This past weekend was another weekend to articulate the diversity in our home – we were at a hockey tournament in PA! The yoga of hockey! Life is filled with dualities, and our home life is a daily reminder of that. To keep myself grounded in the experience, rather than alienated or angry, I have to bring bits of food to keep me nourished and fed. I also bring lots of reusable containers so that I am able to use those when single use disposables are the only option offered. Oh yes, the yoga and meditation mats are in full use.
Grounding Experiences:
- To start the morning out the hotel helped to find me an unused conference room for meditation and yoga.
- At the hotel the only plates and cutlery provided for the breakfast were single use throw away. I had my own cutlery, and a reusable container. I enjoyed some fresh fruit salad! Then I brought out a rice cake and nut butter from home, and had that for the rest of breakfast.
- We had a lunch at a TGI Fridays. They made the nicest salad for me! Lots of vegetables, a large pile of hummus in a ‘cucumber’ bowl, and oil and vinegar for a dressing. The hummus was delicious – spicy with garlic!
- Saturday evening we went to a steak house, and I sat in a booth with 5 steak eaters around me. At moments I felt a little woozy from the smell of the flesh, but I took that deep yoga breath, and reminded myself that I would be fine – I was not choosing to eat the cow!
- The other parents watched, asked little, and we all went on our way to the arena to focus on the main events of the weekend – not mealtime but stick time! Hockey time! The boys won the tournament and I am back on the mat today, at home.
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| A happy player and a happy assistant coach! |
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| Simple to prepare, super tasty, satisfying and delicious for leftovers the following day! |
Back to the recipe and Monday morning. While I am writing this post I have noticed that chick peas have appeared frequently on these pages. Next week we are onto a new legume!
This recipe is from the Indian cook Smita Chandra, who lives in Toronto. There are several changes made to the recipe. It was a cauliflower recipe originally, so the chick peas are a change up.
Don’t have all of the spices below in your cupboard? No problem, just replace the spices from the tumeric through the garam masala with a good quality curry powder, assuming that you have that on hand! It is the paste of the garlic/ginger/onion combination, together with the tomatoes, that give the body to the sauce. Lemon juice accents the flavor of most curries, and is a welcome ending to the preparation.
The flavor is sweet and the overall experience is grounding! Adjust the spiciness to your own liking. These proportions give a mild spice.
Indian Style Chick Peas
2 T ghee butter or oil
1 t cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, chopped lightly (video ‘How To’ Chop Garlic)
1″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped lightly
1 Spanish onion, or 3 medium onions, chopped in eighths (video ‘How To’ Chop Onions)
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 t tumeric
1/4 t cayenne
1 1/2 t ground coriander (video ‘How To’ Dry Roast Spices)
1 t ground cumin
1 t garam masala
1 t salt
1 cup water or liquid from chick peas
2 1/2 cups cooked chick peas, drained (save the liquid), not rinsed (video ‘How To’ Cook Beans)
2 cups cauliflower pieces
1 T lemon juice
In a blender of food processor, mulch the garlic, ginger and onion together until a smooth paste. Melt the ghee over a medium heat, and when it is hot add the cumin seeds.
Cook for 10-20 seconds, then carefully add the onion/garlic/ginger paste. Be careful when adding as it can sometimes splash up at you!
Cook the paste until it starts to brown, stirring frequently. Add the diced tomatoes, liquid and all. Cook for 5 minutes, using the back of a spoon to mash the tomatoes if necessary. Then add the tumeric, cayenne, ground coriander, ground cumin, garam masala and salt. Stir together and cook the spices for 3 minutes before adding the water, or chick pea liquid, and the drained chick peas.
Completely immerse the chick peas in the sauce, bring to the boil. Cover with a lid, and reduce the heat to low so that the curry simmers. Add more liquid to keep an easy consistency, not pasty, not runny.
After the chick peas have simmered for 20-30 minutes, add the cauliflower, turning carefully to ensure that each piece is covered with sauce.
Cook a further 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the food sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes.
Pour over the lemon juice, stir throughout, taste and adjusting the seasoning if necessary.
Serve with a grain and greens! And give thanks for your Meatless Monday habit!
Serves 4.
Shanthi
Cost (approximate numbers)
Garlic – $.50
Ginger – $.50
Onion – $1.50
Tomatoes – $3.00
Spices – $1.50
Chick Peas – $.75 (home cooked)
Cauliflower – $2.50
Lemon – $.50
Grain (rice) – $1.00
Greens (collards, kale) – $6.00
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| Eat well, be well. |