Two months ago, my partner (whom I have never mentioned on here before!!) and I decided to give our long-thought-lost relationship a total second go. Following the slogans “one day at a time” and “easy does it” have been tremendous and peacefully guiding. And for once, I am so proud and happy to say that I am experiencing renewal of self more than I ever imagined a love relationship could bring.
We started seeing a therapist, which we agreed from the get-go would be our only hope for recovering from early hurts, childhood wounds, and poor self imagery that previously led to our demise. In the first session, our guy asked us to “kneel at the altar of our hearts” as an initial mental exercise in starting things off right. Our homework at the end of the session was to spend daily time independently seeking out our “deepest heart’s desire.” Part of our relationship recovery will include sharing this with one another.
Since then, my daily time has taken the shape of meditation. It didn’t take long for me to learn that meditation is my version of prayer. Utilizing tools I learned from Get Some Headspace, I am now guiding myself through daily “walks” with me. It has only been a week since I’ve begun this practice, but I can already share that I feel more tapped into my heart’s desire than ever before. I am learning things about who I am, what I need to do to live fully, and how to be the absolute most authentic Hannah Joy Lehman one could ever ask for.
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An extremely exciting piece of Tapping Into Me has been that my heart is truly seeking its truest creative expression. I have many a meditation to do to discover exactly what those words mean, but for now it means that I have had a HELLOFATIME fucking around in the kitchen. Pardon my french, but I ain’t holdin’ back no more, folks.
This recipe came from just such fucking around, spawned by Eat This Poem, my all-time favorite blogger. Hilariously, her post was inspired by a mutual favorite foodie blog, Smitten Kitchen who ALSO was inspired by a blogger-chef, this random french guy I’ve never heard of who is apparently famous and cooks really great shit. (I am proud to say I'm the only vegan blogger among them, by the way.)
All of that’s to say, I am beginning to learn that inspiration depends upon the admiration of other great works. Also, reworking a recipe can take it from meh (as was the case with this recipe, yesterday) to OHMYEFFINGGAWD my mouth just had a ‘gasm. I’m not kidding guys. Please, don’t tweak this recipe until you’ve copied it to a T the first time, because the minor changes I made (such as blasphemously removing the raw garlic and ginger) were much much much worth the extra work.
Until next week, when my heart brings you even more crazy deliciousness,
Hannah Joy ... PS I’M GOING TO MY FIRST FOOD BLOGGER CONFERENCE IN AUGUST!!!
Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Salad Serves 2-3
This salad consists of a finely tweaked spice blend that I created after researching the traditional Moroccan spice blend called Ras El Hanout, which is found in many Moroccan dishes. The key to its use is slightly toasting the spices prior to mixing them with anything, so as to bring the flavors out to full capacity.
1 can Chickpeas
1/2 cup Carrots, shredded
1/2 cup unsweetened Raisins
1/2 cup Scallions, chopped
1/8-1/4 cup Water
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp each: Paprika, ground Fennel
1/8 tsp each: Cardamom, White Pepper, ground Cloves, Nutmeg, ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1. Heat a dry skillet to medium. Place all spices (excluding salt & black pepper) in the center of pan. Use a wooden or rubber spatula to move spices around until all are toasted, about 5-7 minutes. The room will become very aromatic when they are ready.
2. Use a potato masher or food processor to roughly chop half of the chickpeas. Do not overprocess! Move chickpeas to a mixing bowl.
3. Add toasted spices, coconut oil, 1/8 cup water, and remaining chickpeas to the food processor. Blend until well combined into a moist paste. Add to mixing bowl. Add more water if the mixture is too crumbly.
4. Add carrots, raisins, scallions, salt, and black pepper to bowl and fold all ingredients together with a spatula.
Serve in Red Cabbage Leaves with avocado (my favorite way!!) or on bread with tomato slices. Enjoy!
Until next week, when my heart brings you even more crazy deliciousness,
Hannah Joy ... PS I’M GOING TO MY FIRST FOOD BLOGGER CONFERENCE IN AUGUST!!!
Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Salad Serves 2-3
This salad consists of a finely tweaked spice blend that I created after researching the traditional Moroccan spice blend called Ras El Hanout, which is found in many Moroccan dishes. The key to its use is slightly toasting the spices prior to mixing them with anything, so as to bring the flavors out to full capacity.
1 can Chickpeas
1/2 cup Carrots, shredded
1/2 cup unsweetened Raisins
1/2 cup Scallions, chopped
1/8-1/4 cup Water
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp each: Paprika, ground Fennel
1/8 tsp each: Cardamom, White Pepper, ground Cloves, Nutmeg, ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1. Heat a dry skillet to medium. Place all spices (excluding salt & black pepper) in the center of pan. Use a wooden or rubber spatula to move spices around until all are toasted, about 5-7 minutes. The room will become very aromatic when they are ready.
2. Use a potato masher or food processor to roughly chop half of the chickpeas. Do not overprocess! Move chickpeas to a mixing bowl.
3. Add toasted spices, coconut oil, 1/8 cup water, and remaining chickpeas to the food processor. Blend until well combined into a moist paste. Add to mixing bowl. Add more water if the mixture is too crumbly.
4. Add carrots, raisins, scallions, salt, and black pepper to bowl and fold all ingredients together with a spatula.
Serve in Red Cabbage Leaves with avocado (my favorite way!!) or on bread with tomato slices. Enjoy!
