Author: Leslie Cook

Another favorite soup, especially during the winter when you want something warm and substantial when you come in from the cold … or before you go out into it!

Black Bean Soup

(Makes 1.5 Gallons)

Ingredients

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1/2 cup
• Spanish Onions, 1 lg., small diced
• Garlic, 16 cloves (2 TB minced)
• Carrots, 1/2 lb., small diced
• Celery, 5 lg. stalks, small diced
• Red bell pepper, 1 lg., small diced
• Black beans, 3 lb.
• Plum tomatoes, 1 lb. petite diced (about 8) or one 19-oz. can petite diced)
• Tomato paste, 1-6 oz. can
• Water, about 4-5 quarts
• Salt, 1 TB (to taste)
• Cumin, 2 TB
• Hot chili powder, 1-1/2 tsp.
• Hot paprika, 1-1/2 tsp.
• Lemon or lime to taste
• Cilantro and red pepper garnish

Directions

1. Prepare the beans – read my post: http://vegetatingwithleslie.org/?p=818
2. Add extra virgin olive oil to another pot, covering the bottom to about 1/8″.
3. Add onions and garlic to saute briefly.
4. Add diced veggies and saute briefly until softened.
5. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings. Simmer for a moment or two and remove from burner while preparing beans.
6. Drain cooked beans in a colander over a bowl to capture cooking liquid.
7. Measure the cooking liquid and add 4-5 quarts to the tomato and veggie mixture along with the beans (add less to start if you use the blanch-soak method of bean preparation).
8. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook the soup until all has blended together well, beans are very tender and soup has reached desired thickness.
9. I usually mash some of the soup with a potato ricer.
10. Add lemon or lime if desired.
11. Adjust liquid and other seasonings.
12. Garnish with chopped red peppers and cilantro and serve.

Babaganoush features a wonderful creaminess and fresh taste. I used to make mine with Labne, a Middle Eastern yogurt spread, but this vegan version, made with Tahina Sauce, is just as creamy and good.

Although a good variety of smoked paprika will give a beautiful smoky flavor to the Babaganoush, smoking the eggplants rather than running them under the broiler accomplishes the same.

(Makes about a quart)

BABAGANOUSH

Ingredients

• Eggplants, 3 lg.
• Tahina, 1/2 cup
• Lemon, ½ juiced (up to 1 TB)
• Garlic, 1 tsp., (or 2 cloves, minced)
• Sea salt, 1.5 tsp.
• Cumin, 1.5 tsp.
• Szeged hot paprika, ½ tsp.
• Smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp. (Opt.)
• Parsley, 1-3 oz. (start with 1 oz., add until the mixture has a beautiful light green cast)

Directions

1. Roast eggplant with peels on under the broiler to blacken skin (about 15 minutes, turning every five minutes).
2. Cool eggplant.
3. Remove skin from flesh, and drain thoroughly (an hour is best, but at least while preparing the remainder of the recipe).
4. Place roughly chopped parsley in a food processor bowl. Process until fairly smooth, scraping down the sides. Set aside.
5. Mince garlic in processor.
6. Add cooled, peeled, drained eggplant to processor bowl with garlic.
7. Add Tahina Sauce, lemon juice and seasonings to the processor bowl with eggplant and garlic. Pulse all until barely mixed. DO NOT OVER-PROCESS. It should have texture.
8. Taste, and add hot paprika as desired (or not) — and add parsley as desired. Pulse once or twice to mix in.
9. Spread on a dish for serving, garnish with extra virgin olive oil, Tahina Sauce, parsley or paprika or sumac or za’atar and enjoy.

“The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it’s the opposition” …Nick Seitz

Finding a breakfast cereal without sugar can be challenging. Finding one that doesn’t taste like sawdust even more so. I propose a solution to this problem: an Israeli-style breakfast.

I visited Israel for the first time almost 40 years ago. Israel is one of those places that floods one’s mind and senses with thoughts and images. It resonates with the voices of its history and culture, voices which have become part of so many of us through biblical literature although we may have never been to Israel.

Salad For Breakfast … A Delicious Alternative

One of the most memorable experiences I had on that first visit was totally unanticipated: an Israeli breakfast. Originally a very simple meal, Israeli breakfasts have become famous. Many contemporary restaurants specialize in elaborate versions of it.

