Chickpea Patties

Making bean patties or burgers can be difficult because they have a tendency to get dry or hard to keep from falling apart. These chickpea patties are super easy to make and they are easy to shape into a patty or burger. 

1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced

2 tbs canola oil

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

1/2 bouillon cube, crumbled

1/3 cup corn starch

Black pepper  and salt to taste

Heat 1/2 tbs oil in a frying pan and fry onions on medium heat for 3 minutes. Place onion, chick peas, bouillon, corn starch and pepper and use either a hand held mixer, blender or food processor to mix it all to a dough. make smaller patties. heat remaining oil on medium heat in a frying pan and fry patties few minutes on each side.

Swiss Chard and Lima Bean Soup

We ate harvest soup yesterday also known as swiss card and lima bean soup. Me and Bella picked the beans and swiss chard together and then made this very nice soup. It's so much fun eating from homegrown veggies and I swear the kids eat better when they know it's from our garden. 

1/2 tbs olive oil

2/3 large swiss chard leaves, chopped

1/2 cup lima beans

1/2 bouillon cube

1 cup water

1/2 cup cream

Black pepper to taste

Heat oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Saute swiss chard for 1 minutes. Add lima beans, bouillon cube and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add cream and mix soup until smooth and creamy. Sprinkle black pepper over before serving.

Sweet Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are among our favorite beans we cook and eat. I have to admit that I do not cook pinto beans very often because they take long too cook (1,5 hours). But yesterday when I saw that I had a bag of them I decided to bite the bullet and make a version of Boston baked beans. The kids really dig the sweet flavor of baked beans but I like to make them a little spicy as well. 

2 cups dry pinto beans, soaked overnight and rinsed well

1 large onion, chopped

4-6 garlic cloves, grated

2 bay leaves

6 cups vegetable broth

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tsp. Annie’s Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1-2 tbsp. water.

Combine in large saucepan pintos, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and broth and bring to a boil. Skim of any foam that is developed during the cooking process.

Turn heat to medium/high. Add the cumin and thyme. Maintain a gentle boil for about 1-1 ½ hours, until beans a tender. Stir once in a while. Add more water if necessary.

Add salt, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce and lower heat to a simmer. Stir often but be careful not to break beans and end up with mashed beans. Reduce liquid by 1/3 and then add cornstarch mixed with water and stir. Continue to simmer until leftover liquid is thick like syrup. 

Heirloom tomato and bean salad

I don’t know what got it to me yesterday but all day I was dragging and feeling so tired. By 4pm I was looking at the time over and over again, just waiting to put the kids to bed so I could go to sleep myself. Well I fell asleep right after reading a book to Bella at 7pm!!!!  Lucky me I have such amazing husband who spent the evening while we all slept doing he dishes by hand after our dishwasher died.

Our dinner was a huge herbed tomato and bean salad and grilled seitan and sprouts. I could eat salads when it’s warm like this every day. It’s so fresh and yet satisfying. The beans I used in the salad were fava beans from our garden. It’s so much fun to pick your dinner from your gardenJ

2 cup heirloom tomatoes, diced

2 tbsp. fresh herbs, minced (I used chives, garlic greens and basil

2/3 cup cooked fava beans

1 tbsp. olive oil

Fresh lemon juice

Salt and Black pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar

Grated or shaved cheese (optional)

Place tomatoes and beans on a plate. Sprinkle herbs over. Squeeze lemon juice and drizzle olive oil over. Add black pepper, salt and cheese. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over before serving.

Late night dinner for one

On Tuesday night after I had cleaned up the kitchen and was ready to head to bed I got a text from my late working husband asking if there were any dinner leftover for him. Unfortunately I didn’t expect James to eat at home so there was no food left for him. I felt bad for him and went to work to cook a dinner that would be satisfying, nutritional and very quick since it was so late.

1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 cup zucchini, sliced thin

½ cup kale, chopped

½ cup cooked kidney beans

Salt to taste

1 cup cooked rice

Sweet and spicy chili sauce

Heat oil in a wok on medium heat and sauté zucchini for 2 minutes. Add kale and cook until wilted. Add salt according to taste. Add kidney beans and let them get hot. Pour the veggie and beans over the cooked rice and drizzle the chili sauce over.

