flavours of cucumber, tomato and watercress especially.

Trust me, it's worth a try! It is now my favorite salad dressing or salad companion and tastes great with chickpea flatbread or tortillas or in a sandwich with homemade bean burgers/patties. Honestly because of the lime and red onion flavour boost, it tastes just like tunafish! I am serious - although it has been so long since I had tunafish that me saying so is pretty laughable. Still it even looks like it. So instead of making tuna sandwiches, whip up a batch of this walnut paste and fulljoy!

Now the key to this recipe is not to over-blend so that it is fine and grainy but not too chunky.  You can use a mini chopper like a mini blender, regular blender or the small cup of the Nutribullet. You want to pulse for a bit and not blend it too long.

You will need:

1 cup walnuts (soaked for a few hours)
1/8 cup water
1 small clove garlic or to reduce the strong garlic breath, use two dashes of garlic powder instead
1/4 a small red onion (white onion will not give the same flavor but it can be used)
1 leaf of chive (optional)
1 small lime juice extracted or at least 1 tbsp juice I estimate
2 pinches pink/sea salt
2 pinches dried cilantro leaves
2 pinches dried basil leaves
1 splash Braggs soy sauce (optional)
Drizzle (1.5 tsp) of cold pressed coconut oil (or oil of your choice)
1 dash of nutritional yeast  (1/2 tbsp) (optional but if you have it, use it)

To get the full seafood taste try adding a dash of Braggs kelp seasoning.

Method:

Grate the clove of garlic and chop the onion and chive into smaller bits to help blending. Also break up the walnuts into smaller pieces after draining water.
Combine everything in blender cup.
Pulse ingredients in mini food processor or blender until a fine grainy texture arises. If you have problems blending, stop and use a spoon to push it down. You can add a little tip of water as needed. you can decide how wet or dry you want it to be but ideally aim for the texture shown in the pictures.
The aim is to blend until everything is broken down into a paste.
Using the Nutribullet blend until it stops moving, remove, shake everything to the bottom and blend again two more times and that should be fine.
Store in a glass jar and consume within a week.
The more lime and onion the nicer the flavor. Be careful not to add too much salt because it will take over the flavour of everything with the lime!

It's a great addition for those who are seeking to eat more raw meals daily. Try the salad!

2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
2 leaves of greens like kale or pakchoi
1/2 bell pepper
parsley
pumpkin or hemp seeds
2 dollops of walnut paste
olives

If you want to make the cucumber sandwiches as shown below, just slice some cucumbers into long thick slices, slice some tomatoes into circles and add a few sprigs of watercress. Spread the walnut paste onto the cucumber then layer with tomato and watercress.
Yumm! Ital goodness.

For breakfast for my kingman I make a sandwich with the walnut paste, a chickpea patty, tomato or cucumber. He loves it as do I. Our yutes love it on crackers.

Please tag me on Instagram @italpeople so I can share your pictures if you try this versatile delicious, recipe.

*Recipe updated 1/8/20*

Health and Wealth
RasTafari Live
Sis. Ila Addis

Falafel or Veggie Nuggets Recipe

These “falafel” can probably better pass as vegan “chikn nuggets” or veggie nuggets - I'm not really sure what they should be called :p - But they are delicious none the less! I especially find them more enjoyable on the second day, lightly toasted. I enjoyed them with oven baked vegetables and sauteed sweet potato slices.
The recipe I came up with is very simple and won't take up too much time in the kitchen.

You will need:

2 cups chick peas
2 large leaves shadon beni (optional if you have it)
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
2 pimento pepper or other
6 chive greens
1 bunch parsley
1 cup chickpea flour
Salt, ground turmeric, cumin, paprika etc

Method:

Blend shadon beni, onion, garlic, pepper, chives, parlsey and place in a bowl.

Blend the cooked chick peas with no liquid.

Place in bowl with seasonings, flour, salt, turmeric and cumin etc. Mix well.

Form into small balls and flatten and round edges.

Fry on both sides in oil. I personally don't like fried food besides the occasional plantain, but I knew the effect would be lost if I baked these. However, baking is worth a shot and I will try it next time to compare flavor.

Makes 12!


Tell me what you think if you try it!

Ila Addis

Vegetable Rice Noodles One-Pot

This recipe started out as a soup but once everything cooled – which is a must when eating soup because that’s when the flavors appear – the liquid disappears leaving a sauce. The rice noodles basically soak it all up. But never mind, it’s still pretty delicious and with slices of avocado, it’s pure heaven! The flavours of ginger and rosemary carry it to a whole other level and make it so enjoyable!

Ingredients

Pack of rice noodles – use half.
1 small red onion
1 big pimento or other pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 leaves of shadon beni/culantro
1 thumb ginger
Sprig of fresh rosemary
Sea or pink salt
Powdered cumin, turmeric, Italian seasoning, dried or fresh basil, paprika
Nutritional yeast
Powdered coconut mylk or liquid
Tomato paste
½ cup canned corn
Half 1 big carrot
Half 1 big chocho or christophene
1 cup of shredded cabbage
3 florets of broccoli
1 tomato



Method:

Because this is an Asian-inspired dish make sure to slice everything in long lines.