Israeli breakfasts originated with the halutzim (early pioneers). Quickly prepared from local ingredients, the meal featured a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onion, and perhaps avocado, dressed with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Other typical components of the meal were soft cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, pickles, olives, and bread. Beans in the form of hummus (a chickpea “dip”) or ful (fava beans) might also be part of the meal. Ful is the breakfast food of choice in Egypt and is served up with lemon, chopped garlic, onions and olive oil.

When I returned home from that first trip, I began to make a simple version of the Israeli breakfast every morning. Although my knife skills are unfortunate, I became proficient in the small dice typical of an Israeli or Jerusalem salad. We sometimes enjoyed dicing contests to see who could make the salad most quickly and with the most precision.

I love to make Israeli Salad. Because of its precision (some would call it tedious), it requires focus, especially if you don’t have great knife skills. For me, it’s “vegetative,” that is, a meditative exercise involving beautiful vegetables:

ISRAELI SALAD

Ingredients

(Serves four along with other breakfast items)

• Plum tomatoes, 6 ripe but firm
• Pickling cucumbers, 2-3 or Persian cucumbers,* 3-4
• Green onions, 2
• Red bell peppers, 1-2
• Avocado (opt.), 1-2 ripe but firm
• Cilantro (opt.)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt and pepper

*Pickling cucumbers are preferable because of their finer grain and because they require no deseeding. Persian cucumbers are even better where available.

Directions

Although not necessary if the salad is eaten immediately, deseeding the tomatoes extends the time the salad will last without drowning in its own juices. Cut all the veggies into uniform 1/4″ dice. Chop the onions and cilantro. Add extra virgin olive oil, the juice of a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste.

VIDEO #1: For a demo of the dice, see the video my son created of himself preparing Israeli/Jerusalem salad in my cafe (mandolin optional – I do it by hand): http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEcBa9bzu0.

VIDEO #2: Here’s one more video – a session I did at our Woodstock Farmers Market on the Israeli Breakfast. I’m a good deal slower and less expert than my son, but here’s the good news: if I can make this salad, anyone can! – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XNAdGkxq5vc

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie.

Israeli White Bean Soup is one of my favorite recipes from my cafe days, and it’s still a big favorite at home. It’s so easy to make, pretty to look at, delicious, and nutritious. What more could you want? Other than to make it in an Instant Pot, in which case you can check out this version.

Israeli White Bean Soup

(Makes about 2 gal.)

Ingredients 

• Olive Oil, 1/3 cup
• Garlic, 1 TB
• Spanish onion, 1 lg, petite diced
• Celery, 2 lg stalks, bias cut
• Carrots, 2 lg, bias cut
• Potatoes, 5, 1″ dice, skin on
• Cumin, 1 TB
• Tomato, 8 lg plum tomatoes, petite diced, or one  28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
• Tomato Paste,  3 heaping TB or to desired thickness
• Salt, 2 tsp or to taste
• Szeged hot paprika, 1/2-1 tsp
• Cilantro, 1 bunch, chopped
• White beans (Navy Pea Beans or Canellini), 2 lb. dried
• Water, 3 quarts to start

Directions

1. Add olive oil to a pot large enough to hold the entire soup, and saute garlic.
2. Add petite diced or chopped onions and sauté.
3. Rinse beans well, and put in pot to cook with fresh water to cover, about 3 quarts. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat to simmer, cover pot and cook ’til beans are almost tender.
4. Add celery and carrots cut on the bias. Simmer for about 10 minutes, adding more water if needed.
5. Add potatoes, diced tomatoes tomato paste, and continue to simmer until the potatoes are barely tender.
6. Add remaining seasonings and water to desired thickness, and bring soup back to simmer.
7. When finished, the soup should be thick with veggies and beans but with enough broth to be soup.
8. Add chopped cilantro at end of cooking process, and remove from heat.

