“We travel not to escape life but for life
not to escape us.”
I’m in the kitchen when the 7pm cheering starts. We honour and thank our healthcare and front line workers everyday. First the horns sound off from Canada Place and then the city echoes with the sound of pots and pans, whistles, claps and cheering. A neighbour from a building over put on a mini saxophone concert from his balcony tonight.
The cats aren’t as enthusiastic about the noise. Salem’s been hiding in the storage room for 20 minutes. I can see his eyes shining in the darkness from behind the boxes.
I’ve been feeling wanderlust today. I woke up from dreams about travelling to sunny Cabo and Italy. I look forward to seeing the world again. Tonight we’ll travel to Morocco and make a delicious vegan meal of curried couscous salad and “lamb pops” made with lentils and spices.
I’ve blogged the recipe for the couscous salad before so I’ll put the link to that recipe here:
https://thebellwitchmanor.blog/2017/02/10/dinner-in-marrakech/
Moroccan Lentil “Lamb Pops”
You will need:
- 1 cup brown lentils (cooked until “al dente”)
- 1 large carrot peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 large onion, ends trimmed, peeled, cut into large chunks
- 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
- 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika (sweet paprika will do as well)
- 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white or black ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour (coconut or regular flour will do as well)
To Make:
Start by putting the lentils into a pot with water, bring to a boil and cook until “al dente”. You don’t want to overcook them so that they don’t turn to mush when placed into the food processor. Drain and set aside to cool.
Preheat your oven to 375F (190C). Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray (or lightly oil the sheet).
Add the carrots, onion, cilantro, mint, garlic to a food processor with the lentils and pulse until thoroughly combined. You will need to scrape the sides and bottom of the processor bowl several times so that the mixture is evenly chopped.
Put the mixture into a large bowl and and stir in the flaxseeds, cumin, paprika, pumpkin spice (or cinnamon), salt and pepper as well as the flour and blend together with a spoon or your hands. Adjust the flavour with salt and pepper to taste.
Shape 1/4-cupfuls of the mixture into ovals and place them on the baking sheet spaced apart.
- Bake for about 38 minutes (or until golden brown) and until the surface of the pops appears dry. Remove the tray from the oven. Spray the pops with cooking oil and preheat the broiler to high.
- Broil the pops for 50 to 90 seconds until they turn a deeper brown (watch closely! do not walk away. They can burn really fast!!).
Remove the pops from the oven and allow to cool. If you have skewers, you can insert them into the pops. If you don’t, not to worry, you can serve these just as vegan meatballs. Serve warm over the couscous salad.
Thanks for joining me for another easy recipe. I set the table with our bowl of pops and salad as well as a bowl with olives and hummus. This meal is high in protein and is nut free, vegan and grain free. I hope you will enjoy it at home.
Until next time.
Love,
Jennifer