What's for lunch

My alarm has went off at 6.27 am every weekday for two months now (Alex leaves for work around 7.10 and since he is an extremely morning tired person, I get up first to make his coffee and prepare breakfast to help get his day started smoothly). Such an early wake up (I would otherwise sleep one hour more), means I get hungry for lunch already by 11. It's 7.23 now and I am already excited for what I will begin preparing as soon as I arrive to the kitchen in approx 45 min. 

This is what I made yesterday. A slow cooking process in which I've first browned onion and garlic, added a tonne of fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley and mint. Let it simmer with a few cups of homemade vegetable stock for a good hour. Drained chickpeas added, cook on low heat for an hour, then let it simmer for another. Toss in some chopped kale and orange pepper (or carrots in small cubes goes well too, for some reason I think orange colored vegetables suits this stew the best). More water or vegetable stock. Salt, pepper, freshly grated ginger, a bit of cayenne pepper, cumin, turmeric, clove, nutmeg and whatever else you might find suitable. Simmer again till all flavors are well incorporated, an hour or more (the longer the better). I like to mash the chickpeas randomly with the wooden spoon, so that more or less half are mushy, half are whole. Gives a nicer texture. Serve with fluffy white long grain basmati rice. I poured some saffron water on top of mine for extra flavor.

I have never really measured spices or anything else for that matter in my cooking, but have realized as of late that I have to start doing that now since I will be cooking larger quantities, and most people might not appreciate as much salt (and spice) that I do. And consistency is key when it comes to commercial food making.

It is thanksgiving here very soon and it's always interesting with the different foods of each new cultural tradition that one come across. I will start experimenting with a vegan thanksgiving menu this week and will share the fruition of this project with you in the next couple weeks. I think homemade cranberry sauce will be on the list of doings for today to start...