Rainy day cooking- vegetarian style (veggie burger and quick chickpea salad)

It's been raining off and on today, and so I have been doing a little of this and that inside.  A  little cleaning, a little clothes washing and I decided to look for something different to make for lunch.  My friend and coworker, Jen, made a KICK ASS tabbouleh a couple days ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since.  I was sort of looking for a grain based salad, but found a chickpea version instead.  AND I think it was a winner!  Plus I wanted to make my own veggie burger, I like the frozen ones,  but want to find one that can be a fast go to recipe.  The one I did here was good, but a little dry when grilled, I have to figure out a fix for it.  The flavor was good though.

Well isn't this a busy little picture!?!  

So first up Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger- adapted from a recipe found on the Hummusapien blog.   I looked at several other black bean burger recipes and they want  you to precook things, or prechill, and all this other nonsense.  I want something that you can throw together and cook.  Period. As per usual, I never seem to have exactly what a recipe calls for.  So there are several substitutions from the original recipe.

First up, I subbed in some pulverized oats for the flaked whole grain cereal (I don't eat cereal and the MA eats Honey Nut Cheerios- not the best idea for a veggie burger, I'd guess), and since I didn't want to drag out the food processor, I wiped out the coffee grinder and used that!

Next, I had no jalapeno so I put in some cayenne pepper for some heat, and I used 2 eggs instead of an egg and an egg white.  I mean seriously, what the heck am I going to do with that left over yolk.

Pulverized rolled organic oats

Cook and mash this dude

Chili powder, cayenne, cumin plus not pictured: smoked paprika

Mix all that stuff together

I decided to stick on a  greased grill pan and grill.  

 The recipe also calls for baking- and I opted for the slow grill route.  I really don't want to heat the kitchen up baking a veggie burger or 3.

The taste of this was good, but I would add way more of all the spices- I would prefer it a bit spicier!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

1 large sweet potato, cooked and mashed: about 1 cup
1 cup of rolled oats- roughly pulverized
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can black beans- rinsed and drained
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
dash or two of cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Mix the whole thing up and shape into patties.  Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes or grill in a pan on low for 15 min or so.

I put avocado, onion and dijon on mine!  I'd put a squeeze of lime and hot sauce on the next time

This made 5 good sized burgers



The chickpea salad was something I had pinned on Pinterest at some point and is from Two Peas and Their Pod.

I was searching for something grain based, but this chickpea recipe sounded good and I had the avocado and the feta!!!  SCORE

I added my own spin to it when, I did not have any cilantro, by adding some fresh basil and then threw in some cherry tomatoes for color.  It is really so good.  I love lime, so that as the only major flavoring to pull it together was fine with me.

Tomato, onion and basil

Mix in the feta, drained chickpeas and diced avocado plus squeeze lime over the whole thing

The flavors in this salad are so good together.  I can see this stuffed inside a pita as well, or scooped on top of a lettuce salad.  Or mashed up a little and put in a sandwich- as was discussed in the original recipe.  I'll take the basil over the cilantro anytime.

Chickpea, Avocado and Feta Salad

1can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I had my can of chickpeas in the frig so it was cold)

1 or 2 avocados, diced

1- 2 Tablespoons  onion, finely diced

2 or 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

8 - 10 cherry tomatoes

1/3 - 1/2 cup feta

Juice of one lime

salt and pepper to taste

Combine and enjoy.  

This will be something that I come back to again.  I loved it and had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl.  It was that good.  

Quite an enjoyable way to spend a rainy Sunday!  Hope you are finding your joy too.

And the arctic votex descends upon the Northwoods and the MadArt teacher cooks up a storm

OH my goodness, it is a tad chilly out there. I was fortunate enough to not have to venture out until late in the day, by virtue of the fact that I bribed the hubs with a hot breakfast, which resulted in him feeding the horse and me not having to go outside until the nighttime feeding!  I did tiptoe out a couple times, but those adventures did not last.

