Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)
Have you ever gone for a long walk in sandals? Imagine how much different (Read "easier" or "enjoyable") the walk would have been in running shoes?
I can't tell you how many times, years ago, I was out on a hike with my Boy Scout troop and I'd surely realize why I should have packed hiking shoes instead of runners. You see, sometimes its the little things that make the biggest differences.
I made my first batch of tahini tonight, as part of an effort to make roasted red pepper hummus. Why? Because I love it. There's a particular brand at CostCo, that comes in a three pack for $10 that is to die for! OK. Not to die for. To murder for though, yes! As in, if there was just one pack left and someone almost beat me to it, I'd surely cut their arms off and watch them bleed to death as I headed for the check out, not withstanding the time it took to grab crackers first. Nom nom nom....
Back to my point.
So tonight, I made the decision to make hummus for the first time. Well... not the first time ever, but I refuse to ever speak of the first time, whereby I used so much garlic I nearly died (more on that catastrophe later). Rather that have a repeat of the first attempt years ago, I reattempted said hummus with a new receipe and four fewer bulbs of garlic; instead, I included red pepper, cumin, lemon juice and home made tahini.
Why such an intent to go homemade? Simple. There's been such a difference in life by making a small adjustment called "additive free". There is absolutely no reason to buy anything pre-made. Tonight's project took less than an hour and yielded a higher quality product than I can buy, meaning that for the same amount of time it would take me to drive to the store, find the ready made product, cash out, drive home and get ready to eat it, I had it made from scratch: no preservatives, no additives.
"...but Fat Guy, that takes so much extra work/time/effort!"
You know what takes a lot of effort? Going to the hospital for an ultrasound. Spending hours in a doctor's office waiting to see a gastrointestinal specialist. Investing time and lost wages in time off work due to unexplained stomach pains that your family doctor can't pinpoint. Or simply, your own sanity and happiness.
It seems to me that more people than not have gastrointestinal issues these days. Stomach pains, bloating, bleeding, the "runs", gas, gurgles... or just otherwise unsettle stomachs. Would you believe me if I told you it might not **just** be gluten?
Take xanthan gum for example. It's a common food additive that acts as a thickening agent, which has never required human trials because it's not considered to have generated concerns in animal testing to warrant further testing. Which is true if you consider bloating, gas and it's effectiveness as a laxative to be acceptable side affects. Tell that to someone with IBS, or worse (ie. colitis, Crohn's).
I'm sure I don't need to mention Monosodium Glutamate, but I will. MSG is commonly found in snack foods, not to mentioned take-away or take-out, and (quote) Studies show that regular consumption of MSG may result in adverse side effects which include depression, disorientation, eye damage, fatigue, headaches, and obesity. MSG effects the neurological pathways of the brain and disengaged the "I'm full" function which explains the effects of weight gain. I can tell you from personal experience that I no longer tolerate any MSG in my foods purely based on the differences I feel after consuming items that contain it.
Don't believe it? Consume an entire bag of Dorito's, or flavored sunflower seeds, and tell me you don't feel different. Yet these foods are fed, sometimes unknowingly, to children as snacks.
How does this relate to my trek to achieving vegreatness? It compounds for me the ROI of my efforts to move towards a natural plant-based diet.
I spent an hour tonight in the kitchen. It all started with the need for tahini paste, to make a hummus.
One cup of sesame seeds. Check.
One pan. Check.
Stove top. Check.
Within 10 mins, I had beautiful golden seeds.
Another 10 minutes later, compliments of 3 tables spoons of light olive oil and a food processor, and I have a paste that resembles peanut butter.
Tahini paste. Check.
Next, a can of chick peas, half a lemon (juice only), a clove of garlic, some ground cumin, a teaspoon of salt and a few shakes of cayenne pepper, and I was staring down the barrel of a beautiful hummus.
Now, to add the roasted red peppers... Do you know what it takes to roast your own red peppers? Red peppers. That's it!
Wash. Cut in half. De-seed. Press flat on a pan. Lay under broiler for 10-15 minutes, or until the skin blackens. The best part was they cooked concurrently with the production of the tahini.
There I was, basking in the magical light of my overhead range vent, pureeing away a few cups of readily available products and in less time than it would take to run to a CostCo and find parking, I was making a beautiful additive-free hummus. All it needed was the red peppers.
It turned out to be a pretty salmon colored hummus, light and airy from the efforts of the whirling KitchenAid blade. The taste was pure heaven.
Years ago, I tried to make hummus, and failed greatly, with absolutely no hindsight understanding of why I did it wrong. I picked the right chick peas, had all of my mis en place ready. I was naturally smart and a quick study, even back then. Yet for some reason, I had it in my mind that I was going to make the best garlic hummus that man kind had ever experienced, so rather than using 4-5 cloves, I used 4-5 heads of garlic.
It was delicious, albeit potent. The burn on the tongue was enjoyable, especially with salty chips. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. If only the halitosis was the problem.
Suddenly, all I could smell was garlic. Waves of stench. Seconds turned into hours. Hours turned into Days. Days turned into weeks. And that was just the first 29 minutes.
It had only been a half hour or so since I polished off the batch, but an eternity crept by as the stench of garlic overpowered me.
The only thing I could do to save my sanity was stand in the shower, the water pouring over me, washing off the fumes of sulfur as it emanated from my pores. Once the water turned cold, I was off to the bed room to lay in front of a fan where the continuous blast of freshened air staved off some what of the smell, barely holding off the nausea that accompanies my garlic overdoes, until the hot water heater had done its job and I could get back into the shower.
I swore off hummus - and garlic - for years. Who knew such a small difference in interpreting a recipe would make such a drastic difference.
Back to Present Day... here I sit in my kitchen, with a fresh batch of the absolutely finest hummus I've had. No additives. No preservatives. No parking woes. No overdose. No big deal.
And damn it tastes good. Except for one thing... I roasted the sesame seeds a little too long. They're a tad bitter and it's overpowering the subtle taste of sweet roasted red pepper. Unfortunately, when roasting the sesame seeds, I went by smell and sight, not taste, waiting until they really looked roasted.
Next time I won't cook them as long. Funny, how just a few seconds longer made such a big difference out of such a tiny detail.
Sulfurically yours,
FatGuy
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