I love it when my creative juices flow. Honored and blessed I am, with a passion that allows me the freedom to express my creativity, unapologetically.  These days, I’m extra grateful because this meat rejection thing going on with my body kinda caught me by surprise. No warning. No alerts. No memo. Nothing. Like, what the heck is going on with my body?

So in the meantime, while I cook meat for everyone else, what the heck do I do for myself? Ain’t no freaking way I’m going to watch them enjoy their food, while I sit around in disbelief, because I don’t understand why my body of all the bodies decides to evolve by excluding meat!

I am a firm believer of bio-individuality; what’s one man’s food is another man’s poison. I understand that we are all wired differently with unique bodies, traits etc.  In my entire lifetime, so far, there’s only one person on this planet that I know personally, who doesn’t enjoy meat; never enjoyed it as a child and still doesn’t care for it. To each his own. Right?

Chickpea has been a main staple in my household for quite some time now, especially when I get into Mediterranean mode. Due to it’s versatility, it’s  always in my pantry. I have always used it in my hummus recipes or when making socca (chickpea pancake/flatbread). Sometimes I just boil it and eat it, as is. It’s simply d’luscious on it’s own and can easily replace a popcorn habit. It’s excellent.

Chickpea is also one of the hardest beans to cook. I soak chickpea and most beans before using them. Soaking beans releases enzymes and aids digestion. You know how beans usually creates gas? You’re shaking your head? Hmmm hmmmm. Start soaking your beans to reduce or eliminate all that gassiness. If you don’t soak chickpea, you will be cooking this bad boy forever, so please soak it overnight or for a couple of hours before you cook it. It will speed up the cooking time, trust me on that.

 I’ve always enjoyed my vegetables and anything from the earth and have always stated that I must have been a farmer in my past life. My plate is always loaded with colors. Yes, I do eat the rainbow. However, I like to have a piece of meat with the rainbow. Not only do they compliment each other well, but I almost always use the gravy derived from the juices of the meat as a salad dressing, for all the greens on my plate. It’s freaking d’luscious!

So what’s a queen to do? The smell of commercial chicken repulses me. Lately I’ve been resorting to mostly vegetables and finding ways to enjoy them without the gravy, cause it seems as if my life is kinda going in that direction. I’m being proactive just in case this phase turns out to be permanent. I love to eat and my food needs to be flavorful and soulful.

I had to go deep into my culinary crystal ball… and mind you, I’m still searching for answers. The answer is always within and I’m absolutely sure that I will find it. To satisfy my soul and desire, I finessed the heck outta this ackee and saltfish with chickpea and roasted root vegetables. A match made in heaven is an understatement. It was da business! I don’t know how you feel about avocado, but this sexy ass avocado sitting up on my plate was pure unconditional love.

Am I happy with this culinary goodness? Most definitely! The customary boiled dumplings that’s usually served with ackee wasn’t missed. I don’t have anything against white flour, however during the time I created this recipe, I had eliminated white flour and white rice from my diet. I do perform experiments on my body quite a lot and the other flours are winning! I can do the white flour occasionally, but white rice is so freaking HEAVY!  Especially the long grain white rice.  OMG! I can’t deal with it and don’t care for it. But that’s just my body.

I’m really excited about this ackee with chickpea, roasted root vegetable combo and will make it a regular on my menu from now on. It’s an excellent creation that fuses all the wholesome flavors of the Caribbean on one plate and is less challenging for anyone who is transitioning from their meat filled diet.

Are you transitioning from eating commercial meats too?