yay for trying new recipes

For the past few years I have eaten a vegetarian diet (aside from my mission, when I did eat meat because of how dependant I was upon others feeding me).  However, as soon as I returned home from my mission I went back to eating vegetarian.  I had been hearing a lot about the negative side effects of dairy and was considering giving up dairy as well, but it was on the backburner of things-to-do.  Until I did a research paper for my rhetoric class last semester.  I started off researching about the rhetoric in Got Milk Ads (so basically anything Got Milk did to promote their product.  Including product placement, color choice, word choice, rhyming, use of authority or celebraties, vague or ambiguous language, and skewing of statistics, etc.).  I can post the paper on here if anybody would be interested in reading it....(seeing as I have a high rate of followers.. :)

Anyway, through the research I discovered a lot about milk and dairy in general that motivated me to stop eating dairy, and so I was on the look out for new recipes!!!  I have been trying tons of vegan recipes, some have been great, others disasters, but it has been quite an adventure! 

I wish I had taken more pictures of my food to post, but I was too hungry to do so.  This is a recipe I made last week...my own pita bread and hummus.  The hummus was really runny, but delicious!!  It tasted a lot like YUMM sauce from a place called Cafe YUMM I visited in Eugene, Oregan.  Sooooo goood!!

Whole wheat pita bread, frozen vegetables

and homemade hummus. 

Ingredients for Roasted Garlic Hummus Without Tahini

• 14 oz. can (about 2 cups) chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup purified water ¹
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium lemon (about 3 tbsp juice)
• 3-5 cloves garlic ²
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• pinch black pepper

¹ Do not use the water from the can. It will bloat up your stomach. Use regular purified water. If you are using dried garbanzo beans, you can use the reserved broth from boiling them.
² If you don't prefer the taste of garlic, just use 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic instead for a more milder flavor.
Optional: Paprika, parsley, or cilantro (dried or fresh) for garnish
Optional: You can even use 1/4 cup of almond butter instead of water/broth for a really thick dip. It will add additional fat and calories.

I chose to do it without Tahini because I didn't have that lying around the house...
I also chose to do pita bread without yeast because I didn't have that either.  And come on, we all know pita bread isn't supposed to be leavened..

Pita Bread

500 g flour
2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

300 ml water

1/2 teaspoon sesame seed

1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (also known as black cumin) (I did it without any of the seeds, it was great)

Directions:

1. In a big bowl combine flour and salt. Mix in olive oil and water.
2. Knead into a soft and sturdy dough. It should be smooth. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 40 minutes at room temperature.
3. Form dough into about 7 equally sized balls. Roll out the balls to 1/2 inch thickness (note: these wont rise much, so make them as thick as youd like them to be in the end.).
4. Place on a paper-lined baking sheet, brush with water and sprinkle with the sesame and nigella seeds.
5. Bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

 

Sometimes cooking feels like learning a whole new language to me, but it's coming along!  This is the beginning of a long journey :)

 

What about you guys?  Any fun recipes or cooking adventures?