Chickpea Mania!

Thank you to everyone who has continued to look at the blog - sorry I haven't posted for awhile! I have been continuing to make the recipes already posted on the cleanse blog (especially the red lentil stew #3!), as well having lots of simple suppers. I have made a few new dishes lately though that I wanted to post. The first is a delicious Chickpea Loaf with Baked Yams which I made last week, but didn't make the time to post until now!
Here is the recipe for the Chickpea Loaf with Baked Yams (see top picture to left):
1 tbsp canola oil, 2 medium yams, quartered, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3 garlic cloves, minced, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1/2 leek, chopped, 2 stalks celery, chopped, 2 carrots, chopped, 1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, chopped, 1 cup zucchini, chopped, 1/2 cup black kale, chopped, 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, 1 tbsp wheat free tamari (optional - can use 1 tsp + sea salt instead), 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4tsp turmeric, 2 cups precooked chickpeas, mashed, 1 1/2 tbsp tahini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 tbsp canola oil in a casserole dish and add yams. Cover dish, place in oven and bake for 60 minutes or until tender.
Place olive oil in large frying pan over low heat and add garlic, onions, and leek and saute for 5 minutes. Add celery, carrots, shitake mushrooms, zucchini, and black kale and saute for another 3 minutes. Add parsley, wheat free tamari (I use the san j brand because it contains certified organic soy beans), cumin, and turmeric and saute for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add in mashed chickpeas and tahini and mix well. Pack mixture into a lightly canola oiled casserole dish and place in oven (at the same time as the yams is fine) for 30 minutes.
Once both dishes were finished baking, they were served together and seasoned with flax oil and sea salt to taste. This was a delicious meal!

The second recipe I wanted to post is New Chickpea Stew - I had this for supper tonight and it was also very yummy.
Here the recipe for the New Chickpea Stew (see bottom picture to left):
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, chopped, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1/2 leek, chopped, 3 stalks celery, chopped, 1 cup yam, peeled and chopped, 1/2 cup shitake and crimini mushrooms, chopped, 1 cup zucchini, chopped, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, 1/4 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp mixed herb blend (which included parsley, thyme, leek, celery, sage, marjoram), 6 cups water, 2 cups cooked chickpeas, 1/4 cup almond butter (or other type of nut butter), 2 cups black kale, chopped, 2 green onions, chopped, 3 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Place olive oil in a large pot over low heat. Add onion, garlic, leek, and celery and saute for 5 minutes. Add yams and saute for another 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and zucchini and saute for another 3 minutes. Add parsley, sage, red chili flakes, and mixed herbs and saute for another 1 minute. Add 6 cups water and cooked chickpeas, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer for 25 minutes, or until yams are tender. Remove 1 cup of liquid from stew, place in bowl, add 1/4 cup almond butter, whisk together until blended, add mixture back to stew and stir thoroughly. Add black kale, green onions, and lemon juice. Once the stew was dished up, it was seasoned with flax oil. It was another fortifying and tasty meal!