7-Grain Spelt Bread made at home, an act of love. I can’t say it better than this beautiful comment from a post on the Weston Price website. The author contrasts modern bread-making methods with the ways grains were traditionally handled and bread made:

“Grains comprise a wholesome category of foods that must be respected for the complexity of nutrient contributions they can make to the human diet, and must always be prepared with care to maximize those nutrients’ availability as well as neutralize naturally occurring antinutrients. . .

“Growing and preparing food ought to be a sacramental service. It should not be based on violence, as is most of modern agriculture, factory animal farms and factories that produce finished food items like bread. All those processes are based on “conquering” the food item and forcing it into a form defined by commerce. There are no more subtle energies in these debased foods, let alone mere measurable nutrients or soul-satisfying taste and vitality.

“Food is holy. Its preparation and enjoyment constitute a daily opportunity to experience happiness, satisfaction and gratitude.”

I make this 7-Grain Spelt Bread weekly. Spelt is an ancient, easier-to-digest grain. My recipe uses little or no sugar and about 1/3 the yeast in most contemporary bread recipes. Allow plenty of rising time, at least 1-1/2 hours each time. I’m eager to test out a sourdough version!

7-Grain Spelt Bread

Ingredients
(Makes about 40 buns)

• Bob’s Red Mill 7-grain cereal, 2-1/2 cups (14 oz.)
• Boiling water, 5 cups
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Sugar, 1 tsp. (opt.)
• Dry yeast, 1 tsp.
• Spelt flour, 4 cups (1 lb. 5 oz.)
• Unbleached white flour, 3 cups (1 lb. – if you’re happy with a denser texture and longer rising time, replace white with spelt flour)
• Salt, 1 TB

Directions

1. Boil the water, stir the 7-grain cereal into it.
2. Let the cereal soak for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Add oil, sugar and yeast to cereal mixture. Stir in and let sit.
4. Mix flours and salt together.
5. Mix flours into cereal mixture.
6. Knead the entire mix on a smooth, lightly floured surface or knead mechanically for 10 minutes. I use my Kitchenaid mixer.
7. The dough should be very slightly sticky. Keep as light as possible.
8. Knead dough by hand into a smooth ball.
9. Place in a well-oiled bowl and oil top of dough. Cover with non-porous material. Plastic garbage bags work. I clean and re-use the same bag every week.
10. Let rise 1-2 hours. Punch down. Let rise again if there’s time. If not, continue to next step.
11. Using a 1/4 cup dry measure, pull off a piece of dough and pack it into the cup.
12. Remove from cup, knead slightly, press smooth side down into cup. Tap firmly on counter to remove from cup and place on baking sheet.
13. Repeat this process until all buns have been formed.
14. Cover buns and let rise.
15. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
16. Remove from oven, cool, enjoy.

Three years ago when I was working more on the front lines of my Cafe, I wrote a post about the fun I had serving up real lemonade to an employee and her friends using my (then) new professional lemon juicer. I’m sharing that post below.

Now I spend more of my time in civilian life, and I have a new juicer better suited to this environment. Who’d have thought it would be possible to transfer affections to a new lemon juicer so quickly and easily?! But I have!

When I complained about the shape, cumbersomeness, and relative ineffectiveness of home kitchen juicers on the market, my son 3D-printed a lemon juicer for me. And I’m telling you, this is true LOVE. It’s the perfect shape (look at that beautiful shape in the picture). It squeezes every drop from the lemon, it’s easy to clean, easy to use, and easy to store.

For more information about Jeremy’s 3D-print projects or business, see www.3duniverse.org and www.shop3duniverse.com.

* * * * * *

When life hands you lemons…

“We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.” -Alfred E. Newman

I squeeze a lot of lemons every day. After five years of daily lemon squeezing, I finally purchased a professional lemon squeezer, the kind they use in fairs. It’s an incredible technological advance in my life. I love it!

Still, my lemon squeezer is a single-function tool. It squeezes lemons for salads I make every day in my vegetarian cafe. It needed a larger purpose in life.

One day I put a little unfiltered sugar in a cup, squeezed a half lemon over it, tossed in the rind, swished it around, filled the cup with ice, added water, clapped a lid over the cup, and shook. I handed the result to my employee. She drank, and looked stunned, then she said, “Amazing.” She shared her drink with friends, who performed similarly.

