Tuesday's Veggie Burger Adventure!!!

I felt that today was the perfect day to try out a couple more recipes that I found online! Their pictures are delectable and I'm sooo hoping they're as delish as they look :)  They offer 8 different bean burger recipes and I'm chomping at the bit to get started.  Here goes!!...

Nice, simple ingredients!

Okay, so I ended up making the Black Bean Oat Burgers and a variation of the Curry-Spiced Veggie Burgers.  You can find them here:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/veggie-burger-recipes#

The Black Bean Poo

The Black Bean recipe was good, but needs to be jazzed up... a little bland for my taste.  The mixture turned out a bit on the wet side and I couldn't really form a patty, so I added another 1/4 cup of oats, pulsed, and tried again.  I couldn't stop giggling because it looked like I had made a lovely batch of poo, lol.  No, seriously.  It looked like poo.

Black Bean Oat Burger!

I cooked up one burger and had it for lunch on a big ol' deli style bun, so it would look nice in the photo for you all.  Oh the things I do for you :)  I will definitely make this again!  Simple ingredients, simple cooking method, healthy lunch.  Perfect!  Next time I think I'll add some minced jalapeño, for a little WOW factor :)

Curry-Spiced Burgers!  YUM!

The Curry-Spiced burger was a different beast all together, lol. I'm unsure if I messed up along the way or if the recipe is just not user friendly.  The poo came out too wet again, but there wasn't really a binding agent ingredient in this recipe, so I didn't have anything I could add more of, and any decent 'burger-type thickness' was impossible with this batch.  It ended up cooking like a potato pancake instead of a burger, but HOLY CRAP (or poo) it was delicious!  

I didn't have all of the ingredients that it called for (whoops!), so I improvised.  YAY ME!!  Instead of curry, fennel, & coriander, I just used garam masala powder.  Also, I didn't have any cilantro, so I just left it out.  What a great flavor these little suckers have!!  I'm going to work on making a 'meatier' mix, but even if I don't figure it out, I may just use this recipe as a burrito filler... YUM RIGHT?!?!?!!  Side note: this was not near as simple as the Black Bean Oat Burger, but way more tasty.

Onion, shroom, carrot love!

So, my mistakes:
* I think, in both recipes, I mixed the ingredients in the food processor for too long (it made the poo concoction too wet), and in the black bean one having added the extra oats at the end caused me to pulse them into the mix, hence the over processing of the poo. Otherwise, all was good.

 
My tips for both recipes:

* Let the mixture sit and 'gel' for a few minutes before handling it.
* Don't actually make a patty, but roll it into a ball first, drop it in the pan (literally, so it flattens out a bit), and press & form it with your hand.  It will not have the same texture as ground beef, and will seem 'loose' to work with.  You've been warned.
* They only make 4 - 5 patties... the recipes say 6.  They would be miserably teeny of you tried to squeeze 6 out of these recipes!
* Have a hot pan when you start.  Don't go lower than medium heat or it won't get a nice crispy edge to it, and it'll stick to the pan.
* And lastly, don't mess around with them while they're cooking!!  They'll need every bit of the 4 minutes on each side to firm up, so you can flip them.  If you mess with them, they crack & split apart and all hell breaks loose.

The next ones I'll be trying my hand at are the Southwest Black Bean Burgers and the Black Bean Burger (last recipe given).  Wish me luck!!!

Peas out, my peeps :)

Trying out a new recipe... One Pot Pasta

Tonight I decided to try a recipe I saw on a FB link.  It had no actual name, but it looked too good to be true.  I'm calling it 'One Pot Pasta' for the sake of this conversation.  Basically, you take a bunch of goodness, toss it in a pot and VOILA!, dinner is served.  I got my ingredients together and got started!

Here are the instructions word for word, from the post/link I found... 


Pasta, Tomatoes, Veggie Broth, Olive Oil, and Seasonings (details below)

Throw it all in the pot, INCLUDING the uncooked Pasta, and cook! - Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. The starch leaches out of the pasta and makes a rich, warm sauce for the noodles. The other ingredients cook right along with the pasta

Ingredients

12 ounces pasta (I used Linguine)
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:
Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.  Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .  Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.




