A little something sweet: Lentil cookies are grain-free and oh so chewy

So I was at Regina's Farmer's Market recently, and found a new flour, made of red lentils. I've used lentils for soups and curries quite a bit, but haven't baked with them much. (It's possible with whole lentils that are freshly cooked or canned, too. See lentil.ca for recipes.) 

Compared to typical grains like wheat, lentils are much higher in two key nutrients, fiber and protein. In fact, in a cup of dry lentils (the closest comparison available), there is 58g of fiber and 50g of protein. Enriched all-purpose flour, in contrast, contains just 3 or 4g of fiber and 13g protein per cup. Lentils also have white flour - even enriched white flour, with some vitamins & minerals added back in - beat when it comes to iron and B-vitamins like folate. Cup of dry lentils = 80% of your daily value for iron, and 230%DV for folate. Regular flour has less than half that. 

So, while I love whole grains, including whole grain whole wheat flour for baking, lentil flour has it beat in the nutritional comparison. Only question now is: how does it taste? 

Lentil Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Oh-so-tasty! Be careful not to overcook these, and they'll be soft and chewy and feature all the flavours you expect from a peanut butter cookie. 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 

2. Mix together: 

• 1/2 cup red lentil flour (or other flour you have on hand)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy preferred)
• 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend (or 1 cup white or brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

3. Scoop heaping teaspoons of batter into clean hands, and form into balls, flattening to cookie shape. I got about 15, plus a little extra batter to taste raw (not recommended if you are at all prone to food borne illness).

4. Bake about 10 minutes. Cookies are done when they appear puffed, and the bottoms are starting to turn color, but the tops remain quite pale. 

5. Allow to cool, then enjoy! 

Nutrition Info
This is a healthy-ish dessert item that's all about the pleasure of eating a little something sweet. If you're hungry or need specific nutrients, please look elsewhere.  

Each cookie contains about 120 calories, 6g of mostly-healthy fat, almost no sodium (50mg, 2%), but some potassium (170g, 4%), carbs comparable to a piece of bread or medium apple (17g), a little fiber (2g), and yes, some sugar (10g, about 2.5tsp), plus a little protein (4-5g). Key vitamin present is folate, at about 10% of daily requirements. If you choose to make this, though, please tell me it's not for the folate. :) 

Bored of the same old foods? Visit Regina's Farmer's Market this Spring.

I hate to admit it, but until this month, I'd never been to Regina's Farmer's Market. 
It seemed like a good idea. I enjoy fresh, seasonal produce, and supporting local farmers.  But with markets generally open only on Saturday morning, I made excuses, thinking: 

"I'd rather sleep in." "I have to work out, and can't do both."
"Weekends are for relaxing and socializing, not work."
"If I go late in the morning, all the good stuff will be gone."
"It's so early in Spring, what farmer has fresh food to sell?"

Well, it was worth it. Even in early April, the Farmer's Market completely filled the Shriner's Hall - the main area upstairs as well as taking over more space downstairs, with many, many quality vendors. Here's what I came away with:

Bored of the same old foods? Visit Regina's Farmer's Market!

1. A bag of gorgeous mixed greens from Floating Gardens. Nine dollars seemed pricy, but the fresh, clean leaves are really packed in there, and you can make at least 9-10 salads from that one bag. Fresh herbs were also on offer. 

2. A bottle of Mango Cranberry Kombucha, a fermented tea drink by Crave Kombucha. I'd tried a ginger-flavoured kombucha from another brand before, and didn't care for it. This one is better, with extra sweetness from fruit juice working to cut down on the slight bite of the fermentation by-products. If you can't tell, I'm personally on the fence about drinking this stuff regularly. There's certainly health benefits, though. 

3. Red Lentil Flour from a lovely man who grows lentils, peas, spelt, and other grains in the province. I try to include beans, peas, and lentils in my meals several times a week, and was excited to try including lentils in baking, too. (If you have fresh or canned lentils, there's recipes at lentils.ca.) I made peanut butter chocolate cookies with the lentil flour, and they turned out great. 

4. Crunchy Peas, in Sea Salt and Lime, and Smoky BBQ flavours, from Zak Organics. These are such a perfect little snack! At first glance, I thought they were roasted chickpeas, which are so tasty. But these peas turned out great, too. Crunchy, perfectly flavoured, and nicely portioned. There's a couple more flavours I might try next time.  

Did I miss anything? One of my predictions was right... a few vendors had sold out within the first hour or two. But there was still plenty of good food to enjoy. 

Some vendors I walked right by, including the bakers, crafters, preservers, and cookie-makers, but a couple more whole-food vendors caught my eye, especially the fresh garlic and local beef. And I'll be sure to be back in the height of summer for fresh tomatoes and beets and other surprises. 

Starter Salad: mixed greens with sliced radish. I added a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette before devouring this plateful of freshness.