Black Bean Burgers

So I bet you're wondering what I did with those black beans I made in my Instant Pot®  (win one here!), aren't you?

I made my favorite Black Bean Burgers from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.  If you're going to own just one vegan cookbook, let this be the one!  Even if you're not vegan, it has tons of recipes and techniques you'll be able to use.  I don't like to repost recipes from cookbooks, but I did a search and you can find the recipe here.

Before cooking!

The only substitution I made was using one tablespoon of chipolte peppers instead of tomato paste.  I also think next time I'd like to add some corn kernels to give it a more southwestern feel.

Great toppings:  Sprouts, grilled mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, avocado

What do I love about this recipe?

• It's easy.  After the beans are done, it comes together very quickly and easily.
• It holds up.  The recipe uses vital wheat gluten, which holds everything together well.  I can throw this burger on the grill and know that it will hold up just fine.
• It's flexible.  It's a basic recipe, which give you room to customize it how you'd like!  
• It's simple.  Unlike the veggie burgers you'll buy at the store, this one doesn't have many ingredients and you know what all of them are!  

I apologize for not having more pictures of the burgers - mixing them, after they are grilled....but this weekend was my birthday and we went out for lunch...

My yummy Birthday dessert!

and then grilled out at the beach.  I was so tired from the day at the beach (and busy entertaining my tired daughter), that I forgot all about taking pictures of the final product!  

What is your favorite veggie burger recipe?  

Submitted to:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB

Spring Rolls - Meatless Monday

Spring rolls are one of my favorite foods, but for some reason I thought that they must be incredibly difficult to make.  Then one day I saw a post on Mi Chiamo Candace talking about how easy they were to make, and I knew I had to try making them myself!  She was right, they are very simple!

First I cooked my rice noodles.  I then tossed them with a touch of sesame oil and some random fresh herbs I bought at the Asian grocery store.

I then assembled the other ingredients I was using.  I used avocado, broccoli slaw, and the rice noodle mixture in mine, but the possibilities are endless!  I think some red peppers would be lovely, or some thinly sliced strawberries!

After assembling your ingredients, get your rice paper ready and a shallow bowl of warm water.  My bowl was a little smaller than the rice paper, which made things a little difficult.  Next time I'm getting the smaller size of rice paper because I think it will be a lot easier!

Now you're ready to roll - quickly swipe the rice paper through the water, then lay it down and put your ingredients in.  I put mine down on rice paper, and since this was my first time I didn't worry too much about making things pretty.

Then you just roll it up like a burrito! As soon as the rice paper touches itself it will stick.  Roll as tightly as you can - I'm still getting this part down!

Your spring rolls are ready for dipping!  I just used some Hoison, Bragg's, and  Sriracha for my dipping sauce.  You could also make a peanut sauce or sweet chili sauce.

I stored all the leftover fillings in small bowls, and made new spring rolls every day until I ran out of filling. This worked better than making the rolls all at once, because as they dry out the rice paper can get tough.  When only making one or two rolls, I just ran the rice paper under the faucet quickly.

Little Miss joined in on the fun with her own bowl of water and rice paper!

I hope this inspires you to try making your own spring rolls!

Submitted to:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul

Vegetarian King Ranch Casserole - Meatless Monday

I had never heard of King Ranch casserole until I saw this post on Chez Cayenne.  I thought the flavors sounded delicious, so I decided to make it myself.  This casserole, reminiscent of enchiladas, consists of beans, fresh peppers and mushrooms, and a delicious creamy sauce.  I'm not kidding, this was one of the best sauces I've had in a really long time!

Her recipe calls for veggie chicken or seitan; I used tofu instead.  I sliced the tofu (9 oz) into cubes, splashed some Bragg's on it, and baked it in the oven at about 350 until it got crispy around the edges, turning once during cooking.  In the interest of using up things I had on hand, I used 12 ounces of oniony salsa left over from a party instead of an onion and a can of rotel.

I also used sour cream and a Mexican cheese rather than using the vegan versions, although I'm sure it would be easy enough to use those as well.  I didn't use roasted red peppers because I couldn't get the jar open (embarrassing, I know).  I think next time I'll just add some fresh red peppers in with the poblano.  For small white beans I used cream peas since I had some in the freezer that needed using.