Their website before and after photo is here, in the big, cool, side-handled pot.  Looks tasty!

Mine didn't come out as tasty, or tasty looking.  I changed a couple of things... I used gluten & wheat free spaghetti (not 'white' linguine), I used low-sodium veggie broth (as she specifically instructed against), and I didn't have fresh basil, using Italian Seasoning to balance out for both the oregano & basil.

 I don't think my minor changes should have made too big of a difference, but I can't confirm that until I make this again with 'real' pasta, which I hate.  And with 'full-sodium' broth, which I will not use.  Soooo, here are my before and after photos...


So, not terrible, but not great... and not great tasting either.  Using only broth as the cooking liquid as instructed made for a weird tasting sauce.  Kind of bland, but I'll take some responsibility for that since I opted for low-sodium.  It thickened up quite a bit from the starch from the cooked pasta, but really was lacking in any specific taste.  The kick from the red pepper was there, but just blah; not enhanced or married to anything else.  The amount of tomatoes (or lack of veggies) was not enough for the amount of pasta given or for my taste... nor was the garlic, but that's just me.

I ended up broiling a piece of salmon to split with the hubby,, and a piece of naughty, cheesy garlic toast to balance out the bland-ish meal.  The wine didn't hurt either...Seven Deadly Zins... one of our FAVS!!

Over all, I did not like this recipe, BUT I will use it again.  Why you ask??  Because it's a GREAT idea that just needs a little tweaking to my personal standards.  A little less broth, a little water... some spinach &  mushrooms... maybe some shrimp added towards the end... and a whole lot of seasonings to jazz things up!!

Next time I make this I'll be sure to post the pics, the comments, and exactly what I used to make it more delish :)  Until then, wish me lots of luck and imagination for the leftovers, lol.

Peas Out...

Ingredient Swap!!!

Note to self:  Swap the craisins for organic raisins!  I always forget how much added sugar they put in dried cranberries (although they ARE scrumdiddlyumptious!) and now I want too add more to yesterday's salad, lol.  I add raisins and/or craisins to just about everything, even regular foodie-food recipes like Stuffed Eggplant (Oooo, I have GOT to share that with you!), so I try to be cautious of sugary items I might be adding to my meals.  They taste wonderful and give dishes a little extra sumthin-sumthin that makes them POP!!

Wow, I talk too much... even when I type!  I just wanted to advise about swapping organic raisins for the little red sugar wrinkles.  Then then again, I don't ever think I can get my thought across properly without a babbling explanation... as noted in this second paragraph were I'm babbling about my babbling...  :)

Taboule Salad... sort of ;)

Today was a day to go through the cabinets and check the dates on 'non-perishable' foods and decide what tasty treats I could use them in before they expired!  I'm a big fan of the funky little "salads" they have by the deli counter (tabbouleh, couscous, soybean, etc), and am always mixing stuff together to make my own :)  Here's what I came up with today...

* A box of Near East Taboule; just use the wheat, minus the seasoning packet
* 1/2 can of black olives, cut up (rinsed well)
* 1 can of organic shelled soybeans (again, rinsed well... always on canned stuff!)
* 1/4 cup of Craisins (or about that... whatever was left in the bag)
* 1/2 cup of black beans (I had just soaked and rinsed a bag last night... YUM!)
* 1/2 of a cucumber, diced up, peel on (another leftover!)
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons each of grapeseed oil and balsamic vinegar, and black pepper & a little table salt (iodine is good for the system!)

1. Cook the wheat as explained on package, without the seasoning packet (normally I LOVE traditional tabbouleh flavor, but the packet looked a little old, so I doctored other flavors around not having those in the mix). 

2. Let the wheat cool to room temp.

3. Mix all other ingredients in.

4. Enjoy!!

Yup, that's it.  And to think, grocery stores charge upward of 5 bucks for a teeny container.  It tastes better after it's sat & loved on itself for a while.  This makes 8 heaping 1/2 cup servings, with the following nutritional values...

Per serving: 220 calories, 8g fat, 10g protein, 31g carbs, 15g iron, and 250g of sodium (highish sodium due to olives & canned soybeans). 

Healthy calories, healthy fats, healthy carbs, lots of protein & iron... Awesome mid-day mini meal!!!