Cooking, Health and Nutrition

Move over chicken salad, chickpea curry is here!

chickpea curry3

Last week I had a friend over to test my  Kale Soup recipe.  Accompanying the soup, was a light sandwich with a big flavorful ethnic punch! The kale soup received a good review, but it was the sandwich grabbing all the attention. My friend loved it so much that she asked me to share the recipe on my blog. Jenna this one is for you!

Cold sandwiches with a lot of mayo are very common in the United States. Egg sandwiches, chicken or tuna salads are staples to a lot of people including myself. I remember days when I was preparing chicken salad sandwiches on croissants to my play group of friends when the children were younger.  They were and are still absolutely delicious, but we can all benefit from removing a little mayo from our lives.Part of my food evolution is trying to find healthier alternatives to some of these staples.

This week’s recipe is a chickpea curry sandwich. A healthier alternative to the chicken curry sandwich. For those watching your carbohydrates or gluten intake, the filling of the recipe could also be served on top of a bed of greens such as arugula or spinach. I love to make them into wraps for my kid’s lunches! The wraps spikes the other children’s curiosity… or so I am told!

The chickpea curry filling is protein packed and absolutely delicious! Chickpeas or garbanzo beans, as they are also known, are one of the best plant based protein sources available; 100g of chickpeas contains approximately 19g of protein. Chickpeas are also a good source of iron and fiber, good allies for women’s health, weight loss, and stabilizer of blood sugar.

chickpea curry

Tahini, my substitute for mayo on this sandwich, also is very rich in protein. It is made from sesame seeds, which we have learned in my “Guide to Seeds” is also loaded with good fats and minerals. Curry powder ties in this sandwich back with my Ayurveda roots, as the combination of spices in curry powder help with digestion, inflammation, and are very cooling to the body (great for those Pitta folks).

Have some friends over, go on a picnic, or make a batch for yourself, you won’t be disappointed with this sandwich’s performance.

chickpea curry2

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans

1 carrots small diced

2 green onions sliced

1/4 cup of dried cranberries or raisins

1/4 cup of cashews

2tbs of tahini

1/4 cup of hummus

1/2 lemon

1 tbs of curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all the ingredients together and let the flavors infuse for at least half and hour. Serve it on a bed on greens, with your favorite whole grain bread, or as a wrap. Enjoy!

Receita em Portugues

Ingredientes

2 xícaras de grão de bico cozido

1 cenoura cortada em cubos pequenos

2 cebolinhas fatiadas

1/4 xícara de cranberries secas ou passas

1/4 xícara de castanha de caju

2tbs de tahine

1/4 xícara de homus

1/2 limão

1 colher de sopa de caril (curry) em pó

Sal e pimenta a gosto.

Misture todos os ingredientes e deixe os sabores infusão por pelo menos uma hora e meia . Sirva sobre uma cama de verdes, com seu pão integral favorito, ou como um “wrap” . Aproveite!

Meditation – Yoga- Ayurveda

http://www.blissbalancehealth.com

armenia@blissbalancehealth.com

864 551 5731

http://www.facebook.com/blissbalancehealth

Standard
Health and Nutrition

Farro Asian Bowl

Farro Asian Bowl

 

This week I decided to experiment a little bit with my recipe for Asian Bowl. I normally use soba noodles for this delicious Asian dish, but sometimes my kids complain that it gets to sticky, so I decided to find an alternative to the noodles. I was looking for a grain that I enjoyed eating cold or warm and that would resemble pasta a little bit, Farro just was the perfect choice! It has a nutty flavor that just goes well with the Asian flavors of this salad.

So what is Farro? Farro is a the oldest cultivated ancient grain in the world. Farro has been used in Italian cuisine for centuries and is also very popular in parts of Europe and Middle East. Farro is also a great source of complex carbohydrates and has twice the amount of fiber and protein than modern wheat. One of the complex carbohydrates found in Farro, cyanogenic glucoside, has been found to stimulate immune system, lower cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar levels. Farro is also rich in minerals such as magnesium and zinc.

I like to add a variety of different vegetables to this salad to give it a beautiful splash of color, texture, and also to include the six tastes. Including a variety of color in your diet will ensure that you are getting a good balance of nutrients in your diet. This salad is very easy to make, it can also be made in advance. I have found that the salad tastes even better the next day after the flavors had a chance to blend together. There is also a lot of protein in this meal, so it can easily be served as the star of the meal.

This is a very refreshing salad and a great meal for those who are trying to balance Pitta! I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I do! So let’s see what goes into it!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Farro (2 copos de grão Farro)

salt (sal para cozir o grão)

1 cucumber ( 1 pepino)

2 large carrots ( 2 cenouras grandes)

1 cup of edamame without shells ( 1 copo de edamame sem casca)

1 cup of sugar snap peas (1 copo de ervilhas de vargem)

1 red bell pepper ( 1 pimentão vermelho)

1 bunch of green onions ( cebolinha verde)

Sauce: (Molho)

1 clove of garlic ( 1 cabeça de alho)

3 tbs of peanut butter ( 3 colheres de sopa de pasta de amendoim)

3 tbs of liquid aminos or low sodium soy sauce ( 3 colheres de sopa de molho de soja)

1tbs of apple cider vinegar (1 colher de sopa de vinagre de cidra)

Juice of 1/2 lemon (suco de 1/2 limão)

1 tsp fresh ginger (1 colher de cha de gengibre)

1 tsp of brown sugar ( 1 colher de cha de açúcar mascavo)

Cook the Farro for about 40 minutes in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain and put it in a large bowl. Dice all the vegetable and add to the bowl with the Farro. In a food processor or with a whisk, blend all the ingreadients for the sauce. Add it to the bowl with the Farro mixture and mix well. Refrigerate and it enjoy it cold.

Cozinhe o Farro por quarenta minutos em agua fervente salgada. Retire a agua. Corte toda a verdura em cubos pequenos e acrescente ao Farro. Coloque todos os ingredientes do molho em um processador de alimentos. Adicione o molho a salada e leve ao refrigerador. Siva a salada fria.

BlissBalanceHealth_Logo Do you want to learn to eat healthier? Find balance? Try Ayurveda Lifestyle! Ayurveda is 5,000 year old conscious based healing system that looks at nature for guidance to our everyday life challenges.

Check us out at http://www.blissbalancehealth.com 

Also make sure to like us on http://www.facebook.com/blissbalancehealth to get updates on all of our exciting news!

 

Standard