Sweet Potato & Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Dear loyal blog readers (Mom) and friends,  

You may have noticed my absence over the past 5 days. Your day probably wasn't the same without me, I know. But for this, there is a reason. It's not a good one, but it is indeed a reason. On Saturday we had a BBQ. Now, you may or may not have had the privilege of attending one of our summer fetes, but let's keep it vague (and PG) and just say that they are usually pretty epic. We cook (a lot) we drink (a whole lot) and sometimes we (I) end up twirling around my living room in my undies around 8pm. It happened and I am not sorry. (Except to my mother...) Needless to say, my dancing skivvies and I have needed a couple of days of recovery time before I was ready to share this absolutely, most delicious veggie burger recipe with you. 

Veggie burgers are something that I have a pretty hard time with. The frozen ones are nasty and I try to steer clear from tofu and fake meat. So, really my only option is to make them from scratch. I've tried quite a few recipes and this one is by far my absolute favorite. Super moist on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside. They are packed with protein and tons of nutrition so that if you have a few (hundred) cocktails your body might hate you a little less. *Note: If you make them, but then do not eat any of them, or anything at all, your body will hate you more. A lot more. Welcome to my Monday.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

1 cup old fashioned oats 

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle powder 

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Roast the sweet potatoes: Slice the sweet potatoes down the center lengthwise. Place the sweet potatoes cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until they yield to a gentle squeeze, 30 to 40 minutes or longer. Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skin (it should pull off easily) and roughly chop the insides. Set aside to cool completely.

Cook the quinoa. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to boil. Stir in the millet, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender (about 25 minutes). Drain off any remaining liquid and set aside to cool.

Grind the oats. Use a food processor or blender to grind the oats until the flakes are broken up, but not as fine as flour.

Mix the burgers. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the cooled sweet potatoes and quinoa, black beans, onion, cilantro, cumin, chipotle, cayenne and salt and pepper. Use a potato masher, big mixing spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer to mix really well. It’s ok if the black beans get smashed in the process.

Mix in the oats. Sprinkle the ground oats over the mixture and mix well with a big spoon until the mixture holds together when you shape a portion into a patty. If possible, cover and refrigerate the mixture for best results (the patties will hold together better during cooking if they are chilled first).

Shape the burgers: Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture. Gently shape it into a patty. Use your hands to gently flatten the burgers and smooth out any jagged edges. Repeat the process for each patty; you should end up with 8.

Panfry the burgers: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, place several burgers in the pan, leaving enough room to flip them. Cook each patty until browned and heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet for each pan of burgers you fry

Pan frying the burgers give them a crispy outside. Then I threw them on the grill for a few minutes so they tasted more like BBQ!

Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from cookieandkate.com)

Summer Grilled Salad & Join a CSA!

Summer how I love thee. Let me count the ways:

Barbecues (Rich concurs)
Bikinis (Rich loves the even more than me)
Sun dresses (Rich may know what these are)
Self tanner (please note: not sun bathing. I am a ging after all.)

And of course peaches, plums, berries, watermelon, corn, 'maters (southern husband, I can say this) summer squash...... actually..... ALL SUMMER PRODUCE!!!

garden harvest!

Oh, summer produce. We are so lucky to live in California where our summer is year round and our produce is extra wonderful and easily accessible. However, if you love summer produce, but hate getting up early on Sunday morning, grabbing your hand woven reusable hemp bags, and braving the unkempt masses who keep trying to hand you a flyer so you'll "come check out their band, do what Richard and I just did... We joined a CSA!  And it has been seriously awesome. What is a CSA you ask? It is community supported agriculture. Every Thursday morning we wake up to a box filled with organic and seasonal fruits and vegetables right on our doorstep. Even better, the farmers know they can count on you to make a purchase, so you're helping lower the cost of seasonal organic produce, all without having to go see anyone's "band." The company that we go through is called Farm Fresh To You. Unlike a lot of CSA's there's no long term commitment, so can cancel at any time, let them know what you like, and if you are the tenth caller, we'll throw in a snazzy watermelon phone (Rich says that joke is funny to people who are old enough to remember the Sports Illustrated football phone. I am not one of those people). Seriously though, if you go to their website and enter the code 6164 you'll get $10.00 off when you check out! That's it. Infomercial over. (I'm obsessed.)

Between our CSA and our garden we have been super spoiled this summer. And with all of this bountiful produce we've had to get creative with what we eat so that it doesn't all go bad! This grilled salad is perfect for that! You can pretty much take whatever veggies you have in your fridge and add them to my super simple (sibilant) salad recipe!

Summer Grilled Salad

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
 2 ears of corn
1 onion, sliced
1 zucchini
1 yellow summer squash
A few leaves of kale
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of cooked quinoa
Goat cheese (optional)
Chopped basil
Salt and pepper

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
Salt and Pepper


Method:
Preheat your grill to medium high heat and prep your veggies! Slice the onion and squash. I kept the squash in large pieces for easier grilling. I left the peppers, corn, and kale whole. Toss everything with a little bit of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper.

Grill your veggies until everything is slightly charred. The kale grills super fast, the corn will take 10 minutes or so. Once everything is grilled, set vegetables aside until cool enough to handle. This is a good time to make your dressing.

To make the dressing, combine lemon juice, zest, shallots, garlic, and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Once the veggies are cooled, chop the squash, bell peppers, and kale. Remove the corn kernels and toss all of the veggies together with the cooked quinoa and the dressing. To serve, top with chopped basil and goat cheese if you like.

Olive Oil & Maple Syrup Quinoa Granola with Figs

I am pretty much the biggest fan of breakfast ever. I open my eyes and the first thing that I think of is food. Surprise, surprise. Gosh, I just love breakfast. I love eggs, bacon, french toast, all of it. Though I must say, I pretty much never eat granola. Really... never. Most granolas are carb and sugar packed cardboard disguised in a "healthy" looking package that slowly kills you. Well, it will kill you by making you want to kill yourself because all of your pretty summer dresses now hug all of the wrong places because it is SO BAD FOR YOU! Yup, granola is bad for you. Read the nutrition info next time. Though, thank god for you, this is not your suicide inducing, summer dress ruining granola. Oh, no. You're welcome.

This recipe (once again, slightly adapted, from Gwenyth's new book "It's All Good") is just the opposite. Protein packed quinoa flakes tossed in pure maple syrup and olive oil are used in place of oats and sugar and then mixed with raw nuts and fruit. Its delicious and good for you. Seriously... so delicious.

Olive Oil & Maple Syrup Quinoa Granola with Figs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup PURE maple syrup

3 cups quinoa flakes (these can be tricky to find.... I found them at Whole Foods)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds, shelled and roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup dried figs, you guessed it.... roughly chopped

Sea salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Stir together the olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt and quinoa flakes until thoroughly combined. 

Spread the quinoa on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crispy, stirring every so often. This took about 30 minutes. Let the quinoa cool completely. 

Once cool, combine the quinoa with the nuts and figs and store in an air tight jar for up to two weeks. 

I had this with some greek yogurt (for even more protein) and some fresh raspberries. I also added 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed because it's good for your body and that's how I do it.