 
These are the mushrooms and the poblano.  Don't they look delicious?  This was my first time cooking with a poblano - it's a really mild pepper, and easy to work with.

This is the cream sauce.  It has some sour cream and cheese in it, but really not that bad for you overall.  And the taste is HEAVENLY!

The finished product - it was so delicious!

This is linked to Hearth and Soul and My Meatless Mondays

Asian Salad - Meatless Monday

Last week I had a post on making a ground beef substitute, so this week I'm going to give you a great recipe to use it in!  This is based on an Asian Lettuce Wrap recipe, but I simply made it into a salad.  I love the spiciness of the "meat" contrasting with the coolness of the salad!

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Ground Beef Substitute

In case you haven't noticed, there are a LOT of recipes out on the internet that call for ground beef.  As a vegetarian, you can either ignore all of those recipes or come up with other things to put in place of the beef.  They sell faux crumbles at the store, but I'm not a fan of overly processed food, and question if they are any healthier than meat.  
That's why I was thrilled when I saw that Veggie Converter had posted a recipe for ground beef substitute.  I had to give it a try!  I made some changes to make it my own, and here is what I came up with.  I was very pleased with how it turned out - it's not "meaty" tasting, but it has the right consistency to use in recipes that call for hamburger.  

Ground Beef Substitute

• 2 C Brown or Red Rice
• 2 C Green or Brown lentils
• 2 Tbsp. steak seasoning (I used McCormick's Santa Fe spice blend instead of a steak seasoning)
• 1/8 C olive oil
• 1/8 C steak sauce
• 1/4 C diced sauteed or marinated mushrooms
• 1/4 C vital wheat gluten
• 1 C rolled oats, chopped (I used a coffee grinder)

Cook rice, lentils and steak seasoning until slightly soft (I put them in my rice cooker on brown rice setting).  Be sure there is no excess water when done.  Mash slightly with a potato masher - leave it chunky though!  This step gave it a great texture in my opinion.  Combine with remaining ingredients, mashing some more if needed.  Spread into a large pan and bake at 300F for 1 hour, stirring at least every 15 minutes to evenly dehydrate mixture. Store in portion-sized freezer bags. It will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week or freezer until used.



This makes a lot!  This time around I put the entire mixture in one casserole dish - I think next time I will use two dishes to let it cook better.  I've used this in one recipe so far with great results!  I use 2 and 1/2 cups of this mixture to equal a pound of ground beef.  

Meatless Monday - Indian Samosa Casserole

When I spent a summer in Oxford, England for school, one of my favorite foods was Indian Samosas.  They were easy to find since street vendors sold them everywhere, and the perfect filling food to carry along with you while you were heading out on your next big adventure.  There was  a vendor who sold them right outside the train that connected Oxford and London, so I was always getting them to eat on my way to a London adventure.

I've always looked for something similar in the U.S., but have never been able to find anything like it.  Of course, this may have to do with the fact that my husband doesn't like Indian food so we rarely visit Indian restaurants while travelling : ).  Anyway, I was super-excited when I found this recipe from Vegetarian Times in my e-mail one day.  I'd never attempted to make them before since it seemed a little complicated, but a casserole I can do!

I used a mixture of sweet and white potatoes to make it a little healthier.  Since I used sweet potatoes, I left out the agave nectar.  

And I also added some mushrooms to my vegetable mix because I love mushrooms!  I had a bag of frozen mixed veggies that needed using up, so I substituted that for the carrot and peas.    

I also had some Fillo Dough I needed to use up, so I used it for a crust instead.  It was good, but doesn't reheat that well so unless you're eating the whole thing in one night I'd recommend going with their recipe for the crust.  

Eat alone, our with some raita or chuney.  Delicious!

I had some leftover filling, and it worked really well in a wrap as well.  

Meatless Monday - Buffalo Tofu Po-Boys

Here in the Panhandle, everyone is gearing up for the Mardi Gras season, so I thought this week we'd focus on Mardi Gras on the blog!  Before I moved here, I thought Mardi Gras was only celebrated in New Orleans, but there are actually some great family friendly activities all along the Gulf Coast!

