Beans and Rice and Chickpea/Quinoa Crusts

No photos today. Sorry!

The Beans

2 cans pinto beans

2 bay leaves

a bit of tumeric (for the anti-inflammatory properties)

a bit of cumin

a pinch of cinnamon

onions

garlic

salt

pepper

kale, two leaves

Saute onions and garlic, add salt and pepper, add beans, spices, and a can full of water, and almost at the end add the kale, sliced.

Very mild, almost bland, but very healthy.

The Rice

brown rice, soaked all day then cooked regular.

The Crusts

I didn't know what to call them, but they weren't tortillas. I set out to make a tortilla with quinoa flour and chickpea flour and the recipes I could find online sounded messy (roll out the dough with saran wrap? Nah.). This is what I came up with. They are good, protein packed, and not as gluten-y as other tortillas (maybe gluten-free, I don't know about spelt flour but we didn't get that weird heavy feeling after dinner so we think they are low in gluten).

I was loose on the measurements here, because I don't think anyone will be making this, but if you are interested, email me! I'll know what I mean if I ever need to reference this : ) If you have any suggestions, I welcome them because improvisational cooking is not my specialty!

a dump of chickpea flour (I don't know how much, maybe a half cup?)

a dump of equal size quinoa flour

a dump of equal size cornmeal

a tiny dump (oh, a teaspoon maybe) of baking powder

a pinch of salt

Mix all that together and then add water and mix (with hands!) until a sticky ball forms. Let the ball sit covered for a while (not sure how crucial this step is). Later, heat a little oil on medium in a lare skillet. Take pieces off of the dough (just smaller than a donut hole size) and form balls with oiled hands. Take a plate with a nice layer of spelt flour and roll one ball around in the flour. Start pressing the ball flat, flipping as needed to coat the pancake in the flour and so it doesn't stick to the plate. Then throw the flat thing onto the skillet and it will puff just a bit in places. I even pressed it flatter onto the pan with my fingertips. After a minute or so, when the bottom is browned slightly, flip the crust. Re-oil the pan with each crust.

Place two of these on the plate, with the brown rice and beans. We put diced tomatoes on the side to make it feel like bean-burrito-ish, but the beans didn't feel very Mexican. They seemed more cross between American and Indian.

It's the new culture of my household emerging--Healthian. For the time being, anyway.

The Vegan Project Update

Tristan is sleeping better, claims his gas smells like grass (but that he has gas is still a problem), says his skin feels dry, and his nose isn't stuffy in the morning.

All the while I'm in the kitchen almost every spare minute I get, either cooking or cleaning up or packing lunch for the next day (or snacking). It's exhausting being this kind of spouse! It feels good, though, to be able to contribute significantly to my husband's health and well-being.