Veggie burgers, take two

This was my second attempt at homemade veggie burgers, and while I liked the texture better than the black bean ones, I wasn’t crazy about the flavor. So I might experiment in the future with something other than the soy sauce recommended by the recipe. I doubled the recipe, and a food processor made it super easy.

I actually forgot to double the carrots, but I thought the proportions worked out just fine. I followed the recipe here otherwise pretty closely, adding the step of putting the vegetables in a fine mesh strainer to press out some excess water before adding them to the rest of the ingredients. 

Veggie burgers, take one

Since we’ve started eating less meat this past year I’ve occasionally been ordering veggie burgers at restaurants. It’s hard to believe they usually cost more than a meat burger, and I figured they couldn’t be that hard to re-create at home. I’ve tried out two different recipes, and here’s the first. It’s a black bean base, while the other is more vegetable heavy. I’ll post in a few days once I’ve actually had time to try it. I doubled this recipe, and after cooking, wrapped up the individual patties in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag for later.
I really liked these, but they were still really soft after they were cooked and tended to squish out of the bun. So I liked the flavor but think the texture could be better. Unfortunately I’m not really sure how to fix that!

We served them with baked sweet potato fries, which we make pretty much every time we have a sweet potato in the house (this one courtesy of our CSA, as was the lettuce and tomato). We just toss them with some olive oil, salt, pepper and Penzy’s Galena Street rub.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers, adapted from allrecipes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
3/4-1 cup oatmeal

In medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork. Process bell pepper, onion and garlic with food processor. Put in fine mesh strainer and squeeze out an excess liquid. Add to black beans.
In a small bowl, combine egg and spices. Stir the egg mixture into the beans and vegetable mixture. Add oatmeal until mixture can hold together into patties.
Grill on foil or bake at 375 for about 10 minutes, flipping once.

Cucumber and egg salad sandwiches

I absolutely love egg salad, but I know it’s probably ridiculously fattening. This version supplements with chunks of cucumbers to add a little crunch and bulk. We have a bunch of cucumbers in the fridge right now from our CSA, so this was a good way to use a few and have lunches to take to work/school.

Cucumber and Egg Salad, adapted from allrecipes

5 eggs
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon dill

Hard-boil eggs (cover eggs with cold water, bring to boil and then cover and simmer for 10 minutes). Run cool water over and cool. Chop eggs and combine with rest of ingredients. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Baked falafel

We got a couple of cucumbers in our box this week, and while I’m not a big fan of raw cucumbers, I love tzatziki sauce. So for whatever reason, I decided to try to make falafel, since I was recently introduced to it by a vegetarian friend. I wanted to cut down on the fat content a bit, so I took another reviewer’s advice to bake the patties instead of frying. We were very happy with the results. We served the pitas alongside these potatoes, which were super good also.

Baked falafel, adapted from this recipe
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
4 pita pockets
1 medium tomato
1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don’t use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
n a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and bake patties for 10 minutes on each side, spraying patties with cooking spray before flipping. Then broil for a minute on each side or until nicely browned.
In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Serve two patties per pita, topped with sauce and diced tomato

Potato and squash torte

I ran across this beauty last week on one of my favorite cooking blogs, smittenkitchen, and since we had potatoes in our CSA box, I made sure to get some squash and zucchini also while we were at the market. The original recipe calls for it to be made in two 8-inch cake pans, but I made it in an 11-inch tart pan. I thought that meant I would need fewer ingredients, but my potatoes ended up being a little sparse on top. So while my execution wasn’t perfect, it still tasted very good.

Summer Squash and Potato Torte, from Bon Appetit, June 2001

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
12 ounces yellow crookneck squash, zucchini or regular yellow summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
6 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter two 8-inch-diameter cake pans or an 11-inch tart pan. (Directions below assume tart pan.) Set aside 1/4 cup sliced green onions. Toss remaining green onions, cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.
Layer 1/3 of potatoes in concentric circles in bottom of prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer 1/2 of squash in concentric circles atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1/3 of potatoes, then rest of squash and 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture. Top with 1/3 of potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture and press gently to flatten.
Cover pans with foil. Bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.)
Cut each torte into wedges. Sprinkle wedges with 1/4 cup green onions; serve.

