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.

Quinoa and kale stuffed sweet potato

I am always trying to find vegetarian fare that is pretty quick and easy, plus makes a bit so I can have lunches through at least part of the week.  I keep my ideas on my Pinterest board so I can easily find them!  As I was scrolling through that board this weekend I rediscovered this one.

Good choice, Mad Art Teacher, Good choice!

I WISH I had a pic of all the ingredients....  I was multitasking that day and neglected to photo everything. But you will get the idea if you read carefully!  :)

This topping for the sweet potatoes is so simple and so delicious that it is surprising.  It goes perfectly with the rich, red-orange sp, but would make a good combination with any sort of grain or even as a side  dish with any meal.  Just a thought!

First things first- throw those lovely sweet potatoes into the oven.  I wrap mine in foil and I use these Red Garnet Sweet Potatoes

The base of the topping is quinoa, a wonderful, high-protein grain.  I have a couple different sorts, but am partial to the look of the dark brown "red" quinoa.  Pretty!  Quinoa needs to be rinsed first (some kinds come sold as prerinsed, look at your box or bag first.  If in doubt, rinse it!)  It isn't a big deal to run water over it 3 or 4 times and let it drain

After rinsing, combine the quinoa with vegetable broth and cook on the stove.  In the meantime..... Saute your onions in a little oil (and butter according to the recipe).

HERE is where you need to pay attention!!!  After the onions are softened it says to add the rest of the ingredients, which includes slivered, toasted almonds.  So I didn't have toasted ones, I had raw almonds, and so I decided to just cut up my almonds and toss them in WITH the onion at the end.  Worked out perfectly!!

After the onion and almonds are sauteed, add the kale and dried cranberries.  Trust me, this is good stuff.

When the quinoa is ready, toss that in as well.  Stir it up, and have it warm for when the Sweet Potatoes are done.

This was divine and REALLY pretty.  I found that it reheats really well at work for lunch too!  WINNER here.  YUM

Something about the crunch of the almonds and the sweet of the cranberries melds with the rich sweet potato and slight texture of the quinoa......

Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 8

What you'll need:

4 sweet potatoes

1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tbsp. butter 

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cups kale, broken into 1 inch pieces (I used more than 2 cups)

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (I used chopped, raw almonds)

1/4 cup (plus) dried cranberries

salt and pepper

What you'll do:

Bake the sweet potatoes in a 350 degree oven for 1 hours or until fork tender.  While

they are cooking, make your filling.  Cook the quinoa (use prerinsed or be sure to rinse the quinoa a few times) in the vegetable broth.  And while

that is cooking, saute the onion in the butter and olive oil with a pinch of salt until soft. (Here is where I put in the almonds, about 1 - 2 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients)

Add in the kale, almonds, and cranberries and saute until the kale is soft, about 3

minutes.  Add the finished quinoa to the frying pan and mix together.

Top a halved sweet potato.  

Approximate calorie count:

250 calories for the full cup of topping, and about 150 calories for the sweet potato.

This was a fantastic find!!  YAY

And it definitely gives me a little lunch-time joy!