Spicy Besan Omelette

 Greetings,

Here's a perfect brunch recipe to pair with your favourite salad or stir-fried or roasted veggies! The besan or chickpea omelette is one that takes a while to make when doing a whole batch, but the wait is worth it. It is important that the batter cooks through on both sides, so it isn't a recipe that can be rushed.

Ingredients

Besan/chickpea flour: 

for 2 people: 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water

for 3 people: 3/4 cup flour to 1 cup water

for 8-9 omelettes: 1 cup flour to 1 1/4  cup water

So just add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water to flour. For a thicker omelette add 1/4 cup.

2 tsp flax meal

1/2 tsp salt (pink or sea salt or black salt for the sulfuric egg taste)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili flakes

1 pinch dried thyme or Italian seasoning

2 pimento peppers or other

1/2 thumb ginger

1 onion

cloves of garlic 

1 stalk celery (optional)

cooking oil

(based on how much omelettes you are making, adjust your onion and such to suit)

Method

1. Mix/whisk flour, water, flax, salt, turmeric, cumin, cumin, chili flakes, thyme/Italian seasoning in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Finely chop the onion, peppers, celery, greens. Finely grate the garlic and garlic.

3. In a frying pan with a dribble of oil, saute the pimento, onion, celery and ginger.  Spread them evenly around the pan, then scoop a 1/4 cup of batter and evenly cover the fried seasonings, making a circle.

NOTE: You are not using all of these fresh seasonings, as you will add a little or a generous amount of each to every omelette you make.

4. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes on a low heat before you flip. the top will seal over and the batter firm up. When you insert the spatula underneath, it should all stay together like a pancake, that's how you know for sure that it can flip. Give it time to brown nicely. After flipping, allow it another 5-10 minutes to brown on the other side.

Do this for each omelette.

I also fry up greens, eggplant, tomato, okra or chickpeas to go with the omelettes if doing brunch, or pair with a salad for breakfast.

Fulljoy!

Sis Ila Addis

Quinoa Black Bean Bites

 Greetings,

These Quinoa Black Bean bites are one of my favourite creations to pair with a salad. The recipe is quite simple, and so basic that you can get creative with it, adding your ground nuts and seeds and spices as you desire.

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1 large sweet potato (or you can use any potato)

1 cup cooked black beans (1/4 cup dried beans)

1/8 cup arrowroot/tapioca powder

salt, powdered turmeric, cumin and dried thyme/Italian seasoning for taste - try 1/2 tsp of each or just a few dashes.

Method

1. Cook quinoa (1/2 cup grain to 1 cup water, which can be seasoned with salt, turmeric and cumin as well). Also cook the black beans and sweet potato.

2. Mash the potato and black beans separately.

3. Combine the mashed potato and beans with the quinoa, arrowroot.tapioca and seasonings in a large bowl.

4. With a spoon, scoop off small bits of mush, roll into small balls. Place directly on a greased flat sheet,

5. Bake at low-medium heat until the balls get golden brown or develop a crispy exterior.

Allow to cool, store in an airtight container lined with paper towel. 

They also pair great with my besan quiche!

Hope you fulljoy these! With a dipping sauce they make the perfect appetizers if you are having friends and family over for a special celebration! Just insert toothpicks to serve! 

This is definitely one my womb-friendly recipes.

Blessed Love

Sis Ila Addis

Blender Blackbean Burgers

Greetings,

This blackbean burger recipe is one that I created recently because I was having trouble with them falling apart. Also I wanted a cheaper option rather than using potato and quinoa like in my older recipes posted here. This one I prefer and have had great success with them being light, tasty and firm (no falling apart). I eat these burgers in the morning with salad and quiche instead of with bread. But they are great on their own or with a nice dipping sauce of your choice. You can also make them into balls if you want an appetizer or to serve with pasta. I make them small like in the palm of my hand or big and flat. The shape or size is up to you!
Note that I use my food processor but I am sure a blender will work just fine.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup dry black beans + 1 tsp baking soda (you can use 2 cans if you wish)
1 small onion
1-2 pimento peppers
1 clove garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder (I use powder if I have it)
1/2 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried basil, thyme or Italian seasoning flakes
1/4 tsp paprika
1 spoon tomato paste
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tbs water
1/4 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca
1/8-1/4 cup flour (cornmeal works really well as it does not make the dough dry out, but if you don't use corn then use your preferred flour)

Method:

1. Add the baking soda to the dried black beans in a bowl, cover well with boiling water. Cover the bowl and allow to sit at least 1-2 hours.

2. Rinse the soaking water and then in a pot, boil fresh water. Add the beans and boil until they are soft.

3. Throw off the water and allow the beans to cool in a colander.
Or just empty and rinse the beans from the can.

4. Add all the ingredients except for the 1/8-1/4 cup of flour or cornmeal, to your machine and blend to a thick dough. I tend to chop the onion, garlic and pimento into small bits first before adding to blender.

