Keep the burgers coming!

I thought another post about burgers would be fitting for Memorial Day.  We've still been loving "The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet" and it seems like every recipe we try is better than the last.

Pintos and Rice Burger

This burger is so easy!  Joni even says something like, just mash all the ingredients together.  It takes no time (unless you forget to make some rice ahead of time, in which it will take you almost an hour.  Ugh.) and is so delicious.  We cooked these on our George Foreman grill, which we probably haven't used in two or three years.  They had a nice crispy, crunchy crust and were dense, but chewy on the inside-- just perfect.  We topped them with a healthy scoop of guacamole, some green onions and a few cilantro leaves.  I think these would hold up well on the grill and can't wait to make these again and share their deliciousness.

Potato Samosa Burger

I've never made a real samosa before, but we bought a big bag of potatoes from Trader Joe's, so I thought I would give this a try.  They turned out super tasty, almost like a fancy mashed potato-ish burger.  There were lots of seasonings, but next time I might even double them.  We ate this with a smear of vegan mayo.

Super Quinoa Burger
Chad did most of the work for this burger.  The ingredients are pretty simple, quinoa (2 cups!), beans, peas, cashews, tahini and a couple spices.  They are super flavorful and have very little oil, so they're a healthy choice, too.  We made these on the Foreman grill and they turned out great.  Joni also suggests that this can be used as a side if you don't form the "batter" into burgers, which is definitely something I'm going to keep in mind this summer!

Bacon Cheeseburger
We saved these to grill outside today-- with the temps over 90 and humidity through the roof, I didn't want to turn on the stove or oven and it was a good excuse to leave the air conditioning for a bit.  Plus, I worked up a sweat just kneading this dough for five minutes!  I made a few adjustments to the recipe, subbing a mix of barley and cracked wheat for the TVP and cutting the oil in half.  They have a ton of flavor going on, from the bacon (we used coconut bacon bits from AVK), peanut butter, liquid smoke, nooch and more.  After I formed the patties (which were about 1/2 c each), I stuck them in the freezer for just about 15 minutes to firm while we preheated the grill.  They held up well and since I oiled them, even got great grill marks!  They turned out perfect-- a little crunch from the grill, super flavorful and a little chewy in the center.  Next time, I might even make a double batch, just to have some extras on hand in the freezer.

Cook Book Challenge Week #8

American Vegan Kitchen: Delicious Comfort Food from Blue Plate Specials to Homestyle Favorites

Weekend Eats:

Cinnamon Flapjacks

Very Vanilla Raisin Bread with Raisin Bread Glaze

Café Broccoli Salad

Coconut “Bacon” Bits

Old-Fashioned Tempeh Burgers with Burger Sauce

Chocolate Chip Quick Cake

I’ve been so excited for this week, because we’ve had this cookbook since December and haven’t made a single thing!  Everything sounds great, so we dove into it this weekend…

The first thing we tried was the Cinnamon Flapjacks (have I mentioned that I love pancakes?!).   This is probably my favorite pancake recipe yet.  I didn’t have yogurt, so I used coconut kefir and a little less milk.  They were really fluffy, but filling.  I would eat these every morning if I had the time and energy at 6:00 am!
 

sliced and ready to be devoured

The second breakfast recipe we made was the Very Vanilla Raisin Bread.  This recipe took a lot of patience, so I was really hoping that it would be worth the effort… and it was!  I followed the recipe word-for-word (okay, except using half whole wheat flour), because I really wanted it to turn out.  I was surprised by a few things… two tablespoons of vanilla?  I guess that’s why it’s “very” vanilla and the amount of rising time.  I don’t know if it was due to the whole wheat flour, but my dough didn’t seem to rise much.  It passed the “finger test” though, so I suppose that was the important part.  In the end, the loaf barely made it through the day.  We each had two thick slices with a cup of tea and a few grapes for breakfast and it slowly disappeared as the day progressed.  Chad said he would like to “triple” the icing next time; I don’t know about that, but it was pretty good.  I might add some vanilla bean paste to the dough for even extra vanilla flavor.

We made two side dishes.  The first, Café Broccoli Salad, we ate with leftovers from Friday.  This again was delicious from the first bite.  We may have both even exclaimed, “Wow!”  I really liked that the broccoli was just a little steamed and still super crunchy.  There was just enough sauce, which wasn’t too overwhelmingly mayo-y.   The fruit and nuts (I actually used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts) made it taste very light and summery.  I’ll definitely use this recipe again.  It was a quick side for leftovers and I can see it being great for summer cook outs.

The next “side” (I’m not sure what this should be called) was Coconut “Bacon” Bits.  I have to start by saying, if you own this book and haven’t made this recipe, stop reading and go make it!  They really were THAT good… salty and smoky, with a little sweetness.  It was so simple… coconut flakes with some liquids and seasoning tossed in the oven for 20 minutes and you’re rewarded with amazingly delicious tasty little bits.  I think Chad ate half of the bacon before we had dinner.  

fully loaded!

