Owed to a Bento: Kid-Friendly Lentil Snacks

“What’re THOSE?” Alessandro asked today, peering over my shoulder as I scanned eagerly through recipes on JustBento.com. He is probably the best friend I've ever had in a 5-year old, but none-the-less, a typically picky eater. We had just settled on a rice-cake with pesto for his snack, and his sauce-smeared finger swooped dangerously close to the screen as he motioned at a picture of Spicy Lentil snacks with Sesame Seeds. For once, his voice held no hint of skepticism, and I silently thanked his reading level, for being just right so that he couldn’t see that the main ingredient was lentils, something he’d never touch in native form.

I have been intrigued by bentos ever since finding them online yesterday, and I have been wanting to make some of these delicious-looking little lunch-box fillers. “Do you…” (could my luck be that good?) “do you want to try making them with me?” I ventured. He beamed an ecstatic “Yeah!” and we darted into the kitchen, digging out ingredients to see what we could come up with.

We had only about ¼ cup of dry red lentils left, so we needed to supplement, which is why the result is something much different than the original. That, and the fact that we were recreating Japanese-inspired vegan cuisine in an omnivorous Italian kitchen. First off, spicy had to go for the little guy to enjoy them, and I was on a mission to get some veggies into him, so they needed to be artfully disguised to avoid disgust. Pulling my tupperware of sliced purple cabbage out, I handed a piece to Alessandro for review. “Do you like this stuff?” He gingerly nibbled the corner and in a moment of total silence I was sure he would spit it out. Instead his eyes widened and he bounced noticeably as he said, “Wow, the purple thing is yummy!’


Bingo! It was so exciting to prepare something healthy for Alessandro that didn’t involve bread, cheese, or meat, his three favorite ingredients. He was relegated to carrot-peeling (under wary over-the-shoulder supervision…”don’t give 5-year-olds blades!” My mom’s voice seemed to echo…) and I cooked the rice. Then he retired for some Lego-building while I whipped up the other ingredients. We formed the balls together, discussing seriously techniques for making perfect ball-shapes and using good sesame-rolling technique.

“It’s all sticky. Is this enough?” he asked, the mixture smeared across his palms and one piddly lump in the middle that he focused intently on. “Well, maybe we could add a little more and then go like this (patting hands together) to make a ball.” Alessandro carefully placed one more pea on top of his mushy lump and smiled. “There, is that enough?” Sure, why not! Sure enough, we had a fantastic array of sizes and shapes when we finished. Though we ate from plates, the bento-spirit was certainly there: we each had just enough food, a healthy array of proteins, carbs, vegetables, and healthy fats, and we still managed to save some for mom and dad. Barely.



Baked Veggie-Lentil Bites with Sesame Seeds and Olives

Ingredients:

• ½ cup dry brown rice
• ¼ cup dry red lentils
• 1 medium potato
• 2 medium-large carrots
• ¾ cup sliced purple cabbage
• ½ cup green peas (frozen, fresh, whatever)
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp mixed Italian herbs, or any combination of basil, thyme, and marjoram
• a few grates of nutmeg
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ onion, diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 10 kalamata olives, pitted and slices into rings

Directions:

1. Bring brown rice and 1 cup of water to a boil, cover, reduce heat to the lowest temperature, and cook until finished. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, put sesame seeds in a bowl with 1 cup of water to soak (activation!)
3. Chop the cabbage into tiny pieces and grate the carrots as finely as possible
4. Chop the potato and add to a pan with the lentils and ¾ cup water. Cover and cook until everything is soft. Leave them on the flame and mash them together with a fork, stirring to remove any excess moisture until you have a fairly uniform, sticky mixture. Set aside
5. Preheat the oven to 180 C (360 F)
6. In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the onions, garlic, and herbs. Sautee over low-medium heat until the onions are soft.
7. Stir in the cabbage and cook, stirring, for a minute or two, until shiny.
8. Add the rice and cook for another few minutes, stirring, until everything is coated with oil and herbs, but not dry.
9. Mix everything together except for the sesame seeds and olives. Add salt and pepper to taste and mush everything together more, either with a fork or a hand mixer, until it is fairly pasty and most of the rice is crushed.
10. Drain the water from the sesame seeds.
11. When cool enough to handle, form golf-ball sized balls with the mush and roll each in the wet sesame seeds very lightly. Place on a baking sheet and stick an olive ring on top.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes, checking with an occasional poke to test for solidity. They should be browned on the outside and still moist on the inside, with a strong enough outer layer to hold them firmly together. Enjoy!

Read more...

'Activating' Seeds and Nuts-An easy digestion aid

Like most vegans, and for that matter, gluten-free folks too, I find that seeds and nuts are a huge part of my diet now (I am oh so joyous that I am not allergic to any! phew!). I really crave them, especially almonds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds, all of which are very healthy and a good way for people with alternative diets to get healthy fats and essential nutrients. Plus they just taste so goood, and nothing enhances gluten-free anything like nut-meal or milk. Oh, *muah* "delicioso!"

In cooking, I rarely have a problem digesting nuts, especially when they are ground or made into milks. But lately, when I have gone over to my boyfriend's house, his roommate has a beautiful bowl of mixed nuts from her travels in Syria, and the temptation to eat a handful (every time I walk in the room) is too much to resist. Oh they're good alright. that's what I keep telling myself when i wake up at 5 in the morning with a lance in my abdomen! "Shhhhh, my dear digestive tract, you wouldn't believe the flavors tongue up here is experiencing!" But my lower organs are just not happy with whole, raw nuts, or even roasted whole nuts.

I started looking around for a solution and found one that sounds surprisingly simple. so far I have only tried it with pumpkin seeds, but the result was a seed that was plump, juicy, and even better than the average dried pumpkin seed. And I didn't have a twinge of cramping or any bloating after eating (ahem, possibly too) many. Woah...really? Truly. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself-and try any seed or nut.

The science here is simple. Usually when we eat seeds and nuts they are dormant, perceiving in their little seedy senses that it's winter or some insanely dry spell that's not suitable for growth. So none of the living nutrients we find in plants are released. However, if you soak the seeds in good clean water, you have cleverly tricked them into thinking it's spring-the first rains. They begin to germinate, though it's not visible from the outside at all. The wonder of it is, they taste somehow better, though they retain the same flavor and crunch, look the same, and have gotten rid of most of the digestion-inhibiting factors on their own, because they are now focused on growing-which makes them all the more nutritious too.

Activated Seeds and Nuts

Ingredients:

• some raw, whole, organic nuts
• some fresh (spring, filtered, etc.) water, room temperature
• a clean jar/bowl

Directions:

1. Just put your nuts in some water and soak for:
   

almonds/hazelnuts: 12 hours +
cashews/walnuts/pecans: 2-4 hours
brazils/macadamias: 6-12 hours
For seeds, the soak times are usually less, 2 hours or so.

If you want them salted or flavored, drain off the water and add whatever flavor you want while they're still wet. dry them on a tray in the oven at the very lowest temperature (you should only make it hot enough to imitate sunlight, so you don't kill the nutrients you've just accessed) until dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Notes:
There are many websites with helpful tables of detailed soak times. At the moment, I can only find this on in my history. 12-24 hours for most hard nuts seems fine. soft nuts like cashews and walnuts, about 4. For seeds, use your judgement and a little less time.
Vegan and Vegetarian Health guide: Nuts and Seeds

Read more...