Do Not Adjust Your Monitors

After over 2 years, Veg-am is undergoing a design change. The reason? I am going to quit playing around with my photo greeting card line, website, and photo blog. I have been piddling around with ideas for all of them for years and have finally decided it is time to take the plunge.

So here it is -- the first official announcement: The greeting card line and online shop are set to launch September 11, 2010! The links above will be more complete as the website becomes more complete, but you can look around the website as it develops with the links above. There are still some design changes to come on the site, and definitely a fleshing out of content, but if you see any words spelled incorrectly or dead links, please let me know.

I also realized as I was setting up the new header for Veg-am, that I don't think any of those dishes are actually ON the blog. Maybe I should try to catch up ;)

Keep checking back for more info on the changes at D R Simpson Gallery and my new venture.

Gluten Free Chickpea Cutlets

Don't pass out. Yes, it's really me...posting! There's been some recent interest in the gluten free version of chickpea cutlets that I make, so I decided to post it here so I can just send a link to anybody that asks in the future. It will also be a great reference for me the next time I lose the half-ruined piece of paper I have the recipe on. Somehow it happens a lot. If I actually put the papers on the rings of the binder instead of just stuffing them in there, I'd probably keep up with them a lot better. But, that's neither here nor there, and if you have to be gluten free like I do, I know you're only still reading to get your hands on a chickpea cutlet that wont make you sick to your stomach.

This recipe is based on the recipe from Veganomicon for a gluten-y chickpea cutlet. If you've had the original before, let me warn you, these may be nothing like it. I've never had them or any other gluten-y "meat" so I have no idea. If they're nothing like it, call it something else and reset your mind to enjoy them by that name instead of feeling bad for yourself that you can't have "real" chickpea cutlets. ::Stepping down from anti-I'm-a-gf-victim-whininess soapbox::

The first recipe I saw for a gf cutlet was from Cherie over on the ppk, but I've played around with it and come up with this:

GF Chickpea Cutlets

Makes 8-10 cutlets (I never bothered making the smaller batch, I like to freeze some)

3 cups chickpeas cooked (or two cans, drained)
3/4 cup cold water
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1 cup millet flour
4 Tbsp oil, plus more for brushing on cutlets to bake
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sage
(the original recipe calls for 4 Tbsp soy sauce, so use it if you're not soy free - usually I leave it out completely, sometimes for kick I use 8 tsp balsamic vinegar, 4 tsp blackstrap molasses to give the extra brown color and extra flavor, now that I have Coconut Aminos, I'll prob sub that next time)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl mash the chickpeas. In a small mixing bowl mix the millet flour, water, and xanthan gum. It should be about the consistency of thick, sticky mashed potatos. Add this mix to your chickpeas. Add the 4 Tbsp oil, balsamic and molasses (or soy sauce), garlic, lemon zest, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Shape into cutlets. If the mixture is a little too sticky to shape into cutlets, just flour your hands with extra millet flour and that should give you a little more control. (I've never run into this, but if it seems a little dry, just add more water until it's a good shaping consistency.) Brush both sides of the cutlet with a little olive oil and bake for 20 minutes on lightly oiled baking sheets. Flip the cutlet and bake another 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

For a change, you can shape these into "tenders" or "nuggets" too. My favorite condiment for these is dijon mustard or a mix of dijon with a little agave nectar. Enjoy!