Black Bean Leftovers

Those of you keeping track will remember that a weekend or two ago I made black bean vegan burgers. Well, the recipe made four filling burgers and I only had two people to feed. Needless to say, there were leftovers. I contemplated what it was I might do with these leftovers. They needed to get eaten, and besides nothing else was really thawed or ready to go.

So, I decided to make one of my favorite breakfast-for-dinner dishes, vegetarian style. Instead of Corned Beef Hash, I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash.

1 non-stick skillet
2 sweet potatoes
1/2 red onion
2 black bean burgers (see other recipe)

Peel and slice sweet potatoes in half. Place in dish with 1/4 inch of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes. This will make them good and ready to brown up in the hash.

In the skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onions on medium heat until the potatoes are done. When the potatoes finish cooking, chop them (carefully, they're hot!) into cubes and have them join the onions. Begin to brown them up.

When potatoes are about halfway browned, chunk up the burgers and add them to it, letting them brown up as well.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You know they're done when they're brown/crispy enough for you. The beauty of hash is that everything is pre-cooked so it can be as "done" as you want it to be.

good eating!

Vegan Black Bean Burgers (that are also gluten-free)

I was browsing allrecipes.com earlier today and happened to stumble upon a recipe for black bean veggie burgers. I've had a craving for black beans all week, so this seemed to fit the bill quite nicely. The recipe that inspired my version can be found here. I, of course, chose to make a few adjustments to it.

Vegan Black Bean Burgers

Makes 4

1 16 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed (I purchase the low sodium kind)
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 Tbsp ground flax meal & 3 Tbsp water (Or 1 large egg)
chili powder, cumin, tumeric, ginger, salt, pepper to taste
Juice of half a lime.


Mash beans up in a large bowl. I used a pastry blender. A mashed potato masher or a fork will work nicely as well. In a small bowl combine the flax meal with the water and let sit until mixture becomes thick. (This will take about a minute or so). In the bowl add the quinoa flakes (my gluten-free and tasty alternative to breadcrumbs), onion and garlic.

In the flax bowl add the lime juice and seasonings, stirring. Add this mixture to the main bowl and knead to combine. When mixture is evenly combined, form into four patties and cook on medium-high heat. A total of eight minutes on both sides of the burger.

After these beauties were done I topped them with chopped avocado and creme fresh (substitute vegan sour cream if you so desire) and served them with rice that had a salsa-like tomato dressing (we were out of actual salsa). It was both delicious and filling - Definitely something I'll be having again.

Recipe Alterations:
I am not really a fan of mixing textures so I didn't feel inclined to keep the peppers or the thai chili sauce. I wanted something more Mexican-esque. Next time I think I'll add cilantro and possible a cheese of some sort baked right in the middle.

I replaced the 1 egg with ground flax meal to use as a binding substance. I didn't really have to replace the egg but I wanted to for a couple of reasons. For one, flax meal is loaded with healthy fats like omega-3 and omega-6 instead of cholesterol. Two, with no raw components I didn't have to worry if the middle of the bean burger was only slightly warm. The beans were cooked and sound. Also, without the egg the extra two patties will stay longer in the fridge.

Vegitarian Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is quite possibly the first thing that certified my love for all things English. Either that or tea. I don't remember which came first. I do remember being about 8 or 9 years old and spending a summer's day at Epcot with my family. It was always my favorite theme park because it had all the different countries of the world that I so desperately wanted (and still want) to travel to. We stopped at the "English Pub" for lunch and I had tea and shepherd's pie. And it was delicious. all of it.

However, I wanted to try something new that would allow a little more legumes into my diet. I took my inspiration from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch and their recipe for Lentil Shepherd's Pie and then improvised along the way. I find a lot of the time when I'm working with recipes for cooking (less so with the baking) that I tend to improvise as I go, seeking improvements. I'll think of different ways I could have prepared it or could have served it to make the whole process better and then write them down and try them out later. I have a pen-and-paper recipe journal for that so I don't forget what I did the first time and what I wanted to do differently after that.

This attempt, though a first try, was a successful one. Everything was gooey and delicious and just as heavy and satisfying as any shepherd's pie that I've had before. And for those who care, no meat. It did use cheese however, so it wasn't really designed to be vegan though it would be easy to substitute soy cheese or leave it out all together.