When I did go out, it was incredible how cold it was.  Even I, who ventures out with very little provocation, found an excuse to stay in.  The cold pierced right through my coat!  My hand that had held the feed bucket got so cold on the way to the mailbox I had to pull my fingers inside my glove.  Yikes. 

Oh well.  I didn't sleep very well last night, the house kept crackling and then I would wake up again, and I kept thinking that the furnace was going to quit or something.  Idk. I finally did get to sleep, but I slept in a bit today. My morning was unfocused- didn't know what to do with myself today. It took me a little while to get moving in a forward direction.  Shutterfly, the place where I get my calendars made, had a 101 free pix deal, so I took the time today to upload 101 pix mostly of family things.  I am thinking that I should get a few nice  big prints made of some of my pix, too.  Really Big ones.  The ones I had printed right after I got my camera are tragically over exposed.  Burn out.  I didn't know at the time what that was, but I do now and it bugs me.  So it's something I am thinking about.

We have another day off tomorrow, and I am looking forward to that as well. I will be getting to the gym though- no staying home all day.  

What I DID do today among other things is a lot of cooking!  It is relaxing and fun and now I have several things to have for lunch and/or dinner in the frig and freezer.  AND it also heats up the house very nicely to have the stove/oven/crockpot running all day.  

Here is round 1 of cooking:

Ruths's Refrigerator rolls

My aunt Ruth gave my mom the recipe for these things back in the day and they are fabulous and the cool thing- not that it directly affects me- is that they are milk free and so my sister Rose can make and enjoy these!  #ftw

2 cups of water

2 pkg yeast

Mix in large bowl  and add:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp salt 

3 cups flour (will be more flour to come)

I mix this with my Kitchenaid

Add :

1/3 cup shortening

1 egg

Mix well.  Add a little at a time-

3 - 3/12 cups flour 

 until dough forms a ball and it has mixed for a minute or two.  Or else dump it onto a floured counter and knead it for a 5 minutes to get the rest of the flour incorporated.

Cover  and refrigerate.  2 hours before needed, form rolls into balls and place on greased baking sheet.  Let rise and then bake 15 - 20 minutes in 375 degree oven.  Until they are nice and brown and sound hollow when thumped.  Remove from oven and brush tops with butter or margarine.

You can keep the extra dough for a few days, covered, in the refrigerator.

These are amazing and the extra dough will last a couple days in the frig so you can have fresh ones again!

Next up- Mushroom and Chickpea Ragout

This was so good I could hardly believe it.  It actually has some of the flavor components of a stroganoff with the worcestershire sauce and tomato paste.  It began life on Pinterest as Rosemary flavored, but I a. didn't have any and 2. don't care that much for rosemary.  So therefore my favorite herb- thyme- was pressed into service.

I got the original recipe here and it looked really great, but things were changed.....

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, fine dice
1/2 tsp dry thyme leaves
10 ounces/heaped half pound mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used all baby portabellas)
splash of red wine vinegar
1 tsp tomato paste
1-2 tsp vegetarian worcestershire sauce
1 can of chickpeas
1 cup vegetable stock
big splash of unsweetened non-dairy milk, I used coconut milk that I had left over in the frig
1 tsp cornstarch
salt + pepper
2 thick slices of good bread

Heat olive oil and saute onion in pan- on low heat, watch for scorching.  Sprinkle on thyme leaves until you can smell them, and then dump in the mushrooms.  Let them cook a few minutes until they begin to soften.  Add in your tablespoon or so of vinegar, tomato paste and worcestershire sauce.  stir around for a few minutes and add your chick peas.  Again let it mix together for a few minutes (stir to keep from burning), then add in vegetable stock.  Cook down until about 1/3 of the liquid is gone.  Add the coconut milk or what ever you want to use.

When it is starting to look thicker, mix a couple tablespoons of water with the cornstarch.  Stir into the chickpeas and let cook until thickened. Taste it and add salt and pepper. Mean while, toast the bestest bread you have and put it on a plate.  This is not the prettiest but the flavors are sublime and rich.  I think a touch of sour cream would be good, too.  But not necessary!  AND there are left overs.

