Featured Chef

Timo Jimenez

Timo currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he cultivates permaculture gardens, teaches yoga, and works with men in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. He is  a professionally trained chef, having attended the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park New York. 

Timo’s main inspiration was his mother, Tila. As a young athletic boy, it was with great hunger, and eventual curiosity and enthusiasm, that he joined in at the knees of his mother’s love of cooking for his four siblings and his father. His family on both sides are generations of Spanish descendants and recipients of New Mexico Spanish land grants, with a rich culinary background. 

Timo spent more than three decades in professional kitchens in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, California; the Pacific Northwest; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Europe. Most recently, Timo spent five years traversing the landscape of Greece—teaching yoga and meditation workshops; exploring the people, language, architecture, historic and regional cuisines. His love for his Mediterranean roots shines through brightly in his vast repertoire of culinary,  plant-based vegan food arts. Plant-based nutrition is a cornerstone of his own spiritual fitness, as well as his work in the recovery field. Timo’s love and affinity for permaculture techniques; cycling adventures; love of landscape and nature; photography; traditional  yoga as self-transformation; traditional Buddhist study; practice and training in culinary creations…can all be found on the site locations shared. 

He’s in the midst of creating a cutting edge website that incorporates his modalities and explorations, his adventures, and integrating all of his loves and talents. It is with both honor and gratitude that he shares openly his gift of Culinary Alchemy. 

Many alms to Grey and the Grey Matter-Community.  

https://www.facebook.com/timo.jimenez.7

https://www.facebook.com/YogaPada/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Yoga-Pada-YogaTherapeutics–872693236169548/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057039625929

---

Recipe

Vegan Indian Spiced Garbanzo Stew

This is one of my all time go toes aftet a therapeutic deep float session.Its a very grounding dish,it takes some patience but can be done in stages. It’s one of those dishes that’s so rewarding and feeds all aspects of the Body,Mind,Heart,Spirit.  It’s heavily seasoned for starters – so much so that the ground spices, including both roasted cumin and Corriander seed actually help make the it both deeply flavorful,pungent and subtly aromatic up in devouring ?. The tanginess comes from roasting the Cumin and Corriander seeds in the beginning with and amchoor powder (made from sour, unripe mangoes).

It really does have the really soothing depth of flavour that I find so appealing about traditional Indian cooking.

It will keep real well for a few days also,though they are so tantalizing they tend not to last to long. That said the flavours amalgamate so evenly and even improve the dish with time.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried chick peas, soaked overnight and cooked until tender.Allow to cool in the cooking water. It will form a gelatinous liquid which will be added to the dish and form it’s thick smooth even texture.

Grapeseed oil. I cook w grapeseed or Avocado as they both have high ” flaspoints conducive for high temperature infusing of the Spices that form the basis of this dish.

• 2 medium onions, finely chopped.
• 6 cloves of garlic diced finely.
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2tbsp coriander seeds, finely ground
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tbsp. Of Pimienton (smoked Paprika)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 can chopped tomatoes1 tbsp amchoor powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp. Of Fenugreek seed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 2 tsp finely grated ginger
• 2tsp of Finley grated Tumeric root

Method:

1. Toast cumin seed and Corriander seed and grind in mortar and pestle to fine powder.
2. Heat Oil to medium low. Add garlic, onions and sure to translucent. Add Ginger and Tumeric and saute again for a minute or two.. Add all the spice powders and saute another. 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and saute another 2 minutes of cooking-stirring to incorporate. In classical Mediterranean cooking this is termed ” the sofrito”. In Spain in forms the basis for Paella.
4. Add drained cooked chickpeas and stir until all ingredients are evenly mixed, than slowly re- add the chickpea cooking liquid to desired thickness. Add it slowly as the texture will become more apparent as the heat liquefys the liquid.

Cover the Stew and simmer on low to medium for an hour. I like to eat these w Brown Basmati Rice. White Basmati lightens the dish but has less nutritional value. Also, I usually double the amount of chickpeas upon soaking and for cooking as I like to reserve the extra chickpeas for homemade hummus, add them to salads eat them plain w Coconut Aminos and Home stewed New Mexico Red Chile. (I’ll be Sharing this recipe next) as its the basis for New Mexico stacked Red Chile Enchiladas. My Mommas Kitchen.

The reserved extra Garbanzos are so versatile to play with. I have a huge repotoire of altetnative usages. Included are some photos of these.                       

Upon service w the rice, I like to add a sprinkling of hemp seed and diced avocado or Cashew Nut Yogurt and chopped Cilantro. Freshly diced chopped red onion also,but that’s a personal preference. Lemon or lime can be squeezed here for more pungent savoring of the Spices. And the green Chile added also. I alternate between roasted New Mexico Green or Raw diced Serrano or Jalapeno.??

“What if our religion was each other
“If our practice was our life
“If prayer, our words.
“What if the temple was the earth
“If forests were our church
“If holy water – the rivers, lakes, and oceans
“What if meditation was our relationships
“If the Teacher was life
“If wisdom was self-knowledge
“If love was the center of our being”
~ Ganga White.