Monday 24 June 2013

Versatile chick peas

I'm slowly getting down my food reserve, no fresh veg left, except potatoes and onions, hardly anything left in the freezer, but still plenty to eat. Today I thought I would play around with a tin of chick peas, cost 29p. Rinse and put them in a glass bowl.
Then, using an ordinary hand masher, smash them to bits. I do have an electric food processor, but aren't they messy and fiddly to wash afterwards. I save on electricity, less washing up, and do it the old fashioned way using my hands. Nellie would be proud, ha ha. To the mix I added a splash of toasted sesame seed oil, five chopped raw mushrooms, a dollop of grain mustard, a splash of wine vinegar, a shake of lemon juice out of a bottle, and a knob of garlic puree. Give it a good bashing, I don't mind the lumpy bits in it.
Next I toasted a piece of bread and spread a good thick layer of the mix onto it. Then put it under the grill for a few minutes. It made a very nice snack at lunchtime. However, it was much better just eating it as it was, really tasty, so I ate what was left with a fork, straight out of the bowl. You could add anything you like to it and make a sandwich filler. Grated cheese would be nice, or soft cheese, or tuna fish, or chopped raw spinach, or chopped cucumber and salad leaves, or boiled eggs. Have a go, be experimental.
My dinner tonight was a pan of veggie curry stew, made with potatoes and onions, peas and sweetcorn from the freezer, and a tin of red kidney beans. There is plenty left for tomorrow, and probably enough for lunch the day after.

I picked up a form to enter some of my artwork into the Open Art Exhibition at the Visual Arts Centre. I need to get my entry in by the 12th of July. Not decided how many to send yet. I am trying to think of an idea to make another piece, or rather, I have the ideas, but I'm struggling to work out how to construct it. I did make a start on one, but decided it wasn't going to work, so I scrapped it. It's so frustrating, I can see what I want to achieve, but can't find a way forward. My arty mojo is stuck in a box at the moment. I am wandering around the house lost in a fuzz. Something will hit me soon, I hope. Bye the way if anyone is interested in art, there are a couple of programmes on the BBC iplayer called, 'What do artists do all day'. They are very interesting. Possibly only available in the UK. I haven't checked if they are on yootoob.

Oh wow, I've checked, there are a lot more programmes in this series on yootoob. Just type in 'What do artists do all day', into the search and they will come up. It looks like they might not be full programmes, but never mind. I'm going to watch them all, it might help me to get my mojo back.

The chuffin weather is cold here. I nearly had a mad  moment and put the heating on, but I managed to resist. I put some more layers on instead. Where is the chuffin summer :o( I hope tomorrow is better.
Toodle pip.

9 comments:

  1. I am sorry you are so cold. Where I live, we have extreme heat and humidity so the air conditioning is a must in the summer season. I do hope you get a bit of warmth and your lunch sounded interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ilona, I was looking at your chick pea mash and thought that you could even turn that into chick pea burgers if you wanted to for a change. Just add some chopped onion and an egg with a little bit of flour, salt and pepper and put it in the fridge to cool or else you won't be able to form them into patties. Then in about an hour, you can make the patties and fry them. I've done that a couple of times. You can add some spices to it if it's too bland. Hope your "artistic flair" comes back soon! Love the other pieces you made and I'm sure you'll work out how to make the next one. You're creative and you don't give up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope your artsy fartsy mojo returns soon.....July 12th will soon be here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. From Margie in Toronto - besides humous my favourite way to eat chickpeas is with some lightly steamed broccoli, grape/cherry tomatoes, feta cheese (or parmesan or goat cheese) and an oil & vinegar dressing - easy, delicious and really good for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We are at 40C (with humidex) want some?
    Try mashing chick peas,an avocado, juice of one lime, a spring onion, some cilantro/coriander,salt and pepper..YUMMY!!
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of my favourite meals is chickpea and potato curry, Yummy
    Briony
    x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, Ilona - yes, chickpeas are wonderful - I`m the chickpea queen!
    Spinach and chickpeas work really well - in curry, burgers, felafel, bhajis. Yummy!
    X

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love chick pea curry. it is a hugh Fernley whittingstall recipe. it uses all store cupboard items and even ketchup! yum

    ReplyDelete
  9. I use a lot of chickpeas in some salads, make some easy mixed veg meals for working lunches with them and love making my own hummus to use as sandwich spread, too. I buy the dried chickpeas and cook them myself before use.

    ReplyDelete

Some comments will be accepted. I decide which are published.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.