Cut the onion in half and slice making little half circle strips. Slice the pepper in thin circles. Also slice the shadon beni in lines across. Grate the ginger and garlic using the big holes. Cut the tomato into small cubes.

Put these seasonings in the pot and throw in some oil – sesame or regular cooking coconut oil would be fine.

Prepare the vegetables by peeling and washing them. Slice the chocho, carrot and cabbage in a way to make long lines of the vegetables. Cut the broccoli into small pieces as well.

Heat the seasonings and oil and sautee them for a minute before adding water. Then add the salt, powdered cumin, paprika, turmeric, Italian seasoning and dried basil – or any other seasonings you like. This forms the base.

When boiling add the rice noodles and allow stir in, then drop in the vegetables. Allow to cook for five minutes and add a few dashes of nutritional yeast, powdered coconut mylk (about 1/8th cup if using liquid) and a spoon of tomato paste. Also pick the needles off your fresh rosemary and drop them in.

Allow another few minutes of cooking, cover and allow to cool. I took the cover off of mine to allow it to cool as I usually do with my soups and this is probably why the water dried out, so maybe only put the cover on part ways to preserve your liquid if you wish to have it more as a soup.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did – one pot meals are a favourite in my kitchen so this was definitely a win!

Tag us in your photos on Instagram if you try this @italpeople
If you wish to share your recipe with the RasTafari community, please write it in a similar format as shown here and email it with your pictures to italpeople@gmail.com. Health is Wealth let I and I share that with one another!

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Oven Roasted Vegetables are the perfect side-dish to complement lentils or chick peas and quinoa. They are quick and easy and full of flavour! They will become an addiction when planning meals!
What's great is that you can try this basic recipe with any medley of vegetables, keeping things festive and exciting. I have given ideas for three types of oven roasted dishes you can make.

Roasted Veggies

You will need any medley of vegetables:

Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Zucchini
Okra
Broccoli
Butternut squash/pumpkin
cauliflower
eggplant

Seasonings:
powdered turmeric, ginger, paprika. cumin, dried basil, oregano, salt

Coconut oil for coating tray
Flat baking tray
Foil (optional)

Method:
Prepare the vegetables:

Slice brussel sprouts carrots and okra in half (or leave them whole), slice zucchini in circles; chop broccoli and cauliflower into florets and cube pumpkin or squash.

Place in a big bowl and sprinkle all the ground or dried seasons all over the pieces. I don’t measure I just dash until there is enough to cover both sides well. Estimate 1-2 tsp or more of each.

Spread the veggies on a well-greased pan or you can use foil as the base, but grease that as well.
For extra seasoning boost: grate 3 cloves garlic and finely chop pimento pepper and sprinkle on top when they are all spread out.

Bake for 20-25 minutes on medium heat, with no cover. Flip halfway if you wish.

Pull out, cool and serve warm


                                   

                                               roasted cauliflower pumpkin zucchini and eggplant



Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes


This recipe is the same except for potatoes.
Use medium sized sweet potatoes or white potatoes (as many as you usually make)
seasonings


Wash your potatoes really well. Slice them at ¼ inch thickness length ways (tip to tip) to make ovals so you get longer fries. You can also cut them in apple-slice chunks and make “wedges,” or cube them for “seasoned potatoes” or slice into think circles for chips.

Place in a big bowl and sprinkle all the ground or dried seasons all over the pieces.
Spread the circles or cubes or wedges to a well-greased pan or you can use foil as the base, but grease that as well.

Bake for 20-30 minutes on medium heat, with no cover. .
Pull out, cool and serve warm. They can be toasted to reheat.
I love them with a simple cashew cheeze sauce or sweet hemp dressing as a dip.

Oven Roasted Eggplant Slices


1 eggplant or as many as you need
seasonings

Method:

Slice the eggplant into fairly thin circles, no more than ¼ inch thickness. Some people like to slice them thick to 1/2 thickness which gives it a more meaty taste in my opinion so it's up to you, I do both. In the picture below I did them a bit thick.

Put half in a big bowl and sprinkle all the seasonings on the pieces. The eggplant should be damp to encourage the seasonings to stick. Repeat til all is finished.

                                                           

Spread the circles to a well-greased pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes on medium heat, with no cover. Flip halfway to get both sides brown The aim is get them crisp almost like chips.

Pull out, cool and serve warm alongside any dinner or lunch menu!

                                                          In this picture the eggplant is thin

I hope this recipe inspires you to get creative in the kitchen! You can do anything with the basic idea of chop, season and bake!

Happy New Year and all the best for 2018, wishing all RasTafari Good health and lots of wealth!
Ila Addis