Recipes for People Who Can't Eat Anything: Funeral Food

Earlier this week my family suffered a great loss with the death of my grandmother Lois Ross. Ever strong and caring, she was a family matriarch. She was a very wonderful woman, whom I miss very, very much. I've just gotten home from her funeral, and now sit in front of my computer in my sweatpants and a pearl necklace that had belonged to her.

Assuming the reception food would be the usual fare, the vegetarian option being either egg salad or cheese and lettuce sandwiches, I decided to make some quick wraps for my sister and me. It turns out they were a hit with most of my family.

I started with my basic hummus recipe. This I got when taking a cooking class called "An Evening With Chickpeas" that my husband signed us up for as a birthday gift one year. Our instructor was Rani Rehal, and her recipes are outstanding! I modified it a little bit to accommodate the IBS gut. I removed the half of an large white raw onion that can be hard to digest and replaced it with the whites of green onions. It's slightly drier this way, but perfect for wraps. If serving with pitas I suggest drizzling a little olive oil on top and some parsley.

1 540ml can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
2-3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2-4 green onions whites only
1/2 tsp each salt & paprika
1/4 tsp each cumin, coriander & cayenne

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Once you master this simple recipe try experimenting with different spices or adding roasted red peppers.

Using whole wheat wraps I spread on a thin layer of the hummus and topped it with romaine lettuce, red peppers, and alfalfa sprouts.

Aside from sandwiches there are generally an assortment of baked goodies. Most of which will be either vegan unfriendly or have nuts in them...or the safe ones with be on the tray next to the nut ones. Being prepared for this situation I baked molasses cookies. I've been trying to find ways of working blackstrap molasses into my diet because of its high iron and calcium content, but it's not easy. I found this recipe on a blog called Hell Yeah It's Vegan. The only modification I made was omitting the crystallized ginger, and only because I didn't have time to source it out. I bet it would be amazing. Check it out.