Chia Seeds

The best thing that came from the excursion into vegan eating was chia seeds. I don't know if they derive from the friendly childhood friend which may or may not mean they sprout instantly in your stomach a scooby doo or homer simpson. But they are really yummy, well not really cause they have no flavor, but they are really good for you. Like possibly challenging my atheism type good for you*. They are these little seeds that when soaked in water absorb the water and get a gelatinous casing.

There are many things you can do with Chia Seeds. The first is to simply make a chia gel which you can add to smoothies, juice... really anything because it's flavorless. It keeps for up to two weeks and is made by combining chia seeds and water at a 1 to 9 ratio. You mix them together, let it sit for a minute, mix again and then let it sit for twenty minutes.

If you add the seeds straight to juice it will absorb the juice and become like miniature bubble tea - don't chew it, crunchy juice is gross, but you can do as I do and swish it back and forth in my mouth until people around me get nauseous.

For a meal:

1/3 cup of chia
2/3 cup water
stir, sit minute, stir, sit twenty minutes
Add one finely grated clove of garlic and about 3/4 inch of ginger and pour in two tablespoons of soy sauce (I use WAY more).



It's really really good. I recently learned that a serving size is actually like two table spoons and that by eating this you are consuming 127% of your daily requirement of fiber... so there's that. But I'm ok with it.

My roommate says it tastes like Emily Jello. And I appreciate that. In fact, if the jelly company wants to make soy sauce garlic jello I will promise to buy it and promote it as a part time volunteer position.

*
Magnesium – 15 times more than Broccoli
Calcium – 6 times more than whole milk
Omega-3 – nearly 9 times the amount found in Salmon
Fiber – more than flax seed & 2 times more than bran flakes
Iron – nearly 3 times more than spinach
Protein – more than soy

I should probably not mention anything about atheism -- for some reason the kids in my class are all mad that I called religion institutionalized psychosis**. Maybe it's also the whole referring to them as kids thing... or trying to explain what the definition of literally literally means.

** Really? That's a bit extreme. I said it for you.

Pea Soup Bread Bowl w/ Fish

I'm cooking dinner for my boyfriend Jeremy tonight and I want to make something that is delicious and that he will like. I know he likes bread bowls, but I don't want to make broccoli cheddar soup because it's not healthy and requires me shopping thereby getting dressed for the day and possibly missing a law and order. I've had a bag of peas for years in my cupboard because no one uses dried beans or peas (are peas beans?).

I added:

1 Onion
Too much Water
Bag of split peas
5 Cloves of Garlic
3 Seasoning packets by that company that does all the seasoning-- goya? something that was without anejo? annijase? I think it means without anchovies. Anejo is teqila? That would have made the soup better.
Two pinches Smoked Salt.

I boiled this all together for like two hours. I then added a tablespoon of baco bits. I would have added more, but I ate them all. I added a lot more salt and then let it boil out a bit. It was way too watery so I made a... coagulating substance. I added like 1/4 a cup corn starch which I combined with water before adding. It's called a roo.

I poured this in a par-baked sourdough boule.

During this time I was marinating four tilapia fillets in butter garlic salt and some herbs of sorts. When ready I put a bunch of lemon and more salt on them and baked them at 350 for like ten minutes.



Jeremy did not eat the fish. Regardless of my staring at his plate. But he did eat the soup after hesitation. Pea Soup in a bread bowl almost success!!