Chickpea burgers

These are one of my favorite bean burgers because they are easy to make, they stay together during cooking and they appeal to both kids and adults. Bella loves to eat them with BBQ sauce while Noah just loves to eat them as fast as possible and as many in his mouth as.

Big eating big baby boy:)

1 cup cooked chickpeas

¼ cup water

½ cup of Ste Martaen olive flavored cheese (or substitute with other cheese)

1 tsp. Herb salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. cornstarch

Place everything in a high-speed blender or food processor and mix until completely combined. Add more water if it comes out too dry or more cornstarch if it’s too wet. Place chickpea dough in fridge for at least 30 minutes before shaping them into burgers with wet hands. Cook them in a non-stick skillet until slightly browned on each side. 

Creamy Kale And White Bean Soup

This is by far the best soup I ever made and the best part is it’s creamy without an ounce of cream. The creaminess comes from pureed sun chokes. It’s a very filling soup but I did serve it with home baked carrot bread.

1 1/2 cups sun chokes, peeled and cut into smaller pieces

¼ cup shallots, minced

3 cups water

Dash of salt

1 tsp. poultry seasoning (without animal off course)

2 carrots, peeled and diced

½ zucchini, diced

1 cup kale, chopped

1 cup cooked white beans

1 tbsp. hazel nut oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Combine sun chokes, shallots, water, salt and poultry seasoning in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until sun chokes are soft. Puree in blender water and sun chokes until completely smooth and creamy. Return to saucepan and add carrots and zucchini and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes until carrots and zucchini are soft. Add shite beans and kale and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in hazel nut oil, salt and pepper before serving.

Bean and Mango Guacamole.

The weekend so far all about healing my sick poor little family. Bella and James both have bronchitis and Noah a high fever and he’s teething at the same time. My poor little man is still a happy go little guy but sometimes he just gets frustrated because he’s not feeling good. I’m still healthy and feeling that I might have escaped this curse….knock-on-wood J

Yesterday when I went grocery shopping I was in such hurry that I accidently picked a couple of avocados going on the over ripe side. My checkout girl brought this to my attention and told me I can pick out new avocados and as well as keep the over ripe ones. That’s what I love about Whole Foods in Hillcrest San Diego, always great service. Anyway so suddenly I ended up with a lot of avocados and some that needed to me used ASAP so I made veggie tacos with a bean and mango guacamole. 

3 ripe avocados

A squirt of lemon or lime juice

¼ cup red onion, minced

2 tbsp. cilantro, minced

1 roasted green jalapeno pepper, minced

Salt to taste

Chili pepper to taste

½ cup ripe mango, diced

2/3 cup cooked or canned beans (I used pinto beans)

First take the whole jalapeno pepper and roast it in either the oven or on top of gas burner until the pepper skin gets slightly black and blistered. Slice pepper in half and remove seeds. Mince the pepper. Mashed the avocado with the lemon juice. Stir in red onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, salt, chili pepper, mango and beans.

Chickpeas in a sweet mustard dressing

Yeahhh the sun is back and unfortunately so is Isabella’s cold so today is stay at home day for all of us. I have to admit that I feel so lucky that A. I can stay home with my kids when they’re sick and B that I love being with my kids. Sure they drive me crazy sometimes but 100% I love being with them all the timeJ

Like I said before I love really filling salads so I will usually prepare a really large salad during Noah’s first nap that way it’s easy to just take out and eat for lunch. Since beans and lentils are staple foods we eat here a lot I usually will add beans and sometimes I even get fancy and marinate them in some dressing like this one. It’s a very healthy dressing with flax seed for omega 3, dates for antioxidants and sweetness and apple cider vinegar that helps break down fats and detoxes the body.  

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 date, pitted

1/8 cup flax seed oil

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

½ tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. dried herbes de Provence

Black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Combine everything except the chickpeas in a blender or food processor and mix until creamy. Combine the dressing and chickpeas and let it marinate in fridge for one hour before serving.