This employee is 40 years younger than I as are her friends. Noting her ecstasy over the drink, I wondered if it was possible she had never had real lemonade before. Sure enough, prior to this moment lemonade for her was something made with water and canned powder. She had no idea you could just make lemonade from . . . well, real lemons.

Real lemonade vs. the mix. No comparison.

Have you ever compared the ingredient list on a lemon with the ingredient list on one of those cans of lemonade mix? Here is a typical powdered lemonade mix ingredient list: Sugar, Fructose, Citric Acid, Less Than 2% Of Natural Flavor, Ascorbic Acid, Maltodextrin, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Oxide, Calcium Fumarate, Artificial Color, Yellow 5 Lake, Tocopherol.

Now compare that list to: Lemon. A lemon, with its nutrients, micronutrients, and phytonutrients, with its fiber and its ability to lower the glycemic index of accompanying foods. Most of all a lemon with all of its taste. A plain lemon, packaged in its own beautiful (integrated) yellow self.

It turns out real lemonade is not only more nutritious and about as easy to make as lemonade from a powdered mix — but tastier. According to the 20+ set, it is “Amazing!”

Forty years ago, I began a campaign to bring back real food. I raised my kids on it. Today I feed it to my customers. Everybody loves it! Why did we ever give it up? What did real food ever do to us but keep us healthy and happy?

Real Lemonade

• 0 – 2 TB Organic Sugar
• Juice of 1/2 LG Juicy Lemon
• 1/2 Lemon Rind
• Ice
• Filtered Water

Wash one lemon. Add sugar to taste to the bottom of a drink mixer or cup with a cover. Squeeze over it the juice of 1/2 lemon, reserving the rind. Then swish sugar and lemon juice until mixed. Add ice to the top of the shaker or cup. Fill the shaker or cup with water. Secure the lid, and shake. Enjoy your lemonade.

Body Language is what I like to call ritual practice. As a Protestant, I was a late-comer to ritual practice.

I grew up in the Methodist Church. When I was young, my Dad was the minister in the church we attended. I remember the sights and sounds and how much I liked sitting in services surrounded by them.

One sight in particular that imprinted itself is the little gothic arch-shaped board at the front that featured the hymn numbers for the day. The numbers on that board pointed to a rich sound experience, the hymns we would sing at three points during the service. There is something very powerful about a roomful of Methodists standing to sing those old and familiar tunes accompanied by an organ. As I participated in the experience, I became part of it.

Body Language … The search begins

As I grew older, like so many young people, I searched for a different religious experience, but I wasn’t quite sure for what. I visited all kinds of services and read about various religions. Many things that I read or saw and experienced in the services of other denominations and religions sparked not only interest but admiration. Some environments invited me to linger for extended stays. For a while, I was a Congregationalist — because my friend’s father was the minister of that church. It felt familiar and homey. I loved the splendor and color of Catholic services. Buddhist philosophy attracted me. For a while, I was Baptist.

As I look back on it, what attracted me to the Baptist Church was really a sign of where I was headed. When I visited a Baptist Church for the first time, I liked that there were Bibles stored in racks in the pews. During the service, we took those books out of the racks, held them in our hands, and read from them. Of course, I loved many parts of the text, so familiar to me. It was the physical act, though, of taking out the book at a particular time and holding it and opening it that was most meaningful.

My most life-changing step toward a ritual practice

At a later time, I became interested in Judaism. Initially, it was an intellectual attraction. What I read worked for me, and I wanted to read more. It wasn’t until I was part of a Jewish community for several years, though, constantly seeking, reading, and experiencing, that I found the center point of my journey.

For several years, my experience and learning were in a Reform environment and an academic environment. I had a sense I was missing something but wasn’t sure what that something was. Then one day I visited a traditional synagogue where the weekly practice included taking scrolls out of the ark. A cascade of ritual activity and bodily movement accompanied the practice. I was overwhelmed with emotion, and tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t explain then exactly what it all meant to me, but I knew I wanted more of it. That morning was the first step of my journey into more traditional corners of Judaism.