So this is vegetarian/vegan and yummy!!  I used Ezekial bread for toast.

 And so I was thinking that a nice dessert was in order, so I made a variation on homemade Lara bars- sort of a several recipe mashup!

Chocolate Protein Balls

1package of dates
about 1/2 cup of raw almonds
1/2 cup hulled hemp seed (if no hemp seed, add more almonds)
3 heaping Tablespoons raw cacao (can use cocoa too)
water if necessary
mini chocolate chips

In food processor- process dates until a paste. Add water if you need to. Remove to a different bowl.  Add almonds to bowl and pulverize to a good powder and then add in hemp and cacao and process until well blended.  Add to dates and mix, sprinkle in water if you need to make it stick better.  Mix in mini chips.  Roll into balls and then I rolled it into more cacao powder.  YUMMY!!

The hemp seeds add an extra boost of protein, and they are just tasty!

HA but I'm not done yet!!  On to the next post!!  

Isn't that a joy?  Two food posts in one night??

Roasted chickpeas-

 So I had talked about these chickpeas in an earlier post, and I actually had someone request this!  I am sorry it took me so long, my buddy Phil!

This is really easy and straight-forward AND you can adjust the seasonings as you wish!  Seasoned salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, I am sure the possibilities are endless.  Parmesan cheese?  Cinnamon and sugar??  Oh my goodness.  Go get that can of chickpeas out of the cupboard and get roasting!!

Let the chickpeas (canned or home cooked) dry for a half hour  on the pan

Roast for 45 min. stirring every 10 min or so- the KEY is to start with a cold oven

When finished, toss with seasoning of your choice

Roasted Chickpeas

As seen on the website: theleangreenbean.com 

 1. Rinse the chickpeas and put them on a baking sheet. Pat them dry with a paper towel and then let them sit and dry some more for about half an hour.

2. Toss with olive oil and season with desired spices- I tried cayenne pepper and Spike Seasoning the first time.
3. Put the pan in the oven BEFORE you turn the oven on.
4. Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and roast them for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 min or so.
5. Shut the oven off and leave them in there for about an hour and a half*
6. Transfer to container and enjoy!  They are so nice and crispy!!

*If you leave to go somewhere they can stay in there longer than that because the oven will just keep getting colder.

Be somewhat generous with the seasonings- I found that mine started out pretty mild.

A nice handful equals ABOUT 120 calories...  and a nice kick of protein.

Something to be joyful for!  

Chickpea Salad and Peanut butter mousse cups

HERE is that other food post I was talking about.

I have had a lot to do today, (now yesterday) much of it involves this post.  I have to say, it would take a lot less time to cook if I wasn't constantly stopping to take pictures, which involves a goodly amount of food styling.  I mean, the things that I have done to keep the quinoa neat, the peanut butter mousse wiped up and the chocolate graham cracker crumbs from spreading like a fungus over the whole kitchen!!!  Jeez!  But it is a labor of love.

Speaking of labor of love- wow that has a couple connotations- a. I have a granddaughter that is going to be born in a month or so, and there was that baby shower last weekend.  I do have a few photos to post!  And 2. I have (speaking of photos) a bunch of awesome, sock rawking, kick-ass photos to show you. If I don't do it tonight, that will be tomorrow mornings project, as I will be having my days altered as of next Monday morning- but that is a subject of yet another blog post later in the week.

SO enough babbling about non-food related items- on with the show here.

I made 2 lovely and delightful things today- one a chickpea salad that was super easy to make and one a dessert that was easy, but took some time!

 Chickpea and Kale Salad

The ingredients are very simple!  You can of course chop your own kale and cook your own chickpeas....  It is important for the  best flavor tho to use the freshest, yummiest ingredients for the dressing. 

Rins and drain the chickpeas to remove a little salt

Add the chopped kale- I eventually also added halved cherry tomatoes- it only took one taste for me to conclude it could use one more element- a little hit of sweetness.

Make the dressing with oil, lemon and fresh garlic 

Grate some good parmesan after the salad is dressed.

