Butternut Squash Chickpea Cakes with Red Onion Marmalade & Cucumber Raita

Cooling cucumber raita and sweet red onion jam accompany spiced butternut squash cakes with chickpeas, cornmeal, cilantro and lemon.

Butternut Squash Chickpea Cakes
9 small cakes
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking
3 cups butternut squash, peeled, small dice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
1-15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup cornmeal, plus more for coating
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbl minced cilantro
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp ener-g egg replacer mixed with 2 tbl water until frothy
juice of 1/2 lemon

Saute the squash in olive oil with cinnamon, salt and pepper until tender.
Transfer to a bowl and add the chickpeas, cornmeal, garlic, cilantro, garam masala, cumin, thyme, cayenne, ener-g egg and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Mash until only a few beans are left whole. Form into small patties. Chill for 15 minutes.
Pour a thin layer of olive oil in the pan and heat up.
Coat the patties in cornmeal then saute until golden brown on both sides, 10 minutes total.

Cucumber Raita
1-6oz plain coconut yogurt
1 cup minced cucumber, seeded (about 3/4 a cucumber)
3 tbl minced cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and let chill for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Red Onion Marmalade
1 large red onion, large dice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbl organic light brown sugar
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until thick and jam-like.

Gyros and Revithia (Greek Chickpea Soup)

How the heck do you pronounce Gyro!?! Jai-row? Gear-o? Euro? The way I grew up saying it, wasn't the way I had to say it at a restaurant I worked at that served them, and others will come up with endless pronunciations to constantly stump me. Luckily for me, this post is typed, and I don't actually have to pronounce that word once! Either way, being vegan, Gyros come few and far between so I decided to make one myself.

Ground gyro tempeh patty with a homemade spice blend, Roma tomatoes, red onions and creamy cucumber tzatziki sauce on fluffy pita bread. Rich chickpea soup with lemon zest and parsley.

Gyro
1/2 white onion, cut into chunks
8oz tempeh
2 garlic cloves
1 tbl dried marjoram
1 tbl dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
Pita bread (not pockets!)
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
1 red onion, sliced thinly
tzatziki sauce, recipe follows

In a food processor, pulse the onion until it is in small shreds. Add the tempeh, garlic, spices and salt and pepper. Pulse until completely ground and combined. Form into long rectangular patties and chill for 30 minutes.
In a large saute pan, heat the oil and saute the tempeh patties on both sides until golden brown.
Garnish pita with tomatoes, red onion slices and tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chunk to chunks
2 garlic cloves
6 oz plain soy yogurt
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
4 mint leaves

In a food processor, pulse the cucumber into small pieces. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Season with more salt if necessary and chill until ready to eat.

Revithia (Greek Chickpea Soup)
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1/2 white onion, small dice
1 carrot, small dice
1 celery stalk, small dice
3 garlic cloves
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 1/2c beans reserved to the side
3c vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
fresh parsley for garnish

In a stock pot, heat the oil and add the onion, carrot and celery. Saute over medium heat until tender, 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook 2 more minutes. Add the spices, salt and pepper and toss. Add chickpeas and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until completely smooth. Return back to the heat, add the reserved 1/2 cup of beans, bay leaves and simmer for 10 more minutes. Adjust seasoning and taste for more salt and pepper and garnish with fresh parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.