Now I know that what so moved me was ritual engagement, Body Language. Through ritual practice, Body Language, Judaism offers a life-enhancing embodied conversation that points to transcendence and deeper meaning. This non-verbal body language, ritual, communicated meaning to me, from checking the numbers in the gothic arch-shaped sign and taking a hymnal, opening it, turning to a page, standing and singing beloved songs, to the Bibles in pews that I could anticipate picking up, opening, and holding at a particular time to read well-known passages once again.

Body language — a spread table of ritual practices

When I first glimpsed traditional Judaism, I felt as though I had come into an amazing and brilliant garden of ritual activity. I experienced it in ways I could have hardly imagined if I had just read a book of instructions. At every moment of the day, whether in a worship environment or engaged in daily activities, there are ways to move one’s body or eat that communicate meaning.

Often when people try to explain the meaning of a ritual or embodied experience, for example, sitting in the women’s section during synagogue services, it loses me. How is it possible to explain bodily experience with language? Sure, you can in part. But you can never really capture the fullness of an experience, the nuanced meaning. Completely lost is the specificity of individual experience since no person shares another’s bodily experience except in the most general ways. It is the intense individuality of the ritual experience that makes it so deeply meaningful.

How can one person explain the taste of matzah to another person? Each matzah tastes different not only because of where and how it was made but because of the moment and surroundings in which it is eaten. The experience is specific to the person eating it as they are in that moment and in all their prior moments.

Eating matzah has a general meaning brought to it through the education and liturgy common to all who share in a seder, a Passover meal. It points to a shared communal and historical experience. But it also has a very powerful and specific meaning to each person at the celebration.

Rituals at work

Rituals elevate mundane activities and give them meaning. They are both cultural and personal expressions. They teach us about ourselves and our place in the world. At the same time, they point to something beyond themselves: in the context of religion, they point to transcendence. Rituals do this not only in the general framework of what religion teaches but in very specific and personal ways for a person in a specific place and time.

As a structured experience, rituals elevate mundane activities like eating. They do this without words, which can educate and shape a person but also distract them. I remember many occasions when a sermon included concepts that either irritated or alienated me — or included information that I wanted to be sure to check later. In those cases, I was more involved with trying to remember what it was that I wanted to check than with the embodied experience I might have had.

At one seder I attended, our host asked us to maintain silence after hand-washing and for a few moments while tasting the matzah. How powerful this wordless experience was, both in its general sense in the context of a seder and its deeply personal sense communicated through the experience.

Contrary to popular evaluations of ritual as mindless repetition, I believe ritual is an aid to mindfulness and conscious choice. Food-centered rituals heighten and focus my awareness. They invite me to experience what I am eating more fully and to experience and express gratitude when I am satisfied. Ritual is an embodied and nuanced conversation with all that is, with ourselves, our world, and Transcendence.

Gluten — is all the concern fact-based?

I cook whole foods from scratch. That’s a practice I started more than half a century ago in the early ’70s. I’m also vegetarian, another practice I started 50+ years ago. For many years, it was an off-and-on practice. For the last 30 years, consistent. Now I’m experimenting more with vegan foods.

During these forty-plus years of vegetarianism, I  tried to stay current on what we know about food and its relationship to our health. I watched food “issues” come and go, including eggs, on the “hit list” for so many years, but now not necessarily. If I eliminated every food we’ve been told to eliminate by the medical profession or alternative health gurus, there would probably be nothing left to eat.

In this country of plenty (for many), we are particularly prone to demonizing categories of food. Someday I will write a post about impulses I imagine may inspire this self-deprivation. I think of Der Hunger Kunstler (The Hunger Artist) by Franz Kafka.

Still, I’m considering my next step. As I contemplate removing another class of food items from my own diet, namely eggs and cheese, I’m sometimes frustrated and sometimes amused by an ever-growing list of forbidden foods. Grains and gluten are just two of the more recent on the food hit list.

My own experience with grains

I still consider grains my friends, despite that most have gluten. I eat and enjoy wheat, oats, barley, and more with no debilitating after-effects. That’s despite claims that grains are theoretically new to human consumption, entering our food supply just 10,000 years ago. It seems that was long enough ago for my system. Some argue it’s long enough for most humans. And the numbers on exactly when grains entered the food supply system change. Recent discoveries show that humans have been “feasting on grains for at least 100,000 years.“

One day in my cafe, a customer who requested gluten-free products told me that everyone suffers from gluten sensitivity nowadays. This surprised me since I definitely do not. I couldn’t help but think of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a story I read as a child. Did I dare to contradict what is increasingly becoming the universally accepted truth, that we are all suffering from gluten sensitivity? Could I possibly suggest that the emperor might be naked, or at least partially so?

