The Tilsons

Yesterday, my fabulous husband decided to start dinner, which was super sweet because I was out for the afternoon.  I cam home and found him and the Sun Oven out in the Garden, cooking away.  Since the chicken was only at 80 degrees F, we decided to turn it and come back in a while.

The thing was, when Justin went out to check the chicken, it was gone, along with our garden potatoes, thermometer and Sun Oven.  Someone stole the whole show.

Justin came in to tell me - and if you know how much stuff we’ve had stolen, you could understand - he was defeated.  Neither of us could believe it.  We decided to go for a walk and see if we could find it, maybe someone just tossed into the bushes.  Nope.

We did find some homeless people under the bridge though, and asked them to please let us know if they see anyone with it, or get it back if it was in their power at all.  We decided to finish the trail under the Burrard bridge and head to GI to get another chicken.  Then, the most amazing thing happened.

One of the guys that was under the bridge, cycled up to us and tossed a 20 at Justin.  He told us to go buy ourselves some dinner and that it is wrong to steal someones food.  If he could, he would find it and bring it back to us.  And no, he would not take the twenty back. Then he zoomed off.

I burst into tears. Someone with apparently so little, and sadly the last person I would expect,  just gave us something that we lost a long time ago - a sense of greater community outside of our friends.

I have no doubt that he will find the Sun Oven and bring it back - hopefully he will except a hot meal in return.

Now that I have time to be domestic, I’ve been wondering what I can’t make in my sunoven! This week’s new experiment: Hummus. I soaked a cup of dried chick peas overnight and then placed them into the sunoven around noon. It’s still a little early in the year so the maximum temperature only reached 250 degrees Fahrenheit - still hot enough to boil water!

I left them to simmer for about 3 hours, turning the oven roughly every 30 minutes to an hour. They were very done when I took them out. Half that time probably would have been sufficient! Now all I need is a few solar panels to run my food processor.

The following recipe for Indian-Style is available from the divine Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook.

Indian-Style Hummus

• 3 cloves garlic (to reduce Pitta: only use 2 cloves)
• 1/4 green Serrano chili pepper, or more to taste (or your choice of chili sauce - to reduce Pitta: omit)
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cups (sunoven) cooked or canned (ick) chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 2 tbsp tahini (ground sesame seeds)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil (I used canola and flax)
• 1/4 tsp group cumin
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Directions

In a food processor (or blender if you feel like your day hasn’t been difficult enough), pulse garlic until chopped. Add the green chili and cilantro and pulse. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Some personal tips! I would start with a little less salt and add cautiously. Don’t over do the lemon! I like to add a bit more oil, cumin and a bit of water to thin and moisten the mixture. Be cautious on the raw garlic, unless you are sharing with everyone in your house, especially if you are planning on enjoying time with a partner under the sheets.