Bulgur & bean patties

I'm so happy my vegetable garden is in full bloom after all the rain we been having and now finally the sun. I love being out there working and pulling weeds. My potatoes and garlic came up this week and my fava beans are grown like mad. I love eating fava beans right from the garden but I will have to wait until later this summer for mine to be ready for harvest. Luckily I can buy fava beans at the farmers market until then. I making fava bean patties mixed with cheese and bulgur wheat. I'm serving them with sweet potato fries, creamed corn and steamed broccoli. Yum!!!!

2 cups cooked bulgur
1 cup cooked fava beans
garlic herb salt
1 tsp ground chili pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese ( I used rice cheese)
1/4 cup sour cream ( I used tofutti sour cream)
Unhulled sesame seeds to coat the patties in
2 tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to F400.
Combine bulgur, fava beans, herb salt, chili pepper, cheese, sour cream in a food processor and mix but still letting some bigger pieces of beans left. With wet hands shape dough into smaller patties. Place sesame seeds in a bowl and turn the patties to coat them so they are sort of breaded. Place patties on a parchment paper and brush each with a little olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

creamy carrot and bean soup

So today was the first day of Bella's week off from school and it started out so well with baby brother sleeping in and then a nice family morning walk. For lunch I made soup because it's fast and a very easy way to get kids to eat vegetables.

Later this week on Thursday we're going to San Francisco so see friends, go shopping and eating fabulous food.

2 tsp canola oil
1/4 cup yellow onion, minced
2 cups water
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded celeriac
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
2/3 cups cooked or canned garbanzo beans
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
1/4 tsp sour cream

Heat oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Saute onion and ginger for a few minutes. Add carrots, celeriac, water and bouillon cube and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Combine with beans, agave nectar and sour cream in a blender and mix until creamy.

Roasted acorn squash soup

I celebrated the rain we were getting in San Diego yesterday because my garden so desperately needs it and also because I love rain...in moderation off course. Me and Noah took a walk right before the rain started and it was quit windy which Noah was not very happy about so I ended up sprinting home and once inside in our cozy place with no winds he was again the happy little boy he is.

I thought roasted vegetables and bean soup sounded like a great way to warm up after the cold walk. The roasting vegetables made the house smell so welcoming. I served the soup slices or fresh baked bread from this morning.

1 medium acorn squash, cut in half
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and chopped in large pieces
2-3 fresh thyme twigs
1 tbs olive oil
2/3 cups cooked garbanzo beans
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to F350
Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a parchment sheet. Drizzle oil over and toss vegetables until coated with oil. Place thyme over and bake until vegetables are soft, about 15-20 minutes. Use a spoon to remove the acorn "flesh" and puree them, garbanzo beans and  2 cup vegetables stock in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Pour into a pot and reheat. Add salt and pepper.

Quinoa Pizza balls

Today my husband stated "super bowl is over so now I can cancel cable". We've been talking for months to stop cable and only use the TV for movies so I was happy it's finally happening. It's such relief not having TV and watching reruns and other crappy things that does not add anything to our lives.

These little rolls were a fun addition to our super bowl party food and the one who liked the absolutely most was Noah who ate them while still hot and all because he could not wait for them to cool off. I know I will make these a staple food of any future party.

1/2 cup Quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup cooked kidney beans
5-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried Italian herb mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated cheese ( I used rice cheese)
1/4 cup oil to brush with

Bring to a boil quinoa and water in a saucepan. Cook for 10-12 minutes until all water has absorbed. Set a side to cool. Combine in a food processor remaining ingredients except the oil and blend for a few seconds. You still want some pieces of beans left. Combine with quinoa and place in fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to F400 and with wet hands shape the cooled mix to small balls. Place on a parchment paper. Brush each with some oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes until they are slightly crispy on outside and browned. Serve with a salad as a meal or with ranch dip for a snack.