The batch I made was quite large and could have easily served 8 people a hearty meal. However, I have pared down the quantity here to make it a bit more reasonable for the average home chef. If you're anything like me, you're usually not cooking for more than 2-4 people total and not everyone has room in the fridge or freezer for left overs. (Though my left overs are going straight into smaller portions in the freezer for easy microwave dinners!)

I'm not going to post the actual recipe yet, as it still needs some perfecting. Plus, I recently discovered a friend of mine can't eat lentils so I'd like to be able to post a with lentils and a without lentils version.

More to come soon!

Interesting Dinners

More often than not, I find myself in a dinner-rut. I can only take so much white rice. I can only take so many nights of chicken or rice or steamed vegetables. Occasionally I'll make a bowl of gluten-free pasta, but it usually leaves me wanting. I've found a better brand than what I used to eat, but still there really is only so much pasta one can eat before it all tastes the same.

One day while shopping at whole foods I noticed that their ground lamb is actually very reasonably priced, and decided that I should make something with lamb. It's not my favorite meat but I really do enjoy a bit from time to time.

And so my Lamb Stuffed Peppers recipe was born.


Lamb Stuffed Peppers:

Serves 4

2 cups white rice
1 cup ground lamb
1 cup spinach
1 cup feta cheese
1 cup fontanelle or mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
Put rice in pot and/or rice cooker and steam until done.

Clean two bell peppers (I prefer the yellow or orange peppers but you can use any color) and cut in half length wise (from top to bottom) and remove all seeds.

Place the four pepper halves evenly spaced on the cookie sheet.

While the rice is cooking, heat up a fry pan and add high-heat olive oil (or other cooking oil of your choice) and sauté the garlic on medium heat. Add ground lamb and seasonings, stirring until cooked all the way through. Right before the lamb finishes cooking, add washed spinach to the pan and cook until just wilted. When both the lamb and spinach are finished, removed from heat and put in a medium sized bowl.

Crumble the 1 cup of feta into the bowl over the lamb and spinach. Mix until evenly distributed and add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill each pepper 1/3 to 1/2 of the way with the ground lamb mixture. fill the remaining half of the pepper with the white rice.

Top each pepper with shredded fontenelle cheese and cover with tinfoil tent (as to not stick to the cheese)

Place in oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until pepper is cooked. Do not over cook as the cheese will first brown and then burn.

Serve and enjoy!

Salads for Summertime

I'm the first to admit that I'm not much of a salad person. I know they're good for you. I even like how they taste most of the time. But salad, by and large, is something I have to be in the mood for. However, my desire for something cool, green and refreshing rises proportionately with the thermostat. With the recent 80 degree weather here in Chicago, you can imagine that it's become somewhat of a craving.

The only problem I have with salads, however, is that they often don't fill me up. I find that about 30 minutes later (much like Chinese food) I'm hungry again. The only thing that seemed to somewhat sate me were Chipotle's massive salads with beans and meat on the top. Not being a vegan or vegetarian myself, I will often indulge in a nice salad with black beans and carnitas.

However, tonight's dinner was not only composed of two (yes two!) separate salads, both of them were vegan and gluten-free. I have to say that not only am I satisfied three hours later, I'm not hungry for a snack (I had a small snack - but that's a side effect of baking. You always want to try what comes out of the oven).


So I bring you two (slightly altered) salads from my new cookbook, Skinny Bitch In The Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

Tabouleh

Approx 6 servings

2 Cups Cooked Quinoa Grain (follow directions on package)
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tomato, cut into tiny diced bits
1/2 Cucumber, cut into tiny diced bits
1/2 Red Onion, cut into tiny diced bits
1/3 cup chopped Mint
1/3 cup chopped Parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon

While the quinoa is cooking, chop the tomato, cucumber and onion. Combine in bowl. Chop parsley and mint. Combine with vegitables. In a small bowl whisk olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

When quinoa is cooked combine with vegetables, add dressing and mix. Then let sit in fridge until chilled. Alternately, cook the quinoa in advance and put into refrigerator. Add chilled quinoa to vegetables, mix with dressing and serve.

4 Bean Salad

Approx 8 Servings

Dressing:
2 table spoons stone ground mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Salad:
1 can unsalted black beans
1 can unsalted garbanzo beans
1 can unsalted kidney beans
1 cup (thawed if frozen) shelled edamame
2 shallots chopped
1/2 cucumber chopped

Rinse beans in water until clear, combine in large bowl. Add chopped cucumber and shallots. In a small bowl combine ingredients for dressing. Pour on top of bean mixture and toss lightly. Season with more salt, pepper and basil to taste.