The Essence of Exploration

My essence is a shapeshifter.

My soul likes to experiment with confusion.

My body dances into different shapes through brilliantly colored tutus. Sometimes I wear all black.

I am an explorer.

I enjoy joyfully expanding into a new persona, exploring new ways of thinking, looking in new directions.

I flourish between the sacred privacy of being covered with sumptuous fabrics to celebrations of bare feminine sensuality.

No facade of drug-induced false realities will ever appeal to me. There are too many places, thoughts, too much true sparkle to need a diversion.

Exploration does not only come in the form of traveling to far away places. It means becoming familiar with the unknown inside yourself. It means letting yourself be pulled in unexpected directions by the flow of the universe.

Never stop learning, be a student of this existence.

(street art, photo taken in Asilah, Morocco by moi, Sept. 2012)

Falafel Recipe

Today I attempted to make falafel for the first time, and I'd say it was decently successful (my boyfriend, who is a somewhat of a falafel connoisseur, gave his approval).

Here is the recipe, partly taken from this blog, partly improvised myself:

Prep time: 20-30 minutes

cook time: 15-30 minutes

Yield: abut 15 small pieces of falafel (enough to feed 2 people with a few leftovers)

Ingredients:
1 15oz can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (washed after taking out of can)
crumbs from one hot dog bun or piece of white bread
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 small yellow onion
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1tablespoon red chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
flour to thicken (if needed)

Instructions:
1. Blend the chickpeas, garlic, onions, parsley, cilantro, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a food processor to a rough moist texture.

2. Stir in the crumbs and sesame seeds and let the mixture sit for about half an hour.

3. Add the baking soda and stir together.

4. Form into small spheres with a diameter of 1.5-2 inches. Make sure you knead them a little and press the dough together firmly so that they do not fall apart when cooked. If they are not sticking together well, add 2-3 tablespoons of flour.

5. Heat oil about 2 inches deep on medium heat. You can tell that the oil is hot enough to start frying the falafel by putting a small piece of dough into the oil. The oil should bubble quickly around the piece of dough and the piece should float on the surface.

6. When oil is hot enough, put first falafel piece in to cook. Use the first piece as a test run to see how long you need to cook the rest. Take out when the surface is a rich dark brown and place on a plate covered with paper towels to soak up the oil. After it cools slightly, break it open to see if it has cooked all the way through. Adjust heat and cooking time accordingly.


How to serve:
I recommend serving the falafel with a "build your own pita wrap" set up. I included:
- whole wheat pita bread
- Tahini sauce
- A salad of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, & onions topped with lime juice, salt, and pepper
- chopped lettuce
- small cubed fried potatoes
- hot sauce or any other condiments that anyone eating requests


Enjoy!