Bean chili with ratatouille

My legs are buzzing from yesterday's 6mil bike ride and a heated yoga class this morning. But oh my how I love this feeling. And on top of that my wonderful friend Wendy also known as Chef Centehua came by and made her famous uncooked and raw food which I so enjoyed for lunch. Dinner was beans in the form of a chili and I used my last jar of ratatouille made from vegetables from our garden.  Off course this vegetables stew can be made all year around with store bought zucchini and tomatoes.

This time of year is when I'm planting new things for the season as well as harvesting a few winter vegetables. I wonder if I will have as much zucchini and tomatoes to harvest this year as I did last year. I hope so. That way I can make more ratatouille to have for the winter months.

2 cups ratatouille

1 cup beans ( I used black and kidney)

2 tbs tomato paste

2/3 cup corn

1/2 tbs maple syrup

1 tbs unsweetened chocolate

2 tbs cilantro, minced

1 tsp chili pepper

1 tsp ground paprika

1 tsp coriander

Salt & pepper to taste

Combine everything in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with side of corn bread or other bread.

Orzo casserole

Another gorgeous day so we took a 6 mil bike ride along the water at Mission Bay. I had prepared lunch before we left so it was all ready to just bake for 20 minutes when we got home. I made a casserole with orzo, vegetables and beans. which satisfied this hungry crowed after our work out.

1 tbs canola oil

1/4 cup yellow onion, diced

1/2 cup celeriac, peeled and diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 tbs Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari

1/2 strained tomatoes

1 tbs tomato puree

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp ground chili

1 tsp Herbs Provencal

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup cream ( I used mimic cream)

1/4 cup cream cheese ( I used tofutti's cream cheese)

2/3 cup cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup orzo

3/4 cup grated cheese ( I used rice cheese)

Preheat oven to F400.
Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat and sauté onion until glossy not brown. Add and cook celeriac, carrots for a couple of minutes. Add stock, liquid aminos, tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic salt and chili and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add broccoli and cook another 4 minutes. If needed, add salt & pepper. Stir in the cream, cream cheese, chick peas and herbs provencal. Place orzo in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour the topping over in a even layer. bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over and bake another 5-7 minutes, until cheese has melted.

Mango chickpea curry

Bella loves dried mango and is the only thing she ever ask for when we go grocery shopping. Noah loves anything with mango but almost never buy it because it has travelled so far and cost so much. But then I thought of how you eat mango chutney with indian food and the idea of a curry with dried mango was born. I admit we eat a lot of curry at home but it's so easy to make, such easy way to serve tons of vegetables plus everyone loves it. It's a win win for me.

In this curry I added a lot of root vegeteblas such as carrots and parsnip since it's this seasons vegetables. I also added broccolini for some greens. When you make stews or casseroles and cook many vegetables at the same time it's important they are they same size so they will cook even. I don't know if you really could taste the mango but they all loved it.

1 tbs canola or coconut oil
1/4 cup leeks, minced
1/2 tbs yellow curry spice or more if you want a stronger curry flavor like me do
2 cup mixed root vegetables, peeled and chopped ( I used carrots and parsnips)
1 cup broccoli or broccolini, chopped
1 cup water
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1 cup cooked chickpeas
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and saute leeks with curry spice. Add the root vegetables and cook for another minutes. Add water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add broccoli and cook for another 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, chickpeas, salt & pepper and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Enjoy with naan bread and rice.

Raw corn tortillas and raw sour cream

I found this recipe on We like it raw website and gave it a try.I did modify the recipe a little.  Super easy but does require a dehydrator. It only took a few hours to dry them and they taste amazing. I made enchiladas with them and filled them with marinated vegetables and beans and poured homemade salsa and raw sour cream and served it on the side of a huge salad.

I like eating raw often because it really helps me control my thyroid problems and digestion. I love all the enzyme rich food and it makes me feel good and healthy, especially after a holiday of eating. If you want to learn more about raw food visit my amazing talented friend Wendy's web site.