5. Remove and place in a bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit 1/2 hour to an hour so that the arrowroot flour will thicken the dough. This part is important.

All ingredients fully blended together make this paste.

6. Uncover and sprinkle the 1/8 cup of flour or cornmeal, turning into the dough with a spoon. Add the extra 1/8 cup if needed, as you start to form the burgers/patties, so that it won't be sticky, but it shouldn't be overly sticky.
The dough will stick to your palm as you keep rolling but it should not be a lot.
Makes 14 smallish burgers (size of palm of a small hand lol). It all depends on how big you make them. The number you get.
Place them on your baking sheet or pan which is pre-greased.

This picture, the onion and other fresh ingredients were not blended with the beans.

7. Bake at low-medium temperature 150-200 C for fifteen minutes on one side, then flip and bake another 5-10 on the other. However, once the underside is well browned I flip and place them back in the oven, then turn the oven off and allow them to completely cool in it.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge, lasts as long as you need them to! You can also freeze them if you need to, then toast them.

If you make them please drop me a comment below and let me know what you think! You can alter the seasonings per your taste. Tag me on Instagram @italpeople if you post a picture!
Be sure to follow my Ital With Ila board on Pinterest as well to keep up with when I post recipes. I also have an Ital People page on Pinterest but it needs updating!🙈 I will be sure to get on that and post the link.

Love and Health!
Ila

Eggless Besan Quiche

Greetings!

This recipe is one of my Sunday Prep meals along with my new Blender Blackbean Burger recipe, both eaten with a salad. My kingman and I are giving up bread so instead of eating with bread we substitute with a side salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and seeds (pumpkin, chia, hemp and sunflower).

I found the basics for this recipe on Pinterest, but I added a few powdered spices to give it more flavour as salt alone just simply will not do for a savoury flour like besan/garbanzo/chick pea!

Here are some tips I discovered over the last month or so making these weekly:

*Allow the batter to sit for a while, that allows the flax and besan to work on creating a thick batter, You don't want it to be too wet. The longer it rests the least likely it will not cook in the centre.

*A foil container to bake the quiche in works much better than regular tins which can cause the quiche to stick, but once you get the temperature right (low) sticking should not be a problem.

*Filling a pie dish with only a cup of the batter, or any dish beside a muffin tin will cook quickly and avoid the inside not cooking. The deeper the batter the longer it takes for the inside to cook.

*To store the finished quiche, line your air-tight container at the bottom with paper towel, then each layer of quiche with paper towel, and the top, because you want to absorb any moisture that will form in the fridge.

* You need 18 muffin holes or 3 muffin pans to make all muffins. I use 2 muffin pans and 1 pie pan or bread pan for the remaining batter which is about a cup of batter. Or I use 3 pie foil pans and 1 bread foil pan. I bake this one batch in multiple containers so that I have enough pieces to stretch from Monday to Friday.

*Oil the pans generously as the batter will stick easily as it cooks!


Ingredients

Batter:
1 3/4 cup besan/garbanzo flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil flakes
3/4 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 flax egg (1 tbs flax meal and 3 tbs boiling water)
2 1/4 cup water

Veggies:

3/4 cup canned corn (optional but my daughter likes it and I am working on getting her into more vegan foods)
1 cup finely chopped bell pepper usually 1 big one or 2 smaller ones
1/2 a zucchini finely diced
2 leaves of greens finely chopped  (optional, i don't always include)
1/2 red onion finely chopped
chives finely chopped
1/2 finely grated carrot
*You can change your veggies as you desire but about 3/4 cup of each is good.

Oil for your baking pans *remember to coat them well*

Method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: the besan flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, salt, cumin, turmeric, garlic, basil, paprika and any other seasonings you use.

2. Mix the flax egg and let fluff up or turn gooey. With the whisk add it to the batter mixing it completely in, and ALLOW TO SIT WHILE you prepare the veggies.

4. Finely chop all your veggies and add them to the batter and whisk together again.

5. Oil your baking pans well. The spray oil can works best. Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop the batter into each muffin hole. If using a pie or bread pan, use a 1 cup measure. Using the measuring cups REALLY help get the most out of your batter.

6. Bake on top rack at a low-medium heat, 150 C or 300 F. Bake for 30 minutes, 35 the most for muffins especially.
A toothpick inserted in the centre should not be wet but a bit of the quiche will be on it.

7. Remove from oven and allow the quiche to COMPLETELY COOL which will also thicken the centre properly.

8. Toast to reheat as necessary.

I really hope you fulljoy this recipe as I surely do and my family - minus my son who isn't a fan of the savory flavours. This one was a big win with my daughter who is a very picky eater and is transitioning from dairy in her diet (Our eating habits were always meatless but included dairy when she was born and younger so it has been a struggle to get her on board with our dairy-free livity over the years. And now that I am trying to go as gluten-free as possible that is a whole other fight! But don't sweat it if you have this issue too, as the older they get, the more they want to eat and they tend to try the alternatives willingly!)