YUM!!!  Very light yet the chickpeas somehow make this filling!  I got 3 servings out of this recipe for about 250 calories.  Healthy fat, high protein chickpeas and kale is just plain good for you!!  Enjoy!

Chickpea Salad

This is a simple and fresh salad that is basically a few ingredients with a type of vinaigrette dressing. Lots of room to adjust and add-

original recipe found on The Greatist.com

3 servings

What You’ll Need:

1 can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained)


1 cup of chopped kale


2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of lemon juice


1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese, grated


Sea salt and black pepper

cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, ???

What to Do:

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

In a bowl, combine chickpeas, chopped kale.

In small bowl combine olive oil,  garlic, and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Toss with vegetables.

Add grated cheese and a dash of sea salt and black pepper. Stir all the ingredients together until well mixed. Eat immediately or chill!

This has lots of potential for additions- Olives, onions, croutons, what have you!!

Peanut Butter Mousse Cups

THIS decadent dessert is NOT low calorie, but ohmygosh is it yummy!!!

It is actually vegan, not that I am vegan, BUT as I was making it, I was thinking the Mad-seester would totally be able to eat this as it is milk free!  That is if she chooses her dark chocolate carefully for the topping, which of course she would!!  Cuz she's pretty awesome and stuff!  xoxox  Luv you baby seester!!!

I doubled this recipe, as I knew I had people who wanted to try it out!  Both vegetarian and nonvegetarian friends. I managed not to tear into this until AFTER my 7 mile walk yesterday.  It was worth the wait! 

FIRST of all, people, do not fear the coconut oil!  It has healthy fats in it and life should not be fat-free. For heavens sakes, we need to get over this obsession and eat healthy and in moderation.  Fat-free is not natural!  

The use of these adorable little mason jars just makes life good. The are so cute!!!  AND they can double as jelly jars to give to ones daughter-in-law who  makes fantastic jelly and maybe one will get some back with jelly if the weather this year cooperates and produces berries!  Isn't that right SarahJane??  :)

The crust is very straight-forward with a little coconut oil, cocoa, maple syrup and graham cracker crumbs

The food processor makes short work of this crust!!  

Chocolate graham cracker crust!

2 Tablespoons or so of crust go into each jar- I came up with the idea of using the little insert in the food processor to smoosh down the crust into the jars.  It worked perfectly!!

I forgot to take a before I destroyed the box and jar pic!  Lol- so the filling has silken tofu, natural peanut butter, brown sugar and almond milk in it- very smooth and silky!  AND yummy!

Just a few Tablespoons of chocolate chips and a teaspoon of coconut oil to make the topping- (the bowl is small, the look here is deceiving) 

After the mousse is in the bowls, you are supposed to place in freezer, but I, in my usual mad way, did not!  This is kind of like how I eye balled many of the amounts of the ingredients- I blithely ignore measuring spoons and things like that.  Don't judge me!  :) This is how I roll!  It is not like it is baking or something--

Place a teaspoon or so of chocolate on top and spread/smooth/roll until it looks cute on top!

NOW it is going to kill you to put this in the freezer for a while- but trust me it is worth it.  Go for a 2 hour walk and just let it be!!  (each cup is about 300 calories, but has over 9 grams of protein!)

And it is just adorable!!

The synthesis of the 3 layers in amazing!!!  The recipe makes 5 little cups....  You can make this in tiny ramekins or custard cups or even little plastic "Glad" containers....

Mini Peanut Butter Cups in a Jar

 Original recipe from Oh She Glows at http://www.ohsheglows.com

Ingredients (5 mini mason jars)

For the crust

heaping 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs (10 squares) 

1.5 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)

1 tbsp coconut oil 

2.5 tsp cocoa powder

For the filling

200 grams soft/silken organic tofu, roughly chopped (I used firm silken, as that is what I had)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup  brown sugar

1 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 dash of salt

For the chocolate shell

2.5 tbsp dark chocolate chips

1.5 tsp coconut oil 

Instructions

1. Grab 5 mini (125ml) mason jars. In a food processor, process the crust ingredients until crumbs are a bit damp. Add 2 tablespoons of the crust into each jar. Spread out evenly and flatten with fingers. or use the little thingy from the food processor!!

