I’ll start by saying I don’t really like tofu, and I tolerate it when it comes inside my plate, and I neither like its spongy texture nor taste. However, I know that it has a lot of health benefits and it’s full of protein, so here I am, trying my best to use it in my everyday diet.
The scorching weather that I wrote about in my previous blog post continues, and I’m working on my computer now, with my electric fan fixed towards my face. I don’t want to eat anything heavy on these sweltering days, but I still need filling and nutritious food. These balls are an example of such food.
I’ve been a vegetarian officially for more than two years. But even before making it “official”, I wasn’t eating meat so much. Instead, I liked and ate vegetarian “meatballs”. The recipe here is of one such kind of balls, and it’s one of my favourites.
Here is an excellent lunch menu recipe for you. You can add a light salad to this if you like, and you will be ready to go! I love making bean or vegetable balls. They are some of the best lunch or dinner dishes for a vegetarian. They are filling enough themselves, but in this menu recipe, I also wanted to add one of my favourite rice pilaf dishes, the one with coconut milk. I got the inspiration from two different recipes to make these balls and rice pilaf, but I put my own twists. I used couscous with black beans because I like the texture of couscous in this kind of balls. The gluten-free alternative for couscous can be quinoa or a mixture of almond flour and breadcrumbs. Of course, all these substitutions will result in different textures and tastes themselves. I used parmesan in the black bean balls, but if you want to make it vegan, you can substitute parmesan with grated vegan cheese. I made them once this way, and they were …
This spread is similar to hummus, but it does not have chickpeas. Instead, I used crushed dried fava beans locally grown by Oma Maa food co-op (the beans were a part of the food bag I got from them in December). I’ve been thinking of what to do with them, and finally, I found a delicious use. Being involved with the producer of the food product you use is a great thing. Why? You can, of course, just go to the supermarket and buy a package of crushed fava beans, there are many different brands. However, when you know the producer, you also get to learn how the beans are prepared. Let me tell you. After being harvested, the beans are taken to Oma Maa’s kitchen building, which is slightly farther away from the farm (Lassila Farm in Tuusula). The kitchen building has different rooms: a cold room to keep harvested produce where there is also a couple of freezers, a room full of machines where you can wash and peel fresh produce, crush or …
Last month I bought a cookbook named “The New Mediterranean Table”. It consists of recipes that are inspired by traditional cuisines of all the countries around Mediterranean sea, spanning three continents. The first recipe I wanted to try from the book happens to be the first recipe in the book (oh wow how interesting is that heheh).
Did I ever tell you how much I love cooking?
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