Chickpeas once more - in a bread!

The internet is a wonderful thing - quick access to information about any topic under the sun. Sometimes it's prudent to be careful and question where this information is coming from, particularly controversial points of view; for recipes though it's like having one massive cookery book at your finger tips with so much variety, abounding inspiration is available at every moment.
I can spend hours browsing websites and blogs, googling random ingredients and following a path of ingenuity and creativity. There's so many different options on offer, I tend to forget where I've been, and take ages finding that fascinating fact or idea that's tantalising the edge of my subconscious. Now I try to bookmark everything that I want to return to; that list is getting pretty long and unmanageable!
Recently I found an article featuring marvellous things to do with chickpeas (that old obsession returns once more!); this led me to a recipe for 'Eggy Breakfast Bread', a chickpea based bread, similar to cornbread but sweet http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/10/11/eggy-breakfast-bread/. Made with chickpea flour, it looked great, but I'm not so keen on sweet bread, so decided to omit the sugar and add in some savoury flavours.

I have to say, not only is it incredibly easy, the flavour and texture is fabulous. And totally moreish! Not being able to eat bread other than wraps and the occasional soda bread (home made version) due to my yeast intolerance, it was exciting to create something that was so tasty and felt so right in the mouth.
This recipe calls for flaxseed. If you've not come across it before, you're missing out. Nutritionally it's a brilliant plant source of omega 3, absolutely packed full of fibre, lignans (anti-oxidant phytonutrients) and other anti-oxidants. When mixed with water, flaxseed swells and can be used as an egg replacement in plant based cooking. When you see how it swells in a cup with a little water, you realise how it's going to swell in your gut. So it's not only good for healthy bowels, it will  help you stay full for longer if you're trying to lose weight.  Adding it to cereal in the morning is a wise thing to do!
Here is my savoury version of this bread. The herbs and spices can be played around with to create different flavours. I'm planning on experimenting with pesto (dairy free of course!) by omitting some of the oil and adding the equivalent pesto. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Savoury chickpea bread

1 cup chickpea flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon vinegar (omit if yeast free diet)
1 cup of dairy free milk
2 tablespoons of olive oil or water
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Black pepper

Pre heat oven to 180oC and lightly grease a round metal pie tin.

Combine flaxseed with all the wet ingredients and whisk together really well. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients together, then pour the wet into the dry and stir until well mixed.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until firm and slightly browned on   top. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes. Cut into triangles in the tin before removing.

Best eaten warm, it's still delicious cold - that's if you can leave it to get cold before gobbling it up!

Nutrient popping pesto

I love the smell of fresh sweet basil; one waft captures images of warm summer days, luscious ripe juicy tomatoes draped with fresh basil leaves accompanied by a crisp cool glass of wine. Opening up a jar of pesto can capture this image, even on the coldest winter day, an ideal sauce or marinade for a quick weekday supper. Of course, one of the main ingredients for traditional pesto is cheese so this is usually a no go area for me, unless I can find a jar in a "free from" range - fairly rare in the UK, non-existent here in India.
Recently I came across a bunch of sweet basil in the local vegetable store and just craved for pesto. There are many kinds of basil; Asian basil has a quite different flavour to the Mediterranean type, harsher and reminiscent of cloves which doesn't work quite so well on pasta, so finding sweet basil was a real boon. Basil is full of nutrient goodies and the oil in the leaves carry anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties so not only taste good but are good for you too. One agent, eugenol, inhibits the enzymes that mediate the inflammatory cascade and can  provide symptomatic relief in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and irritable bowel disease. Basil is also packed full of vitamin A which is essential for healthy eyes, skin and mucous membranes as well as vitamin K, essential for blood clotting and strengthening bones. Not only that but basil contains good amounts of iron, manganese and potassium, essential for healthy functional cells. So much in one leaf!

Traditionally, pesto is made with pine nuts, but these are also hard to find here and always seem to be rancid. On a recent trip to Kashmir, I was so excited to find a box of pine nuts, guaranteed not to have turned rancid, or so I was told. When I returned home and eagerly opened the box, I discovered that was because they were still in their shell. Peeling 100g of pine nuts is a seriously boring job!! So a nutrient popping alternative is walnuts (I also bought a massive bag of these, ready shelled!). People often shy away from nuts, fearful of their high fat content. But walnuts contain unsaturated fats and fabulous amounts of omega 3 alpha-linolenic acid, one of the few plant based foods to have this essential fatty acid. Omega 3 fats keep your heart and brain healthy - a walnut looks a bit like a brain and really is brain food. They also have fabulous amounts of the micro-mineral manganese, essential for blood sugar control, cellular energy and bone growth, and other minerals such as magnesium, copper and phosphate as well as a whole range of vitamins.
So for the pesto you need:
2 cups of basil leaves
1/3 cup of walnuts, lightly toasted and cooled
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt to taste
Firstly place the walnuts in your blender or grinder and blitz for a couple of seconds. Add the basil and garlic and blitz again until broken down. Then add the olive oil a bit at a time, blitzing in between until you get the consistency you want and season with salt to taste. That's it! Same as normal pesto, just no cheese! Because there are no additives and preservatives apart from the salt, the bright fresh green colour fades pretty quickly, but it still keeps well in the fridge for a few days, or you can freeze it in small quantities if you want, but I think this takes out some of the active ingrediants and lowers it's healing properties. Of course then you can do whatever you want with it - spoon in to pasta, add more oil and use as a salad dressing or marinade or even a topping for a baked potato.
Dairy free, super healthy and delicious - what's not to like?