Chickpea Walnut Patties

These chickpea walnut patties are a great example of how to turn simple ingredients into impressive snacks in just a few easy steps. They are not only very tasty, but also highly nutritious, providing an arsenal of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein.

I love crunchy snacks and these patties reflect that. I had some leftover toasted walnuts after making Crunchy Sticky Bites and adding them in this recipe made a big difference in taste and texture.

Butternut Squash Hummus

Butternut squash hummus is such a wonderful addition to my collection of chickpea recipes. Roasted squash livens up this Middle Eastern dish with its vibrant colour and sweetness. The added spices perfectly match this combination - besides the familiar flavours of cumin, tahini, lemon and garlic, there is the warmth of cinnamon and the hot kick of black pepper and cayenne. The flavours unravel in layers: the sweetness is quickly followed by the gentle heat that prolongs the taste.

Eggplant Hummus

Combining my two favourite Middle Eastern foods - hummus and moutabal - resulted in this extremely delicious appetizer. I figured since I use almost the same ingredients in both of them I might as well make a 2-in-1 dish and save myself some time. Half way between a spread and a dip, the eggplant hummus is wonderfully creamy with a rich, smoky flavour. I mostly enjoy it with freshly baked, crusty bread, but also like it plain or with crunchy carrot and celery sticks.

Vegan Omelette

This vegan omelette has been a regular on my menu for over two months - it's super delicious, filling, really easy to make, budget-friendly and nutritious. I came to know Andrea - the author of Chocolate and Beyond - thanks to a recipe contest and I've been a fan of her simple and creative recipes ever since. The omelette is listed among her 12 Yummy Vegan Breakfast & Brunch Ideas (scroll down to no. 5). This dish has taken my love for chickpeas to such extremes that there have been days when I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with little else in between - it is that good.

Turkish-style Pizza (Lahmacun, Lahmajoon, Lahm bi'ajin)

It's amazing what one can make with very few ingredients to choose from. One day recently I was thinking of ways to use up the last vegetables in the pantry, when I suddenly remembered lahmacun, an unusual pizza-like snack I hadn't eaten in over ten years. I've only known it as the Turkish pizza (lahmacun is the Turkish spelling, pronounced lah-ma-joon), but I've come to know this is actually a very popular dish throughout the Middle East. The name comes from the Arabic lahm bi'ajin which means meat with dough. Lahmacun is basically a thin, crispy, round flatbread topped with a spicy mixture of minced meat, finely chopped vegetables (usually onion, bell pepper, tomato) and fresh herbs (parsley, mint), drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice, garnished with fresh parsley and rolled up like a sandwich.

Puff Pizza

A couple of years ago I made a lot of vegan pizza and experimented with different bases and toppings, while focusing on getting the same unmistakable flavour. The easiest was by far the puff pastry one because it involves the least amount of work and many brands don't require freezing, only a low temperature. The main issue with vegan pizza is whether the cheese will melt. There are many brands out there that do and here I've used Cheezly. This pizza has it all: it's light, smoky, spicy, sweet, it's got lots of melted mozzarella and, like any great pizza, it's finger-lickin' good:)

Green Salad with Avocado Dressing

A couple of weeks ago I decided to make a major change in my diet in an attempt to improve my health and also to mark 3 years of veganism. As I went from mostly cooked food to mostly raw overnight (something I'd been waiting to do for long) I noticed in a very short time the most surprising thing - a constant craving for raw foods, which made this change unexpectedly easy. I now spend a lot less time in the kitchen, preparing salads and smoothies or eating fruit. This salad was just a lucky combination, but it was so delicious that I literally obsessed over it for days. The creamy avocado dressing is the best addition to it, as it brings all the flavours together and balances the textures.

Chickpea Nuggets and Burgers

I am a huge fan of chickpeas. They're my favourite food and I eat them very often, mostly in curries and hummus. I cannot recommend and praise them highly enough. Their nutty taste, buttery texture and high nutrient content make them perfect for this recipe. With two main ingredients, these nuggets couldn't be faster and easier to make (scroll down for more information on chickpeas). I opted here for deep-frying, but you can simply pop them in the oven for a few minutes to have a low-fat version. Either way they are very delicious, crunchy, filling and the spice blend leaves a pleasant, warming aftertaste.

Gözleme with cheese and sausage

Gözleme is a traditional savoury Turkish pastry with various fillings, mostly including cheese. The name is given by the brown spots that form during cooking and resemble eyes (göz = eye). Authentic gözleme is made from handmade unleavened dough that is rolled out into a thin sheet, filled and folded either in half or as an envelope and grilled until golden and spotted.

Black Bean Quesadillas

Quesadillas are famous Mexican appetizers or snacks (the name comes from the Spanish queso, which means cheese). A flour or corn tortilla is stuffed with a cheese filling, folded in half and grilled or fried until the cheese has melted. To save time, I prefer to use two tortillas to make a large quesadilla and then cut it in six pieces.

Quesadillas are usually served with guacamole and sour cream (Elaina Love has a fabulous recipe for raw vegan sour cream). They are very easy to make and you can add anything you like, vegetables, beans, vegan sausages, tomato salsa, herbs, spices etc. It is also a great way to use up leftovers. As long as you add cheese, any combination you make will turn out delicious :)

Green Salad with Roasted Peppers and Avocado

Bring summer back with this delicious and highly nutritious green salad. It is extremely beneficial for the overall health, an energy booster and a nutrient powerhouse. This combination of flavours and textures is the ultimate delight for the palate: crunchy, creamy, sweet, peppery, smoky and juicy.

This salad is particularly rich in vitamin C, folate, potassium, beta-carotene, iron, calcium, lycopene and lutein, and is low in sodium (see notes below for more details). It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, cleansing and detoxifying properties. Thanks to the calories in avocado, it helps reduce the appetite, thus preventing overeating and helping with weight control.

Chili Poppers

Last year the Facebook vegan group I'm in held a weekly cooking challenge that was so much fun. The aim was to veganize popular international dishes and share the recipes. That's how I came to know about jalapeño poppers, these fabulous appetizers that are hot, crunchy and filled with melted cheese.

Ajvar (Roasted red pepper and eggplant relish)

 

Ajvar [aye-var] is a savoury relish made from roasted red peppers, eggplant, garlic and chili peppers. Onions, string beans, vinegar, lemon and even tomatoes are sometimes added for extra flavour. Thought to originate in the Serbian cuisine, ajvar is a popular speciality throughout the Balkans, with each country and household having its own variation. We have a similar relish in Romania called zacusca; but while zacusca is dominated by eggplant, ajvar gets its unique flavour from the red peppers.