Pasta with pesto, potatoes and green beans

I always knew I liked pesto, but don’t believe I’d ever actually made it myself (not sure why!). Now that I have, I think I’d be more accurate to say I love it. And I was also in love with this dish, since it combined my two favorite starches with crisp-tender green (actually yellow) beans. Since my beans were yellow, there wasn’t much color in the finished product, but its interest was definitely heightened by the cool spiral-shaped whole wheat radiatore I got at an international farmer’s market. You could use any short pasta, though, of course. The pesto in the dish was reserved from the batch I made the other night to use in the tomato tart. I’m all about making cooking prep easy. Since it didn’t have Parmesan cheese in it like most pestos do, I added some to the finished dish.

Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans, adapted from Great Food Fast

3 small potatoes, mix of yellow and red, peeled if not organic
Salt and pepper
8 oz. short pasta
8 oz. green beans, trimmed and halved
1/2 cup pesto
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, if missing from pesto

Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes; place in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; return to a boil and cook until pasta is al dente, according to package instructions.
Meanwhile, steam green beans until crisp-tender, 8-10 minutes in steamer basket over simmering water.
Drain potatoes and pasta when done. Mix in beans. Toss with pesto and cheese; season with salt and pepper.

Corn pudding

I sure know how to make a vegetable unhealthy. We ate this corn pudding with our tomato tart, and it stood up well to the competition. Creamy with just a hint of sweetness.

Vanilla Corn Pudding, from The Glory of Southern Cooking

3 large eggs
3 cups fresh corn kernels, plus any milk scraped from the cob (about 4 ears)
2 tsp minced onion
3 tbl flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbl sugar
Red pepper to taste
Ground nutmeg to taste
2-4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (recipe called for 4, I just used 2)
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until frothy, then stir in the corn and onion. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, pepper and nutmeg, and stir until well blended. Stir into the corn mixture. Add butter, half and half and vanilla and stir until blended.
Pour mixture into well greased 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, place the dish inside another pan. Place pans in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the bigger pan to come one-quarter of the way up the sides of the baking dish. Bake pudding for 15 minutes, stir to distribute the corn evenly, and continue baking until the top is golden brown and knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 45 minutes longer, depending on the width of the dish.

Tomato tart

Tomato season is going strong here in Georgia, and we got just one short of a dozen in our CSA box this week. 

We were half gone on watermelon lemonade by the time we sat down to eat, but we thought this tomato tart was Amazing. It’s very similar to a caprese salad, but I served it hot instead of cold. I’m sure it would be delicious either way. You can’t really go wrong with a homemade pastry shell, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and ripe, red tomatoes. I love summer!

Click below for recipe

Pasta with squash, peas and basil

This recipe was one of the fastest things I’ve made in a while and the one-pot cooking barely heated up the kitchen. The only change I made from the recipe, from Everyday Food magazine, was to substitute rotini for the fancy-pants gemelli that I can’t find at my grocery store. This is a yummy summer dish for when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.

Pasta with Yellow Squash, Peas and Basil, Everyday Food

8 ounces gemelli or rotini
3 medium yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
10 oz. frozen peas
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than al dente. Add squash and peas, cook until pasta is done and squash is crisp-tender. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain mixture and return to pot. Add butter, lemon juice, 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup pasta water and season with salt and pepper. Toss the combine and add more pasta water if needed. Stir in basil and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Ratatouille

Before last summer, I’d never even heard of a dish called ratatouille. But my brother wanted to see the new Pixar cartoon (called Ratatouille, of course), so we went. It turned out to be an adorable film about a cartoon rat who wants to be a famous French chef, and ratatouille was his greatest triumph. We were in Little Rock this past weekend for a wedding, and I got to visit the fabulous farmer’s market downtown. I just picked up what looked good – squash, zucchini, tomatoes, Japanese eggplant, basil and blackberries – and later realized I had almost all the ingredients for ratatouille. I took an easier route and made a more traditional stew-like version as opposed to Remy’s finely sliced creation. We just ate it alongside bread, but it would probably be yummy over a starch, also. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t wow a French food critic, but it was good and summery nonetheless.

Click below for recipe