Gluten research: Common sense among contradictions

Still, I believed I owed it to my customers and myself to go beyond the evidence of my own body and read up on what the issues may be for others. I read as many articles as I could find dealing with the issue of gluten and grains from all sides and perspectives. In addition, I read reviews on the articles to be sure I wasn’t led astray by the hype on this issue coming from all directions. I spent many days on the project. In the end, though, I found little that sounded credible or made any sense to me. For every statement, there was a counterstatement that made at least as strong an argument.

Part of an answer? Modern grain processing

Finally, I came across an article on the Weston Price website (www.westonaprice.org) that resonated with me. It fit with my general ideas about the source of problems in our food supply: processing. Titled “Against the Grain,” it explores in some depth how grains have historically been prepared for consumption and in contrast how little of that correct preparation goes into them in contemporary times:

“Grains comprise a wholesome category of foods that must be respected for the complexity of nutrient contributions they can make to the human diet, and must always be prepared with care to maximize those nutrients’ availability as well as neutralize naturally occurring antinutrients. . .

“Growing and preparing food ought to be a sacramental service. It should not be based on violence, as is most of modern agriculture, factory animal farms, and factories that produce finished food items like bread. All those processes are based on ‘conquering’ the food item and forcing it into a form defined by commerce. There are no more subtle energies in these debased foods, let alone mere measurable nutrients or soul-satisfying taste and vitality.

“Food is holy. Its preparation and enjoyment constitute a daily opportunity to experience happiness, satisfaction, and gratitude.”

Grains and the “need” for speed

Specifically, grains have always been fermented (including raising bread several times) and/or cooked for long periods of time before use. In modern-day processing, however, chemicals advance the process.

Speeding the process wasn’t always a function of chemicals either. We all think we require sugar (a “natural” substance) to feed the yeast so bread rises properly, right? Actually, there are plenty of sugars in the grains, and no added sugar is necessary. Yet try to find bread on the supermarket shelves without sugar. Why? Because sugar makes the process go faster. Similarly, homemade bread doesn’t need yeast to rise. Wild yeast is in the air. With time, dough picks it up and rises without added yeast. Still, packages of yeast have almost a tablespoon in them. Why? Because more yeast makes the process go faster.  In factories, bakers ram dough through the rising/fermentation process in almost no time.

It makes sense to me that our need for speed makes us neglect some age-old, important techniques in the handling of grains and the development of gluten in our bread. As I read this article, it occurred to me that those who suffer what they perceive to be gluten reactions may actually suffer from abuse to their systems from years of eating manufactured bread products. I also wondered if at least part of the reason I don’t have issues with grains is that I made most of my bread at home. I let it rise the old-fashioned way.

FODMAPs and gluten

Another experience in my life gave me more insight into the gluten issue. This summer I was sick for four months with an intestinal issue caused by antibiotics. Initially, my doctor recommended a BRAT, or low-residue, diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). White rice and toast. This diet theoretically puts as little stress as possible on the digestive system. It was kind of fun to eat store-bought white bread for the first time in forty years, and I ate it with relish. It made me sick. Suddenly I found myself sympathizing with what all those gluten-free people told me.

Eventually, I came across a diet that worked for me called The Monash University Low FODMAP Diet. FODMAP is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. These are “dietary sugars that can be poorly absorbed in the small intestine and fermented by bacteria to produce gas. Current research strongly suggests that this group of sugars contributes to IBSS/FGID symptoms.” (from the App, available in the iTunes store). This diet excludes many grains, including wheat, because they are high in FODMAPS. Bingo!

The good news about the Low FODMAP diet for me was that it allowed me to be selective in a scientifically tested way about what I excluded from my diet. I didn’t have to cast a huge net over so many foods. Better news yet, sometimes it’s possible to restore some or even all the removed foods. It was for me.

