I'm happy to tip my toes into the blogosphere again. Hospital is great but also so intense: at the end of the day my brain is so mushed that I can't fathom writing coherent words.
Cooking proper food has been a struggle throughout the winter term. I was very low and demotivated, which reflected on my (non) cooking. I ended up absolutely exhausted by the end of term and almost fainted after giving blood. And I don't do fainting (no offence to anyone who does).
It prompted some questioning: am I eating right? Am I getting enough protein? I realised that last year I was cooking a lot more, combining pulses and grains, not just throwing chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce in with some tinned chickpeas.
Right now I'm trying to cook more. And add some fish in the diet, because I can't sustain that level of sheer exhaustion just before exams.
I took the inspiration for this recipe from the stuffed peppers we used to make on the kibbutz.
Ingredients:
-6 peppers
-1 tin of chickpeas, drained
-1 tin of butter beans, drained
-a handful of spinach
-100g of bulgur wheat (or cous cous or quinoa) cooked and cooled.
- 2 onions, chopped
-2 courgettes, chopped
-2 tomatoes, chopped
-salt
-pepper
-za'tar
-cumin
-2 tablespoon olive oil
-lemon
Put the butter beans, chickpeas, spinach, olive oil and lemon in a bowl and whizz with a food processor until it forms a coarse paste. I left some beans in coarser pieces. Incorporate the chopped vegetables and the rest of the spices in the paste.
Cut the top off the peppers and scrap out the seeds. Spoon the mixture inside the peppers. If you have any leftover stuffing, you can shape them into little balls and roast them...they are yummy!
Roast in the oven at 180C for 1 hour, until the peppers are roasted on the outside and the top of the stuffing is golden and crisp.
Take them out, let them cool slightly and enjoy (maybe with some tahini on top)!