One of the great things about Mardi Gras is all of the wonderful food.  This is the only time of year you can buy King Cakes everywhere, and traditional foods such as Po-Boys abound.  This Tofu Po-Boy is super-easy to make, and one of my favorite ways to have tofu.

Buffalo Tofu Po-Boys

1. Press 1/2 of a package of tofu for at least 30 minutes.
2. Cut tofu into strips.  Put into a glass dish and coat tofu blocks with Bragg's.
3. Bake tofu blocks at 350 for about 30 minutes - I sometimes cook longer because I like mine to get rather crispy.  Turn after 15 minutes.
4. Coat tofu with your favorite Buffalo Wing sauce, or make your own sauce with Frank's Red Hot and butter.  
5. Cook tofu another 10-20 minutes.  
6. While the tofu is cooking, saute some mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper.
7. Pile tofu and sauteed vegetables onto some good quality french bread.  Add lettuce if you'd like, and enjoy!  I serve mine with oven-baked fries.  

Skillet Gardner's Pie - A Great Way to Use Up All of those Veggies

The other day I realized that I had a ton of veggies that needed to be eaten, and only small amounts of each thing.  I've been wanting to make a Shepherd's Pie for ages, so I decided that this would be a great time to do it.  I used this recipe as a guideline, but changed it a lot to use what I had on hand.  Mine had green beans, turnips, collards, carrots, onions, and mushrooms.  I also used leftover mashed potatoes.

It turned out really well, I'm sure I'll make it again!   

What is one of your favorite recipes for using up a bunch of leftovers?  

Meatless Monday - Tofu Chili

Ready to eat!

This recipe is perfect for a cold winter day!  It also comes together pretty quickly.  I got the recipe off of an e-mail from Nasoya, and didn't do much to change it.  I used fire roasted crushed tomatoes and a green pepper instead of a red pepper.  I added a peeled and diced turnip that I needed to use up - if I hadn't done this, I probably would have added some mushrooms.    I also only used half of a 14 oz block of tofu, which I pressed.

These are the sauteed veggies and tofu before I added the tomatoes.  

Meatless Monday - Moroccan Carrot Cakes

These tasty patties work as a sandwich filling or as a side dish.  Use the food processor to shred the carrot and the onion and this comes together very quickly! 

Ingredients:

·         5 medium carrots, shredded (about 2 cups)

·         1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

·         3 tablespoons flour

·         2 tablespoons cornmeal

·         1 egg, lightly beaten

·         2 tablespoons milk (or half and half, or sour cream)

·         1 teaspoon garam masala

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/4 teaspoon black pepper

·         2 tablespoons margarine or butter

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1.    In a medium bowl, mix the carrots, onion, flour, corneal, egg, milk, garam masala, salt, baking powder and pepper. Shape the mixture into 8 patties about 1 1/2" thick. Transfer to a platter, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This will keep up to 12 hours.

2.    Heat the margarine and the oil in a heavy 10" skillet until sizzling, about 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium . Brown the patties for 5-8 minutes on each side. Drain on a platter lined with paper towels, then serve immediately. 

CSA Cooking - Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets

This was my first time cooking beets and they were wonderful! I used a mixture of beets and turnips in mine. I love the vibrant red color!

Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets

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Meatless Monday - Ridiculously Easy Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa

This Ridiculously Easy Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa is a great meal for a busy weeknight!  I used cooked dried beans, because I had the time to make them.  Other than that, the recipe came together in less than 20 minutes with pantry staples, making it both easy and cheap!

I was out of quinoa, so I used one small bag (the 2 serving size) of minute rice instead.  I omitted the onion because I didn't have any on hand, but I did add onion flakes when I added the tomatoes.  I also added fresh peppers when I added the tomatoes, simply because I had some I needed to use up.  The ginger and curry really shine in this recipe, so don't leave them out, and use a good quality curry powder!

CSA Cooking - Tomato and Ravioli Collard Soup

This soup comes together quickly, and is a delicious way to use up some greens!  Feel free to substitute any type of greens you like into the soup.

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Meatless Monday - Mediterranean Sundried Tomato and Garlic Veggies

Last week when I received a seasoning mix from Lawry’s in the mail, it couldn’t have come at a better time.  It had been one of those weeks when no matter what I could not get inspired to cook anything.  

