socialjusticewizard

My daughter has asked me to write a book targeting her age range, 7-10 years old. I've read a few chapter books with her and have an idea of the language level, but I'm finding it very challenging to keep an engaging story going with the constraints. Anyone know of any tips or guides out there worth looking at for helping set language goals in an early readers setting?

Chickpea flour is the shit, if you weren't aware. I already posted about socca earlier and I'll post more before I'm done.

Even if you eat eggs, you should be aware that chickpea flour is a nonperishable, cheap, animal-free replacement for a huge number of egg uses. For one egg, just mix 3 tbsp chickpea flour and 3tbsp water with a fork and let it sit for a few minutes to rehydrate. Most recipes call for 20 minutes, I find it can be as little as 5 depending on what you're doing.

I use this stuff whenever I'm going to batter things for deep frying, and you can't tell the difference. Like, you really can't; a friend of mine sells deep fried treats over the summer and people actively disbelieve that they're vegan friendly. It's great! I haven't yet found any baking they don't suffice for. When I mix the wet ingredients for something like pancakes, I just add the chickpea flour straight into the liquid ingredients, along with a splash more milk/milk substitute, and let it sit a little extra time. I'm fairly sure they'd get tricky with some of the really technical fluffy egg-based cakes that are more or less just a confection of egg and sugar... but I haven't tested that, either.

Anyone got any other uses they put this stuff to?

I've tried this in every plant-based food community I've ever been part of, but I'll try here too.

In the years I've been plant-based, there remains one comfort food I have not yet ever found a satisfying substitute for. I can live without bacon, I can live without tuna, I can even live without chicken wings (though that one does still slip into my dreams sometimes), but I have not yet found anything that satisfies my desire for hot dogs.

There are hundreds of substitutes for them out there. I've tried all the big brands. The problem, in my opinion, is that meat-based hot dogs are essentially a perfect matrix of fat and salt. I don't think the meat flavour has much to do with it at all, which is a big part of why this whole thing drives me so crazy. Every plant-based hot dog I've ever had tastes like health food.

I've found a good substitute while camping... plant-based burgers cooked over a fire in a special cage holder are delicious. However, they're not hot dogs and I want hot dogs dangit, it should be possible.

So, in the hopes that I'll finally find the answer, has anyone found some new entry or some secret contender that drips unhealthy plant-based grease into the fire, that contains enough salt to make me a little bit scared?

This is one of my go-to quick lunch recipes. It takes chickpea flour, water, a bit of olive oil, and salt. You do need to prep it a bit in advance to give the chickpea flour time to soak up the water, and then for the pan to heat up, but the actual cook time is minimal. Done right - which is easy - it's got a crisp, flavourful outside and a soft, almost custardy inner layer. It goes great with zatar seasoning on it, or just coarse salt, and because chickpea flour is pretty high protein, it's surprisingly filling.

It also makes a decent pizza crust substitute for gluten free folk! It's nothing like bread but it's super delicious with pizza-like toppings.

A pan of socca and some fresh veggies or a greek salad is a really nice, filling dinner when you want to take it easy.

Here's an ode to crispy oven roasted beans and chickpeas. If you take pretty much any cooked pulse, toss it in flavours, and bake it, you can make them into crunchy little flavour nuggets to sprinkle on salads, in wraps, eat straight up, put in idk your breakfast cereal or whatever. I'm not your dad, you can decide. It's a great trick and I don't hear enough about people doing it. Did you know it also works with quinoa, giving it a light crispiness almost like puffed rice?

Sample recipe off the top of my head:

• 1 cup cooked black beans
• ~1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp granulated onion

Toss together until well coated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread beans out on parchment paper.
Bake for 45 minutes at 400f or until beans have split open like teeny baked potatoes. give em more time to make them crunchier.

Anyone else addicted to these? My wife thinks I'm going a bit overboard when I mix them into refries but yo dawg, we heard you like beans so...

I noticed there didn't seem to be a vegetarian community, and sharing vegetarian recipes is one of my favourite uses of other threaded link-sharing websites, so I'll kick things off with a thread about beans and legumes - the pulse family. Anyone have a favourite use for these absurdly versatile vegetables?

Personally, I love aquafaba. The stuff is insane. This is the water that comes off canned chickpeas, and can be harvested from the thick discard water from any cooked beans as well. It can mimic egg whites in a huge number of uses, from mixed alcoholic drinks to meringue in the right circumstances. I eat eggs, but sparingly, and I can't believe how versatile this danged liquid is.