2.  Wipe out the processor bowl. Now add the filling ingredients and process until silky smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

3. Add approx. 3 tablespoons of filling into each jar and smooth. Place jars into freezer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes to firm up a bit. (HAHAHA- or don't)

4. Remove jars from freezer and melt the chocolate on the stove-top or microwave. Spoon 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate on top of the filling. Quickly, twist the jar around to coat all sides. Repeat for the rest. chill in the fridge or freezer to firm up the chocolate or just dig in as is!

Yeah, this really did make my day joyful!!

Until next time, be a joy giver, and a peanut butter cup in a mason jar giver! 

New, yummy food from the weekend

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of receiving a wonderful new cookbook in the mail!  I rarely buy cookbooks anymore - I find I don't really use them too much!  But I have been a follower of the wonderful Smitten Kitchen blog for a couple years now, and she put out this lovely thing just recently.  I love her style of cooking and writing and will save an email about her newest post from her blog for last in the morning.  So I can savor it and enjoy it!

I made two different things from it on Sunday, after a whole bunch of cooking on Saturday.  Saturday I made the red lentil sauce and greens and beans that I previously gave the recipes for, and also cooked some dried chickpeas- in anticipation of making of Crispy Cumin Chickpeas.  I also was totally intrigued by the idea of using spaghetti squash in a taco.  Weird sounding, I know, but it was divine!!  

Fantastic book- many vegetarian options in here, plus wonderful baking recipes.

Spaghetti squash and Black Bean tacos

Start off by cooking a spaghetti squash, either in the oven or like I did for 10 minutes in the micro.  Make sure you pierce the squash with a knife in several places.

After it is soft, let it cool for a little while- 15 minutes or so, cut in half and scoop out the seeds.  Then shred the squash into strands.

Mix together the juice of one lime, and chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.  Add to the squash.

Rinse and drain a can of black beans

Assemble the taco- a spoon or two of squash, 2 tablespoons of beans, a sprinkle of feta and chopped onion.  I sprinkled mine with cayenne pepper, you could also use taco sauce.

The lime and spice infused spaghetti squash is so good!! It is a real surprise. Next time, I would add the cayenne to the squash, I wanted a little more spice.

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos

3 lbs. Spaghetti squash

2 Tablespoons lime juice (juice of one lime)

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp coarse ground salt

pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper

Corn tortillas or wraps

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

feta cheese or queso fresco

diced onion

Cook the Spaghetti squash in the oven or in the microwave.

Let cool briefly, split, seed and remove flesh from skin.  Discard skin

Mix lime juice with spices, mix into spaghetti squash, set aside

Heat the tortillas or wraps.  Add 2 Tablespoons of squash to wrap, 2 Tablespoons of black beans, sprinkle with cheese and onion.

Of course add other stuff as you want- tomato, lettuce, taco sauce, etc.  SO GOOD!

SO

As I was reading through the cookbook and came across a recipe that had these crispy chickpeas as a garnish and knew I wanted to try them out.  It was included in an eggplant recipe, and I'm sorry, but our grocery store has nasty huge eggplants.  I just can't.  I will look for good little ones when i get out of town.  In the mean while, I will snack on these little gems.  Next time I will add chili powder.

Calorie count- LESS THAN 100 calories for one taco, if you use a low carb wrap!!  WINNER!!!  DINGDINGDINGDING!!!!

CRISPY CHICKPEAS

I prepared dried chickpeas previous to this.

2 cups of chickpeas
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450
Combine chickpeas that have been patted dry with the oil and spices.  Pour onto a baking sheet, and bake for 30 - 40 min. Roll them around occasionally and check for crispiness.

These are really good too, and I will probably put them on top of something, if they last through my snacking!  HA!

I haven't figured out the calories for this yet- I'd guess about 1/4 cup is around 100 calories

Until next time- be a joy giver!