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Happy Earth Day! In honour of Earth Day, I’m going to try extra specially hard not to do anything too carbon intensive today. Should be easy enough; I never take the bus anymore, I don’t smoke anymore (aside from the occasional engagement party), and almost all of my food, save my coffee and the odd condiment, comes from either Ontario or Quebec (which is about as close to the 100 mile diet as I can get). I would promise not to go out and spend money on things I don’t really need (needless consumption will get us in the end, mark my words), but I can’t promise that as today I am meeting with MM and others at ‘Mike’s Place’ to discuss tomorrow’s conference. The First Annual Graduate Ethics Conference, featuring yours truly, MM, and others who are clearly of less importance. Sounds like a real hoot, eh? Yeesh.

On an unrelated note, glorious chickpea patties were made on Monday night and I simply must share this recipe with you. It’s inspired by Eat, Drink and Be Vegan – I say ‘inspired by’ because I didn’t have half of the ingredients (who has capers just lying around the house??) so I reeeeaaally had to improvise. They were oh so yummy though! A delightful alternative to veggie burgers which I have always found a little creepy.

Curry Enhanced Chickpea Patties

2 tsp olive oil
1 large-ish onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 19 oz tin of chickpeas
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tamari
1 1/2 tsp hot curry powder
2 cups cooked bulgur (actually, the recipe called for short grain brown rice…which unlike me, most people have lying around the house. The bulgur was awesome though. Just sayin’. If you do choose to use rice, be sure to start it cooking before you start the rest of the stuff.)
3/4 cup quick oats

+olive oil for frying
+greens!
+buns!
+ketchup and dijon!

= good times

*Warning: this recipe needs to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes after it’s made. While it’s doing that, do the dishes, make up the veg and toast your buns (hehe, ‘buns’).

Right. So cook your bulgur (cooks just like basmati rice) and while it’s cooking, chop up your veg. In a frying pan on medium heat, saute the onions and celery with the olive oil until the onions are translucent. While they are saute-ing, take out your food processor and puree the chickpeas with the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, tamari, and curry powder. When your onions and celery are done, stick them in the food processor and keep puree-ing. Now add one cup of the cooked bulgur and puree some more. Add the other cup and pulse a bit to incorporate but still have a bit of texture. Dump it all into a big mixing bowl and stir in the quick oats. Cover and let refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove and form into patties then fry those puppies up!! About 7 minutes per side, until golden. YUM!