Which, speaking of dinner, was Old Fashioned Tempeh Burgers.  We started marinating these after breakfast and made them for an early lunch.  The marinade smelled great and I love tempeh, so I was excited for these.  I only used 8 ounces of tempeh, and I sliced them into slider sized burgers.  Also, when we fried them, I topped each side with extra marinade.  They turned out nicely browned, with a little crunch.  We also made the Burger Sauce, which I liked more than I thought I would.  We topped the buns with a little sauce, romaine, a burger, avocado, sliced tomatoes and a sprinkling of coconut bacon.  Again, these were AMAZING!  They were so simple and quick (if you prepare and allow them to marinate ahead of time) and the bacon added extra flavor and crunch.  So good.

so tasty, but not so pretty

The last recipe of the weekend was Chocolate Chip Quick Cake.   I really can’t say enough good things about the recipes we tried this weekend, and this was no exception.  It was so easy and turned out great.  I can see swapping out the chocolate chips and using this as a base for all kinds of “quick cake” creations.  I think we turned the cake into three servings instead of probably the six or eight it called for… oops!  The description calls this cake something in between shortcake and cake, but I would probably compare it more to a scone.  It would be great with a cup of coffee or a big glass of almond milk.

We still have a few things planned for the week and I can’t wait to try them!  I would even be happy with eating leftovers of this all week… if we had any leftovers!

Cook Book Challenge Week #3

The Urban Vegan: 250 Simple, Sumptuous Recipes from the Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine
Tuesday's Menu: Curry Cashew Casserole
Tonight's Menu: Chickpea Chili Burgers

This week's cookbook, as listed above, is "The Urban Vegan."  To be honest, I've never looked through it before last weekend, so I'm looking forward to some more new ideas.  It's also the first time I've checked out a cookbook from the library.  All sorts of excitement!  Without further ado, the food...

Chad was in charge of last night's dinner-- Curry Cashew Casserole.  He didn't say much or complain about it, so I'm assuming it was pretty easy to throw together.  I did help a little by making the cashew butter with raw cashews in the food processor.  I don't know if the raw cashews made a difference, but I had to add a little oil to bring it together.  The only other change he made to the recipe was using curry powder in place of curry paste.  The recipe had lots of veggies-- broccoli, tomatoes, red pepper-- but lacked some kick from the spices.  I think next time I would add extra curry and maybe even crushed red pepper or cayenne to make it more interesting.  We served it over brown rice, and it ended up being a satisfying meal.  With a few changes, I would make this again as a quick weekday meal.  (I only snapped one picture before my camera battery died, so it's not the best quality.)

so good..

Tonight's menu included Chickpea Chili Burgers.  Chad did most of the work again tonight (yay!) and I just had to finish blending, forming and frying the burgers.  I wasn't really sure that I would be very impressed with them and wasn't sure about the bread and oats in the mixture, but they ended up being more than I expected.  They have a different texture than most other burgers that we've tried-- crispy on the outside and chewy, but smooth on the inside.  Definitely a good "different."  We topped them with guac, tomatoes and chipotle mayo (my easy recipe below).  They were so good, we both ate two, loaded with toppings!

Chipotle Mayo
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, seeded
1/2 c Nayonaise or Veganaise

squeeze of lime juice

Add pepper and Veganaise to food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Squeeze lime juice into food processor.  Pulse a few more times.  Chill until ready to serve.  (Pretty easy, huh?)

I'm typing this in our kitchen, while Chad is cleaning up and washing dishes... perhaps I should go help?

Cook Book Challenge Week #1

Appetite for Reduction
Last Night's Menu: Chipotle Lentil Burgers
Tonight's Menu: Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili and Fresh Corn & Scallion Corn Bread

Chipotle Lentil Burger pre Pita

Yesterday was the perfect day for chili-- cold, snowy and windy (Chad even had a snow day!), but instead of having soup two days in a row, we opted for the lentil burgers.  Also, since Chad's basketball game was canceled and I had nothing after school, we had plenty of time to make dinner together-- yay!  Skipping the chili was no mistake... these burgers were AMAZING!  I love everything southwestern, so these were perfect for me.  We followed the recipe almost exactly, except we skipped the zucchini.  Buying zucchini in the winter is a sad thing-- it's always small and waxy.  I was worried about the texture, but they stayed together well and (since I haven't made them before) I didn't even miss the zucchini.  We served them with avocado, cherry tomatoes, cilantro and lettuce inside of a pita.  P.S. Today I made sure Chad read and reread the recipe to only include ONLY 1/4 c chipotle peppers!

swirl of Tuffuti and sprinkle of Daiya

Tonight's dinner was Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili with a side of Fresh Corn & Scallion Corn Bread.  I followed the recipes pretty closely, but made a few adjustments to the chili.  Mainly, I didn't have zucchini (again) so I skipped it and added chopped broccoli and some leftover mashed sweet potato (from Monday).  Chad loves chili and I'm always up for another recipe, so we were looking forward to tonight's dinner.  The chili turned out great, the seasoning was just right and it was just chunky enough.  The cornbread, on the other hand, didn't turn out quite as expected.  I don't know if my corn was not completely thawed or I mixed it too much, but it had more of a spoon bread texture.  I couldn't cut it into the cute triangles that Isa suggested, rather we had to plop it onto our plates.  It still tasted okay and went well with chili, but I'll have to do some more experimenting with this one.  

After making 5 new recipes from "Appetite for Reduction," my favorite thing (other than the fonts in the book!) is the amount of veggies in each recipe.  The soups and the burgers were loaded with a variety fresh veggies and a few canned for ease.  Also, the two biscuit recipes I made called for whole wheat flour.  Everything was fairly quick and easy to make, and super tasty.  I can see all of these recipes finding their way into our usual rotation!

On to the next...