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    Smoky Roasted Chickpea Hummus

    Smoky Roasted Chickpea Hummus

    Smoky Roasted Chickpea Hummus

    When you’ve made as many variations of hummus as I have, it’s hard to imagine that I can still get excited about yet another flavour of hummus. This is the smoky roasted chickpea hummus and it’s presently my favourite kind of hummus; it is quite possibly the hummus to end all hummus (hummuses, hummi?).

    I know it’s hard not to roll your eyes at that, but stay with me here.
    This hummus combines deliciously roasted chickpea with zesty lemon, nutty tahini, garlic and spices; this makes for a wonderfully moreish and intensely flavourful condiment.
    The chickpeas are roasted in smoked paprika and nutritional yeast with a dash of cumin and drizzle of olive oil.

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    Instant Pot Black-Eyed Pea Soup

    Instant Pot Black-Eyed Pea Soup

    Instant Pot Black-Eyed Pea Soup Instant Pot Black-Eyed Pea Soup

    I learned about the Southern (US) tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s for luck, a long time ago from an old friend I used to work with. She would host these big lunches on New Year’s Day complete with champagne, mimosas and revelry.
    At the heart of the celebrations was the large stockpot of black-eyed pea soup bubbling away on the stove. Those gatherings remain some of my favourite New Year’s memories to this day. Since it involves good food and optimism, we’ve borrowed this tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s, and the whole month of January for good measure.

    While black-eyed pea remains one of my favourite beans, this Instant Pot black-eyed pea soup is truly my sister Pearlsa’s soup. She’s been making variations of this soup on New Year’s for a few years now.

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    Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

    Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

    Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

    This cake combines two of my one-time obsessions – blood orange and olive oil cake
    I don’t know if this happens to anyone else but I get a little sad when I fall out of love with things I was once passionate about. I spend countless moments loving and obsessing over certain things like books, places, (ahem…men), ideas and food only to completely lose interest and subsequently forget I ever felt this way.

    When I first fell in love with blood orange it was for the deep red flesh, the delectable sweet and tart flavour, and subtle floral aroma. Blood orange tastes like sweet oranges with the tanginess of grapefruit. I loved coming up with ways to use them up; it adds a pleasing of zest to sweet and savoury dishes and doesn’t dominate the flavour of the dish.

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    Travelogue | Les Machines de l’île, Nantes

    Les Machines de l'île, Nantes

    Les Machines de l'île, Nantes

    Les Machines de l'île, Nantes

    Les Machines de l'île, Nantes

    Having been to Paris (and some other French cities) a couple of times, I occasionally get asked for advice and recommendations for visiting Paris. While most of these requests are for vegan/vegetarian restaurants (Gentle Gourmet, L’Abattoir Végétal, Hank Burger or Arpège if you really want to splurge), over the years, I’ve also developed a growing comprehensive list of places, activities and finds to pull from.

    The list ranges from cool touristy haunts like museums to visit when there isn’t enough time to do the Louvre (Musée Jacquemart-André), or a romantic spot to propose (the Bir-Hakeim bridge, inside the Opera Garnier or Parc des Buttes-Chaumont) to the more eclectic, like the best place to land a rich French husband (1st class Eurostar morning train to London, trust me on this one!).

    Now, I’m by no means an expert at exploring Paris but I discover something new with every visit which usually gets added to the list.

    Last year a friend of a friend got in touch with a peculiar ask. They were doing a road trip from Paris through Brittany and was wondering if I knew of any child-friendly attractions on the way. I suggested a detour through Nantes to see the Machines (Les Machines de l’île, Nantes). “Thank me later”, I said.

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    Rice, Lentils and Whole Roasted Cauliflower

    Rice, Lentils and Whole Roasted Cauliflower

    Rice, Lentils and Whole Roasted Cauliflower

    Rice, Lentils and Whole Roasted Cauliflower

    Happy New Year! Here’s to a wonderful 2019 – and with much optimism like Apple at every phone release, this is going to be our best year yet (hopefully)! I am hopeful for 2019; it’s not that I have any great expectations for the year, but 2018 was a good teacher for me; I learned so much about humanity, frailty and how to be brave.
    I have not made any resolutions for this New Year per se, however, I want to work on more consistent posts on this little blog, as posts were sparse this past year. So let’s just jump right into this recipe, shall we?

    Rice, lentils and whole roasted cauliflower. This was our Christmas day dinner two Christmases ago and I’ve wanted to share this recipe with you ever since.

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