The beginning of an explanation

To me, these two pieces of information, FODMAPs and modern grain processing, felt like the beginning of an explanation for the difficulty some have with the staff of life. As some have said, casting a wide net over gluten products has probably taken an important element out of the diets of many people who didn’t necessarily need to remove that element. A vegetarian diet without grains is hard to do, vegan even more so.

An excellent article I read recently in the New Yorker pointed to the same two pieces of the gluten puzzle that were verified by my own experience: “Against the Grain” discusses the improper grain handling described in the Weston A. Price article of the same name and the discovery of offending sugars in the Low FODMAP Diet from Monash University.

Spelt – great in bread, great to work with

And now I’m going to go and enjoy one of my delicious 7-grain spelt muffins. Spelt is a type of wheat that is low FODMAP and therefore easier to digest. It makes a beautiful loaf, and although I can eat and enjoy regular whole-grain bread, I enjoy experimenting with spelt. Sourdough, with its long fermentation and wild yeast, is better yet since the yeast “eats” the offending sugars.

Hummus is undoubtedly food for the gods. Creamy. Beautifully seasoned with garlic, cumin, tahina, lemon and olive oil. Ready to dip with fresh pita or veggies or use on a sandwich or pizza instead of mayonnaise or cheese. It’s easy to make and versatile. This recipe makes quite a bit. Consider halving it.

Hummus – the Recipe

(Makes 1 – 2 Quarts)

Ingredients

• Dried chickpeas, 1 lb.
• Baking soda, 1 tsp.
• Garlic, 2 tsp. or 2 lg. cloves
• Tahina, 1 cup
• Lemons, 1/2 cup juice, about 2 lg. lemons
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Bean liquid, 1/2 – 2 cups, depending on how much water beans absorbed during cooking (dilute bean liquid with water if too strong)
• Sea salt, 2 scant tsp
• Cumin, 2 tsp.
• Szeged hot paprika, 1/2 – 1 tsp.

Directions

1. Wash and cook the chickpeas (in unsalted water in a pot until tender, maybe up to two hours – 40 minutes under pressure in an Instant Pot and natural release). For smoother hummus, soak for a little while in some water and 1/2 tsp. baking soda, drain, and add another 1/2 tsp. baking soda to the water in the cookpot.
2. When the beans are cooked, pour them into a strainer over a bowl this time so the bean liquid drains into the bowl. Reserve the liquid.
3. Place the drained chickpeas into a food processor.
4. Add all other ingredients except reserved bean liquid to the food processor bowl (garlic, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, tahina, seasonings).
5. Have the reserved bean liquid ready in a cup with a pour spout. If it is too dense, dilute it with water.
6. Run the food processor briefly, and then beginning adding bean liquid, no more than 1/2 cup at a time, through the feed tube.
7. Let processor run for a minute, scrape down the sides and let run for another minute, adding liquid as needed.
8. When desired consistency is reached, let processor run for 2-5 minutes more to make the hummus as smooth as possible.
9. Remove hummus from processor, put on a plate, garnish with olive oil, parsley, paprika, sumac, za’atar or additional chickpeas as desired.

I like to serve this delicious hummus at room temperature or even slightly warmed with toasted Lebanese pita.  Hummus is a wonderful, vegan, protein-rich addition to any sandwich or meal.

Sweet pepper salad — how I love the colors and the color contrasts among my salads! I usually use red bell peppers, but orange or yellow bell peppers or any mix of the three will work equally well.

Ingredients

• 6-8 red, yellow or orange bell peppers
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic, hand minced
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp Szeged hot paprika (to taste depending on how spicy you like it).
• 1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped

Procedure

1. Wash peppers.
2. Smoke or brown peppers under the broiler. I usually use a broiler for this and turn the peppers several times so they are evenly “burned” and the skin starts to wrinkle.
3. Remove the skins. I also cut away a little of the white pulpy material that attaches to the core but leave most of the seeds.
4. Slice peppers into strips. Cut across the strips into shorter pieces.
5. Place pepper strips into a mixing bowl with their juices and some seeds.
6. Add remaining ingredients to taste.

First cut the peppers lengthwise into strips, then across  into shorter pieces. Makes about 1 quart of salad.