Instead of using chicken as they suggested, I used three small squash, a head of broccoli, and a package of baby bella mushrooms.  I loved the fact that I didn’t have to cook the pasta ahead of time (just used 1 ¼ cup pasta and the same amount of water).  I also had some black olives and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes in there.  

It turned out delicious!  I sprinkled some feta on mine, but if you wanted to go vegan I imagine it would still be delicious.  I also think instead of using the spice packet you could use some spices, powdered garlic and onion, and some sundried tomatoes.

What is on your menu this week?

What's Cooking Wednesday - Sweet Potato Kale Quesadillas

This recipe was inspired by one of my friends from college, who was talking about a burrito she had a Juan's Flying Burrito in NOLA. Since sweet potatoes and kale are in season right now, I thought it was a great time to post it! 

All measures are approximate; it was one of those throw - together meals but so delicious!

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Spinach Artichoke Dip – So Easy a Three Year Old Can Make It!

My daughter loves cooking, so I’m always excited when we’re making something that she can really get involved with.  My In-Laws have appetizers the evening before Thanksgiving, so I thought spinach artichoke dip would be a great thing to bring that Little Miss could help make. 

Little Miss helping in the kitchen

I was a little nervous about bringing the dip – my husband’s parents can be picky eaters, but they both loved it!  This is a great dip to take to your holiday gatherings.  If you happen to end up with leftovers, the dip also makes a great quesadilla filling!

We used the recipe from the Kraft site – I’ve reprinted it here:

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CSA Cooking - A Thanksgiving Side Dish

Recently, I got to attend the Thanksgiving veggie potluck with Little Miss and her cousin.  With our busy schedule, I rarely get to attend anymore, and it's something I really miss.  This month was our early Thanksgiving meal.  Everything was so delicious!  Since I had a hard squash and some pears that needed using, I made this dish.  I loved the sweet and savory combo!

Cranberry Squash Bake

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CSA Cooking - Red Curry with Turnips

Not being able to pick and choose the vegetables you get each week can lead to interesting combinations.  This is one of the things I have loved about the CSA - trying things in ways that I never would have before!  
I had been craving red curry for a while, but wasn’t sure which vegetables I wanted to put in it.  When I got a single turnip in my CSA box and ended up with a bunch of broccoli from a gathering at my house, I decided that that would make the vegetable base for my curry.  I had no idea how it would turn out, but I really liked it!  

Thai Red Curry with Vegetables

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CSA Cooking - Hot Creamed Pea Dip

Since peas are not one of my favorite foods, using the cream peas I got in my CSA box have been challenging.  However, I joined a CSA with the intention of trying things I normally wouldn’t eat, so I was determined to find a way to fix them that I liked!  I was inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit for Black Eyed Pea Hot Dip.  Here is my version below - I think it turned out great!  I have since served this dip at several parties and have gotten rave reviews each time.  

Hot Creamed Pea Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups cream peas (or other peas)
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened (I used veggie cream cheese)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chipolte chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar

1. Pulse the peas and garlic in a food processor until smooth.
2. Add the spices and cream cheese, process to blend.
3. Stir in the salsa (I also added some finely chopped banana peppers at this point).
4. Pour mixture into a 8” square casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is bubbly, 20-25 minutes.

This makes a very tasty dip.  Adjust the chili/cayenne to suit your tastes.  I also used the dip as a quesadilla filling, along with some fresh spinach - it worked great!

CSA Cooking - Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas With Mustard Greens

This week brought another vegetable that, although common in the South, I’ve never been a big fan of – Mustard Greens.  Like most vegetables I grew up not caring for, I figured it was probably because of the Southern method of cooking many items.  Southerners tend to like to cook things for long periods of time, which is not a cooking method that I am fond of.

Fortunately for me, Susan over at Fatfree Vegan had a delicious sounding recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens.

Other than using a sweet onion instead of a red onion and brown sugar instead of agave nectar, I stayed true to her recipe.  It turned out delicious!  This is definitely one of those that depends on the quality of balsamic you use.  It’s also really easy to prepare – the only hard part is making sure those greens are clean.  It’s amazing how much dirt comes out of them. 

If you’re looking for a great way to prepare greens, I highly recommend you give this a try.