Raw tortilla:
3 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 1/2 cups red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup grounded flax seed ( I didn't have that and used supersede blend with chia seeds, flax seeds and brown rice
1 tbs lime juice
1 tsp garlic salt
a couple pinches of chili pepper

Place everything in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth and creamy. Spread thin on a parchment paper and then dehydrate at 105F for 2-3 hours. Peel tortilla of parchment paper and dehydrate for another hour.

Raw sour cream:
1/2 cup raw chashews, soaked for 1 hour
juice from one lemon
1/2 tsp garlic salt
5 Tbs water


Combine nuts, lemon juice, garlic salt in a blender or food processor and begin mixing. Add 1 tbs water at the time until you have desired consistency.

Fried rice

Today was a great day because I got to spend time with two of my very dearest friends. It couldn't just get any better after that so here I'm sitting and just feeling so happy and satisfied. Both my friends are moms of two wonderful children and knows the ups and downs of motherhood and that is just a bonus. Thank you Ulrika and Molly for being so amazing.

Since one of my friends dates was in the evening I made dinner for my kids before I left. I used leftover rice I made fried rice and it was wonderful and both kids loved it. Fried rice is so easy and you can add any vegetables you have available. I also added cubes of cheese and beans for extra protein.

1 tbs canola oil

2 garlic cloves, grated

1 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup broccoli, cut into small florets

1/2 cup yellow peppers, diced

1/2 cup water

2 tbs tamari or Bragg's liquid amino's

1/2 cup garbanzo beans

1/4 cup dried figs, minced

1/2 cup cheese, cubed

1/2 tbs curry powder, maybe more if you like it spicy

1 cup cooked white rice

Heat oil in a wok on medium heat. Cook garlic for 1 minute. Add carrots, broccoli, corn, water, tamari or Bragg's and curry and reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Add garbanzo beans, figs, cheese and stir in rice.

Sun dried tomato and bean soup

Altough I had absolutly zero appetite I still had to cook lunch for me and Noah. As I sat on the sofa with chills my thoughts went to a warming soup with lots of vegetables. The good thing about soup is that the flavors develops the longer it sits.So I knew that I could get it started while Noah was napping so we could eat it when we got hungry. As always I used whatever I found in my fridge and since it was soaked sun dried tomatoes and cooked black beans, well that's what I started with.

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tbs canola oil

1 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

1 cup carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 cup potatoes, diced

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked

1 handful sugar snap peas, ends and tops removed

2 cups hot water

Salt & black pepper to taste

1 handful kale, chopped

1 cup cooked black beans

1 tbs dried or fresh parsley

Heat oil in a saucepan on low heat and cook garlic with turmeric,coriander and ground ginger for 1 minute. Add carrots, potatoes, sugar snap peas and tomatoes and cook for another minute or so. Add water, salt and pepper and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Put in the kale, beans and parsley, blend and serve with bread for a complete meal. 

Black bean chili

Since we're a cold recovering family at home I thought a hearty chili with lots of garlic would help us heal, if nothing else, the soul. Since I don't eat chicken soup, this is my being sick food. I like adding a little bit of dark chocolate to my chili because it makes a very nice and rich sauce for the beans and vegetables to simmer in. I learned this from a neighbor who treated my family and me to a home cooked Mexican meal one night. I like to serve my chili topped with diced avocado, cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds.

An apple a day will keep the doctor away, well Noah who is still not feel well after his bout with both a cold and teeth coming sure loves nibbling on apples. 

2 large garlic, grated

1 tbs green jalapeño pepper, minced

2 tsp canola oil

1 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup corn

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1 tbs tomato paste

1 1/2 tbs dark unsweetened chocolate, grated

1 tbs maple syrup

1 cup cooked black beans

Bragg's liquid amino's to taste

Chili pepper to taste

Fresh cilantro, minced

Heat oil in a large saucepan on low/medium heat. Cook garlic and jalapeño peppers for 1 minutes. Add carrots, corn, tomatoes, tomato paste, dark chocolate, maple syrup, water and 1 tbs bragg's liquid amino's to start with. Reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Add more bragg's if needed, black beans, chili pepper and sprinkle cilantro over before serving.