If you try this recipe please leave a comment, even your variation! And if you post a picture on Instagram, tag me @italpeople.
 Also, if you have a recipe to share email italpeople@gmail.com and I will post.

Sour Sop Smoothie

A simple Smoothie that is quite delicious!
I am fortunate to have a bredren whose sour sop tree is only now bearing so that I can fulljoy some after summer.

I made this quick Smoothie the last two mornings:

1/2 cup sour sop flesh
1 apple peeled
3 bananas (also from his tree)
1 handful frozen pineapple cubes
3/4 cup water
1/2 thumb ginger

Blend it all together!
Mmmmmm good!

Ila

Banana Muffins

Instead of eating store-bought bread which most of the time contains added chemicals to give it shelf-life, and unhealthy wheat flour, you can try Ila's Banana Muffins!
Easy to make and extremely delicious, these breakfast muffins won't disappoint the family!

You will need:

3 very ripe large bananas (4-5 if they are small)
2 cups spelt flour (or other)
¼ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup agave nectar syrup or 1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water)
A few walnuts crushed (optional)
Cupcake paper shells or holders (optional)
2 muffin tins



Method:

Prepare muffin tins with paper or oil the tins well and set aside.

Make the flax egg and set aside.

Sift flour as much as you can, then dump the grain left in the sieve into the bowl. Add baking soda, sugar, salt and mix.

Mash banana well til it becomes a thick cream, add essence.

Into flour pour agave (if using instead of coconut sugar), flax egg, oil, crushed walnuts and banana mixture.

Add 3 tbs of cocoa powder if you wish to make chocolate muffins.

Mix well til a sticky, thick dough forms.

Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius or the low setting

Use a spoon and fill each space well with dough.

Place on top shelf of oven and let bake for exactly 12 minutes. Test with a knife to see if it comes out clean. Give no more than 15 minutes total, but the lower the flame the longer they may take. Any longer and they will burn especially without the paper shells. Should be golden brown on top.

Remove from oven and let cool a bit, then remove from tins and allow to cool completely. Enjoy warm, a thick, chewy muffin with just the right amount of sweetness!

Store in an airtight container. They taste even better on the second day! You will be sure to consume within two days but they can last for three.

 The perfect breakfast muffin, chewy, moist and semi-sweet!

Happy baking!
Ila

Seasoned Savory ChickPea Ital Muffins

This recipe is a seasoned savory chickpea muffin that can be used as a protein snack for the family, or to compliment a brunch spread.

When these savory muffins have had a few hours to cool they become even thicker (you may feel to drink a little), because that is the nature of chickpea flour. They are not soft inside like a traditional muffin. To soften them up you might try adding to the mixture 1 blended banana, 1 cup of apple sauce or even 1 small blended plantain and give it a go!

While they taste pretty good on their own,  they can be sliced and made into sandwiches using fried plantain and toasted tomato or eggplant which you can just put in the toaster oven on some foil.

These muffins are sure to satisfy those mid-morning munchies, and as I said, are a shoo-in for any brunch or Ital gathering! As a bonus they are great little snacks for the entire family on the go!

Store in the fridge in ziploc or container, Give them a toast and they are perfect! Four days later, toasted with butter – pretty amazing still!

You will need:

2 cups chickpea flour
2 tbs flax meal
1 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp coconut oil
2 1/4 cup warm water
Ground seasonings ½ tsp: turmeric, cumin, ginger, dried oregano/basil

Fresh seasonings finely chopped:
1 tomato
½ onion
2 stalks chive/leeks stalks
1 leaf shadon beni (if you have)
1 pimento

(Very finely grated ginger, turmeric are optional instead of ground; and a finely grated carrot pumpkin or zucchini no more than ¼ cup can be added)

Large bowl
2 muffin tins or 1 bread tin
spoon



Method:
Set oven on low heat or around 120-130 C.

Mix all dry ingredients and ground or powdered seasonings well in large bowl.

Add oil and water, and mix.

Add the fresh seasonings and combine well.

It should form a thick, sticky dough, like a very thick batter.

Grease the muffin tins well with coconut oil first. Use the spoon to fill each muffin hole to the top with batter.

Set on the top rack of oven and allow to bake for no more than 40 minutes. By then they should be a nice brown colour, and a knife inserted should come out clean.

Cool then remove to a plate or cooling rack - I used a spoon and gently pried them out, they didn’t break. Allow to cool some more.

Just give them a try! I find them to satisfy cravings for fish if you are just starting a meatless diet!

Stay Ital and Blessed

Ila