Today we had a day of rest and relaxation at home. It was filled with snuggles and stories, drawing and colouring, doing puzzles on repeat, and multiple games of hide-and-seek.  Sadly, our day of relaxation meant missing a Port Moody play date we were anxiously awaiting, but after coming home to a runny-nosed doodlebug who coughed herself to sleep last night, I knew we were in need of a very low-key day. In addition to the things I already mentioned, Gracen and I spent a good part of our day doing one of her very favourite things – cooking!  We whipped up two of our ‘while Papa’s away’ staples – chickpea patties and quinoa salad. Both are easy to make, full of nutrients, and delicious (despite what Bradley may say).  The best part?  Both are very sous chef friendly.  :)

Chickpea Patties:
First things first, we drained and rinsed our chickpeas well.  Then Gracen carefully shuffled them into a large bowl.

Next, we added a drizzle of olive oil and an egg.

Then Grae mashed like mad.

When the chickpeas were good and mushy, Gracen added in our fresh ingredients – carrots, zucchini, sweet onions, garlic, green onions, and fresh cilantro.

Then we added the dry ingredients – wholewheat flour, cornmeal, black pepper, sea salt, curry powder, and garam masala.

And just for fun, today we tossed in a little feta.

That’s it.  Then my little sous chef mixed, mixed, and mixed some more until all of the ingredients were evenly distributed.

Then we formed them into patties.

And popped them in the oven.  And while those baked, we started on our next dish…

Quinoa Salad:
First off, Miss G added our fresh veggies to our already cooked quinoa.

Of course she stopped to steal a few big chunks of avocado in between handfuls.

Then we added a little drizzle of olive oil…

And generous drizzle of the Okanagan’s own, Little Creek Dressing (delish).

Then Grae mixed it all up.

That’s it.  Lunch is served.  Chickpea patty, garlic scape pesto, quinoa salad, and apple slices for dessert.

Of course Grae gobbled it up like we hadn’t fed her in a week!  Hopefully a vitamin-packed lunch will help her fight this little bug that seems to be pestering her.  Recipes below. :)

Truthfully, neither of these are “recipes”.  Both just kind of came about last summer when we were freshly home from Kuwait and taking advantage of Grandma Charlotte’s fully stocked vegetable garden.  There are tons of possible ingredient variations and honestly, nothing I’ve done to either dish has turned out badly.  Yay for forgiving recipes!  :)

Chickpea Patties:

• 2 cans of no salt added / low sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 egg
• generous drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 of a large carrot, grated
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 1/4 of a sweet Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• handful of fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• small chunk of feta, crumbled (yummy, but totally optional)
• 2 – 3 TBSP of wholewheat flour
• 2 – 3 TBSP of cornmeal or breadcrumbs
• 1 TBSP of curry powder
• 1 TBSP of garam masala
• generous grinding of fresh pepper
• pinch of sea salt (not needed if using feta)

*Veggie combos are endless.  Mushrooms, leeks, kale, and spinach are delicious in these too.  Also, instead of curry powder and garam masala, basil, thyme, and oregano can be substituted for a more Italian feel.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.  Add the olive oil and egg and mash well.  Add all other ingredients and stir well.  Gently form into patties and place on the lined pan.  If patties are difficult to form because the mixture has too much moisture, adjust the amount of flour / breadcrumbs.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Serve as is, with a dipping sauce, on a bun with traditional burger toppings, or wrapped in a pita with lettuce and tomato.

Quinoa Salad:

• 2 cups of boiling water
• 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 of an avocado, diced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 of a red pepper, diced
• 1/4 of a long English cucumber, chopped
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• small drizzle of olive oil
• generous drizzle of your favourite dressing

*For a more Mexican vibe, replace the cucumber and parsley with some black beans, corn, jalapeños, and cilantro.

Bring water to a boil.  Add the quinoa, cover, and turn the heat down to low.  Remove from heat when all water is absorbed and fluff quinoa with a fork.  Let cool.

Add fresh veggies, herbs, olive oil, and dressing.  Mix well and serve.

Okay, so maybe we’re not really granola crunchers, but we’re definitely granola lovers.  The problem is that granola you buy at the store is filled with all kinds of sugar, sodium, and other things we don’t want Grae to eat. And since we picked up a bunch of delicious Liberté yogurt today, we needed a batch of homemade, healthy granola, pronto.  Of course my little sous chef was more than happy to help out in the kitchen.

First things first…  Gracen measured out our old-fashioned oats.

Then she added the almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, ground flax, wheatgerm, and quinoa flakes.

And enthusiastically shook in the unsweetened coconut.

That was it for dry ingredients.  Then it was time to stir, stir, stir.  (Don’t mind Grae’s bruised cheek – the poor little thing had a fall a couple of days back.)

On to the wet ingredients and spices!  In a separate bowl (or in our case, measuring cup), we added and mixed together our applesauce, pure maple syrup, olive oil, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

This part is the most fun.  We added the wet ingredients to the dry and Grae went on a stirring frenzy.

When everything was evenly coated, we dumped the mixture out on two large baking sheets, spread it out, and drizzled on just a touch more olive oil before popping both pans into the oven.

Gracen was our official granola watcher and I was the official granola flipper.  We make a pretty good team. :)

And after about 45 minutes in the oven, we took it out to cool on the counter. Voila!  Done.

Gracen patiently waited for dinner to be made, ate up her portion, and then moved on to her anxiously-awaited dessert course – yogurt with granola and dried fruit!

Apparently it was so good that it disappeared more quickly than she was prepared for.

Be warned – if you try this recipe, licking leftovers off of your sleeve is a total possibility.

Here’s the original recipe and here’s our slightly modified version:

• 6 cups old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups chopped raw almonds
• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 2 TBSP quinoa flakes

• 2 individual cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup pure organic maple syrup
• 3 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
• 1/2 TBSP ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt