We Take Requests #1: Black Bean and Veggie Burritos with Sour Cream "Salad" for Selina

So, guess what? Wait for it...

This post includes a recipe! It has been far too long and I am stoked to be back in the kitchen and cooking like mad.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my best buddy Selina (who is also the author of the awesome blog Selindiana). I love creating recipes based off random ingredients, it sparks my creativity and sometimes ends up being a really good meal. So I mentioned that I was more than willing to take requests and she gave me a list of things she had on hand. I narrowed it down to things that I had on hand and this super tasty burrito and sour cream salad was the end result.

Have I mentioned I take requests? If you have something you want made veggie, or just have a bunch of ingredients lying around and you want me to try my hand at making a meal out of it, leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do. :-)

Anyways, onto the good stuff!

The tasty filling.

Sour cream salad.

The finished product.

Black Bean and Veggie Burritos

Makes enough filling for 3 large burritos.

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 medium potato, washed and cubed

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (you can use a milder chile like an Anaheim too)

1/2 cup sweet corn (fresh or frozen)

1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked

salt, to taste

Heat oil in a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, onion, and zucchini. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the jalapeno, corn, and black beans and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until everything is cooked and heated through.

Sour Cream Salad

Makes enough to top 3 burritos.

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 cup lettuce, shredded

1-2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano

a pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and chill until needed.

Putting it all together

cheese (optional)

salsa (when I don't use homemade, I LOVE Mrs. Renfro's ghost pepper salsa)

3 tortillas, warmed

Layer cheese and bean/veggie mixture in warmed tortillas and top with salsa, roll up. Top the finished burritos with sour cream salad and enjoy!

Yummy, yummy, yummy! 

 

Local Kidney Bean and Veggie Burgers

I was going to post about a meal of local Walnut Pesto and pasta, but I decided against it for a number of reasons. First off, I forgot to take a picture of the meal. Secondly, I have posted about our Walnut Pesto before and since I had plans for another local meal in mind, I decided to make this post our weekly One Local Summer entry.

One of the many things I really love about summer is bean and veggie burgers. I don't know why I associate these foods with summer, but I seem to. I have so many created recipes and ideas for bean, grain, and veggie burgers that it is often hard to know where to start. I've noticed now that I've been regularly going to market for a few years now, that we go there and let the produce plan the meals. Based on what is available, what looks best, a menu begins to form in my head and we just roll with it.

With the weather being warm and summer-like and the local veggies abounding, I decided to make a local bean and veggie burger. These burgers were amazing and they have so much potential to be even better. I will share the initial recipe, but let me tell you - this, like most of my other recipes will be tweaked to our liking over time until we get it just right. You all get what I like to call the "rough draft" of the recipe. Sometimes when we are done modifying these recipes, they are nothing like their originals, but that is part of the fun of evolving recipes.


We served our burgers with local garlicky roasted asparagus. I sliced up about 4 baby garlics, tossed the asparagus with olive oil, salt, and the garlic, and roasted it on 375 for about 15 minutes. So, so good.


The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Local Kidney Bean and Veggie Burgers
Makes about six patties.

4 cups kidney beans, mashed with a fork +
1 habanero, seeded and minced * (frozen from last year)
2 hot Hungarian wax peppers, seeded and minced *** (frozen from last year)
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and minced *** (frozen from last year)
1 cup oyster mushrooms, minced *
6 spring onions, minced *
4 baby garlics, minced *
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced *
1/2 cup garlic chives, minced *
4 tbsp regular rolled oats
6-8 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour +
1 egg *
squirt sriracha
chili powder
cumin
black pepper
salt

Combine all ingredients and seasonings except egg in a bowl using the seasonings to taste. Add the egg.

Form into patties and refrigerate for about an hour to allow patties to get a bit more firm.

Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake burgers in oven for 15 minutes, flip patties and cook for an additional 15 minutes on the other side.

Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings, we used:
veganaise
organic ketchup
pickles +
sliced tomatoes *
leaf lettuce **

These were so good. I cannot wait to try out all the crazy combinations I have for burgers and patties in my head. I love summer!

There hasn't seemed to be too awful much interest in the It Seemed Like A Good Idea At the Time Writing Contest, but I'm not too upset by that. I am a fan of quality over quantity, so if just one person writes a good piece, I will think the contest has been a success.

A bit of house cleaning related to the Writing Contest - if you want to participate, but do not have a blog, just send your entry to jheartschilepeppers@live.com and I will post it on Veg*n Cooking as a guest post.

Also, while you can still vote for what you think the prize for the contest will be, the winner will ultimately get to decide between the choices given.

I hope you all consider writing a short (or not-so-short) piece for the contest, I know there are a lot of witty people out there with great minds, let's use 'em!

'Til next time.

Yummy Pinto Bean Wrap Pictures and J's "Guilty Pleasure"

I had forgotten to take a picture of the Yummy Pinto Bean Wraps when we had them last week. They were so good, we had them again on Monday, and I made sure to snap pictures of the wraps, so check it out:















Here is mine served with baby salad greens, simple guacamole, and local tomatoes.















Here is Brett's plate, the wrap was served with baby salad greens, simple guacamole, local tomatoes, and organic sour cream.

So, some of you may be wondering about this "guilty pleasure" I mentioned in the title of this post. It is nothing lewd or illegal (although I do have an illegal pleasure, I don't feel guilty about it - come to think of it, I don't feel guilty about this one either...), but I was always a little embarrassed because I consider myself an intelligent person and not at all a girlie-girl. So my guilty pleasure is....chick lit.

I honestly don't know why I like it other than it lets me escape to a very different world than my own. In all honesty, I usually really dislike the characters, their lifestyles, and would never want to be friends with any of them, but yet they are light, airy, and fun to read. When you read the type of non-fiction I spend my nights reading, this is a nice change up. And I decided I didn't need to be embarrassed about it any more, so there you go. I am going to update my Books J's Read list to include the chick lit titles I have read this year. You know though, sometimes I am surprised and the books are actually good, they have substance and good characters - not many, but some. You will notice that I am quite hard on the chick lit when it comes to my "rating scale", this is because most of it, well, it simply isn't good - a "beach read" and nothing more. Anyways, you can check that out if you'd like, and feel free to make fun of me all you want.

Now I will say, I DO NOT read bodice-ripping romance novels - no siree, no thank you, I laugh out loud at some of the covers. If there is a Fabio-looking guy on the cover, J isn't interested. :-)

Well, I had an excellent weekend in St. Louis. I surprised myself by really having fun. I can't think my (step) Mom Stacey for all her help, we would NOT have been able to get nearly as much done already without her help.

I've picked out, tried on, bought, and scheduled and alterations appointment for my dress (!!!!!!), I actually decided on my own to wear a veil (it looks really nice) - but it will be clipped to the back of my hair and not over my face or around my shoulders, we have a location, the location has been secured, we have a dinner place, a rehearsal dinner place, flowers, invitations, Selina picked out her dress (she is going to look DAMN good by the way), Brett picked out he and the Best Man's tux, Dad got his tie and "pocket silk" (I had to ask what a "pocket silk" was, apparently it is a fancy handkerchief that men wear in suit pockets), we are working on the ceremony schedule, WHEW. But we still have lots left to do and it has, and I assume will continue to be, lots of fun. Tomorrow we are doing one of the really fun parts. We decided to go with a local jeweler instead of Etsy (to keep it as local as possible) and we are taking a picture of the rings we want in to see if he can make them there.

There is something in mathematics called a mobius strip. It is a one-sided strip that has no true surface and is continuous. It shows a cycle that begins where it ends and ends where it begins - if that makes any sense at all. Brett, being a math nerd, and me, loving the symbolism, decided that we are going to have our rings shaped into mobius bands. Super cool, eh?

Check this out too:


















Thank you for the image Wikipedia.

This is one very famous example of a mobius strip.

Maybe I am a bit of a math nerd too, I remember how excited I was when I learned that the St. Louis Gateway Arch is a catenary curve.

I have probably embarrassed myself enough for one day. :-)

'Til next time!

Anasazi Patties with Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Awhile back, when Brett and I first tried Anasazi beans, he said they reminded him of poultry, which I could go along with. Since then, when thinking about using Anasazi beans, I have tried them in applications where flavors similar to that of poultry would be conducive - mostly Mexican until now - and it has always worked beautifully. I mean no judgment, but I am not one of those vegetarians who is interested in recreating all my omnivorous favorites veg-style, personally, I did not stop eating meat so I could try to recreate it with fake things, I never really liked meat all that much anyway. However, I do not have a problem using particular flavor profiles. For example, I think the metallic, iron quality of green lentils holds up to the seasoning profile you would use with red meat quite well, so I will rock that seasoning combination with lentils. I will not, however, try to create something that is supposed to resemble, in taste and texture, say fajita meat strips.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. Seeing as how Anasazi beans take on poultry-ish flavors very well, I have wanted to make a patty out of them and use poultry seasoning. I don't like calling something like this a 'burger' as to me that implies meat, but at the same time, meat doesn't have a license on the word 'burger' either - there have long been many different types of burgers, made from different types of meat, legumes, and veggies - so I was at a little bit of a loss for what to call these, I guess patties it is.

These were very, very good, though they do not taste anything (thankfully) like chicken; the beans just take on the poultry seasoning quite well. I put my food processor to work for the veggies (I so rarely think to do that and it saves a ton of time!), so the patties and the sides were all done in about 45 minutes - oh, and I was also left with 4 huge patties to freeze for quick, tasty meals in a hurry. I decided to serve these with my take on rosemary roasted sweet potatoes. Laura, from the wonderful CoMo blog Peace by Pastries, is always making something like these and various other delightful looking sweet potato dishes and I finally had a meal I thought they would go well with. They were pretty good, I would recommend (as I do in the recipe below) peeling the sweet potatoes first. And I'm honestly not sure how much I like rosemary. It has a strong "smaste" (smell-taste), and even after trying to crumble the pine needle like rosemary, it was still in large pieces that I wasn't super fond of. We also served this meal with steamed kale.



























The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Anasazi Patties
Makes about six huge patties.

4 cups Anasazi beans, cooked ****
1 carrot, peeled and shredded +
1 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped +
1/2 yellow onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts +
1 tbsp organic ketchup
1 tbsp safflower oil
1 tsp poultry seasoning
black pepper

Fixins:
whole wheat burger buns
mayonnaise (I used vegan mayo)
stone ground mustard
ketchup
zesty pickles +
lettuce

(I used my food processor to chop all the veggies and save time.)

In a large bowl, smash beans with a fork, leaving just a few in whole or half form. Stir in the veggies and combine well.

Slowly stir in the oats, flour, vital wheat gluten, and walnuts. You may need to use your hands to get everything all worked together.

Add the ketchup, oil, and seasoning.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour.

Once dough has sat for an hour, form six large balls out of the dough and flatten as you would for a burger.

Spray a small skillet with safflower (or other) oil in a mister. Let pan heat up for about a minute over medium high heat and add a patty. Fry for about 6-8 minutes and flip. I like the patties to get firmer, so I will often cook them on both sides, and then do a lot of flipping for an additional minute or two. This will allow them to cook a little more without them getting burnt.

Put on your favorite bun with your favorite toppings (how we dressed them is listed above).

Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3 small sweet potatoes, cubed (you can peel them if you like) +
2 cloves of garlic, minced +
1 tsp dried rosemary + (not sure if it is local or not)
1/4 tsp Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp salt
dash black pepper
1-2 tbsp safflower oil

Preheat oven to 375.

Toss cubed sweet potatoes with garlic and spices. Place in a baking dish that has either been sprayed with oil or lined with parchment or foil to keep the taters from sticking.

Roast for 35-45 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

I am really stoked that we have more of these burgers in our freezer. Using the vital wheat gluten gave the patties a firmer, more pleasant texture, and it also gave me something to do with the jar of the stuff that has been lurking in my cabinet.

A bit of a side note I just noticed, as of today, I have been blogging for a year. It is amazing how quickly the time goes by.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years! I have the last post I am behind on scheduled to go up tomorrow and will finally be caught up (!!!!!). I will be back early next week with a local booty update and to catch up on your blogs (I may have a new recipe by then as well).

'Til next time.

Tacos de Frijoles Negro y Setas Shiitake (Black Bean and Shiitake Mushroom Tacos)

Again, I made another attempt to translate my title for this recipe into Spanish. Alice, who hails from Spain, has always been a big help in teaching me how to do this right. I think in many ways I am starting to at least learn how the title should be constructed. I'm not sure if I got this one quite right, but I actually remembered that you are supposed to put the "taco" (or quesadilla, burrito, fajita, etc.) in front of the rest of the title. This was a difficult concept for me to grasp as an American as English sentences are structured very differently than many other languages. I hope I got this right, and if anyone out there would be willing to correct my poor Spanish, it would be much appreciated. I really owe Alice for helping me everytime I've tried to do this - thanks Alice, you seriously rock! I hope to eventually go back and re-title all of my recipes in Spanish, this could take awhile, and I'd need a lot of help, but anyone who would be willing help would be the happy recipient of some lovely Mexican yummies from yours truly - sauces, dried or pickled peppers, that kind of thing, it has to be something that travels well, but I am taking offers... ;-)

Anyways, you may notice that I used shiitake mushrooms in this meal - not a very traditionally Mexican mushroom, but I am all about bucking tradition, and dammit, they are good in Mexican food. Let's just say it is my inner rebel shining through.

These were really good and they will be making their way into our regular dinner routine. I love tacos as they are really tasty, and super easy to make, and they are the perfect place to let the lovely local booty we've been rolling in shine through.

We made these last week - I've been a bit behind in my food posting due to Brett's What is Food series and the Quit Now Challenge, but I am starting to get caught up.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

















The "finished product" photo is of Brett's tacos, he really liked the addition of a little bit of cheese.

Tacos de Frijol Negro y Setas Shiitake
2 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1-2 cups shiitake mushrooms, minced *
1 Super Chile, seeded and minced (or other hot pepper: serrano, jalapeno, etc) ***
1 cherry bomb pepper (or other sweetish pepper: banana, poblano, etc) *
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and minced **
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 yellow onion, minced **
juice of half a lime
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
paprika
white pepper
salt

taco shells
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes **

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add mushrooms, peppers, garlic and onion.

Cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft.

Add the beans, rice, corn and seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Layer filling, lettuce, and tomatoes in warmed taco shells.

I wish I could have one of these right now!

'Til next time!

Midwestern Taco Salad

Both Brett and I are huge fans of taco salad. Not only are they tasty, they are also a snap to make and don't require you to heat up your home in order to have a good meal.

The seasoned black beans and traditional refried beans combined with the crispness of the cucumbers and lettuce, and the juiciness of the tomatoes complimented for a great texture as well as flavor.

This taco salad will be appearing on our dinner tables quite regularly this summer.















Midwestern Taco Salad
black beans
chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
Mexican oregano
salt

traditional refried beans, heated
long grain brown rice, heated
diced tomato
diced cucumber (pared)
shredded lettuce
small can black olives, drained
tortilla chips
salsa

Combine black beans with seasonings and heat up.

Layer tortilla chips, refried beans, black beans, rice, veggies, olives and salsa.

Enjoy!

'Til next time.

Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

This is another one of those really good meals that is a little more suitable to a cooler time of year. However, nature doesn't always work in the way you would like her to, and thus, we get potatoes in the heat of summer. And aside from roasting, frying, sautéing, boiling, and grilling, I can't think of any other way to prepare them. The first four methods entail getting the apartment hot; the last one isn't an option. We live on the second floor of fairly old apartments with wood decks, it's a fire hazard. So, I roasted these, that is my favorite way to prepare potatoes, and they were fantastic, but man it got warm in here. Ugh. I am happy to report that we did not get potatoes in our CSA this week - thankfully.

















Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

4-6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tsp coconut oil
chipotle chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

1 cup black beans, cooked
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
chili powder
cumin
salt

taco shells (we used organic blue corn shells)
diced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
a small can of sliced black olives, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss potatoes with oil and spices and place in a baking dish. Cover with foil and roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring a few times.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the pepper, garlic, and onion. Cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine with black beans and spices.

Layer lettuce, potatoes, bean mixture, and black olives in warmed taco shells.

Serve with diced tomatoes and more olives on the side.

'Til next time.

Homemade Baked Falafel with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Lizzy's Vegan Tzatziki

It feels really weird to do two posts in one day, but I am getting behind and don't want to get "backlogged". I wouldn't get used to as many food posts as you will see this week on a regular basis. I've had a long weekend and naturally I have done more in the kitchen.

I wish I could describe how good this meal was, so simple, nothing special, but a real treat nonetheless. It probably looks like I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, as there is a lot of stuff here, but I didn't. This is an easy meal, and pretty much everyone likes falafel.

I made some roasted red pepper hummus, as this is Brett's favorite kind (he got really excited when he found out I was making the hummus, I love seeing him happy like that!) to go with it, and now I'll have easy lunches when I go back to work Wednesday and there will be food here he likes enough that I can be confident he'll actually eat (I wonder how he survived before me...).

I also made Lizzy's Vegan Tzatziki. I love tzatziki, Brett loves tzatziki. That tangy cucumber-yogurt sauce is a wonderful compliment to Middle Eastern meals. The only problem, well most yogurt is dairy and for Jennifer that = very stuffy, snuffly, it's not pretty. The last time I had tzatziki (incidentally, I believe also the last time I intentionally had dairy), was when I was on vacation. Shortly after I enjoyed my delectable treat, I was standing in Union Station in Washington, DC sounding as if I had some sort of disgusting, very communicable disease. People were literally shying away from me, I couldn't help it! My nose was runny, I was coughing, sneezing, it was awful. Anyways, so I've always longed for a vegan version of the sauce, but have never been too much of a fan of any soy products or "replacements", so I thought it just wasn't going to happen. When I saw that Lizzy had made some tzatziki using soy yogurt, and said it was good, I knew she wouldn't let me down, so took down the recipe. This weekend, I got some soy yogurt, some local cucumber, and made her tzatziki. I am very serious when I tell you I could not tell the difference. It was amazing, and so simple. Thank you so much Lizzy, you have livened this meal like you wouldn't believe!

This was also my first time making falafel from scratch. I've been finding out lately that many of these culinary things I have been intimidated by are not really anything to be scared of, they aren't as hard as we make them seem in our minds. This was no exception. I just kind of went with what I learned via Brett from a cool dude from Jordan he used to work with, what I've had, and what I found online.

Enough yammering, here are the pictures and the recipes. And I seriously, strongly urge you all to try Lizzy's Tzatziki, it was really good.















Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
3-4 cups of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cooked*
1/2 cup water*
1 large fresh red bell pepper, roasted and stem removed (trust me, fresh is better)
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tbsp good olive oil (optional, but recommended)
cumin (to taste)
salt (to taste)
cayenne pepper (optional, to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, adding water until hummus has reached desired consistency.

Refrigerate for about an hour to allow flavors to meld.

*If cooking beans from dried, reserve about 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid.















Falafel batter.

Basic Baked Falafel
1 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas), soaked in water for 12-24 hours, drained
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp good olive oil
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
cumin
ground coriander
parsley (fresh is best, just a little bit)
cayenne pepper (seriously, I put this stuff in everything)
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor until blended and of a fine grain.

Lightly oil a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper).

Form falafel into golf ball sized balls and lightly flatten out.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking time.



















With the falafel, hummus, and tzatziki, we also had fresh local lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber slices, whole wheat pita bread, kalamata olives, and pickled peppers.

'Til next time.

Lindsay's Tamale Pockets and Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad

Over the weekend, I was super lucky to be able to try out a tester recipe for Lindsay's (aka the Happy Herbivore) upcoming cookbook. These are her Tamale Pockets, and man were these tasty. The pictures above do not do this meal justice. I'm not sure what was up with our camera, both Brett and I took TONS of pictures of these and none of them really came out. Oh, and it didn't help that I overstuffed the pockets. :-)

The complimentary textures of the two crusts go perfectly with the seasoning of the filling. Oh my goodness, that filling was amazing. It could have it's own category of recipes dedicated to it! I can't say much more about it, you'll have to wait. But this picky Mexican food lover can happily say "I approve!", as did Brett, so try to be patient as you wait for her much anticipated cookbook to come out!

Anywho....

During the summer, our meals are pretty simple, which is why you will likely see much more ranting and posts about gardening. However, if all goes well, the end of the summer will be filled with posts on food preservation. Anyway, the reason for this is that I don't like to run the oven, stove, or anything if I don't have to when it's hot. So, for example, this weekend I made up a huge batch of traditional refried beans so we could have bean burritos, taco salad, and Local Veggie and Bean Wraps. I also made up some seasoned lentils so we could have Lentil and Potato Tacos, and also taco salad. You see, I like to be able to make up big batches of stuff for us to eat on during the week, but I don't like to eat the same thing all week either. That's the beauty of Mexican cooking, I can simply make up two big batches of beans and lentils and we have 4 different meals using many of the same ingredients. Who can beat that?

Now, this meal isn't really anything special, but it was damn tasty, and I thought I would explain the 'method to our madness' that is our summer eating habits. Eating like this also helps reduce waste, since, with a little bit of planning, you won't be scrambling to figure out what to do with the leftover seasoned lentils or brown rice you have on hand. I don't know about anybody else, but I hate waste. Don't even get me started on the folks who planted their Community Garden plots, never to return, all the while they have perfectly good food rotting on the vine when we are facing a global food crisis. It just gets to me, seriously.

Anyways, back to the taco salad.

















Brett made some tofu sour cream to go with this, and man, it was perfect! He's really getting the tofu sour cream thing down.

Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad
traditional refried beans
seasoned lentils
long grain brown rice, cooked
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
tortilla chips
tofu sour cream
Green Chile Taco Sauce

All you gotta do is crush up some tortilla chips and layer 'em in the bottom of a bowl, layer on the beans, lentils, rice, lettuce and tomato, and then top it with tofu sour cream, Green Chile Taco Sauce (or picante) and enjoy!

Mmmm, I could eat this for dinner almost every night, taco salad is one of both mine and Brett's favorite foods, so easy, so tasty, and dare I say even healthy when the taco salad is vegan.

'Til next time.

Roasted Veggies with Cranberry Beans, Marinated Roasted Portobello Mushrooms, and Brown Rice

This meal could have also been called 'Really Simple Food That Speaks For Itself'. I am always amazed at how good veggies are when roasted. They don't need anything, just a bit of salt. They have enough of their own flavor.

I was looking for a simple, yet tasty and healthy dinner the other night, and I think I found the perfect meal! Brett and I raved about this and were also happy with how good something so basic could be.

We made some long grain brown rice and cranberry beans to go with the roasted veggies.

The portobello mushroom was marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and about 1 tsp of juice from a jar of kalamata olives (Brett's idea - a good one too!) for a few hours and then roasted, along with a zucchini, red bell pepper, garlic, some small onions from our CSA, and some asparagus.

Once all the veggies were roasted, I sliced them up, tossed them with just a bit of olive oil, and layered them over plates of brown rice and beans. This was a really good meal.

Marinating the portobello.

Pan full of veggies ready to be roasted.

The finished product. Yum!

Remember when I talked about the lovely bagel sandwiches Brett and I have been enjoying the other day? Well, I had actually taken pictures of the sandwiches and fruit, but was too lazy to post them. So I'll do it now. :-)

This was Brett's sandwich. He had veganaise, spicy mustard, leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickles. And of course, some beautiful organic cherries.

My sandwich was the same as Brett's less the pickles. I also had an organic peach and some extra cucumber slices on the side.

And finally, Brett and I made a really awesome find the other day. Now, I'm not sure how many Americans have noticed that Coca Cola does not taste like it used to, at least not how I remember it as a kid. I chalked it up to the fact that they now use high fructose corn syrup and a myriad of other crazy chemicals. As a result, I do not drink 'regular' soda anymore, I rarely drink 'non-regular' soda, but when I do it is generally Izze or Jarrito's (Mexican soda, are you surprised?). Well, when Brett and I were at the store the other day, browsing the 'ethnic' aisle, we noticed Mexican Coca Cola, in a glass bottle (how soda should be), sweetened with sugar, and with an ingredients list about half as long as American Coca Cola. It was far more expensive than American Coke ($1.69 a bottle for this stuff), but it is so much better than American Coke, seriously. I won't drink it very often, as it's expensive, comes all the way from Mexico, and, well, soda is not all that good for you, but it will make for a nice treat from time to time.

Check it out:

Refresco is right! ;-)

'Til next time.

Black Bean Burgers and Lisa's Cantina Potato Salad

We had these last Saturday, May 31st as our send off to avocados for a month. I've just been busy with work, and then came down with a cold, so have been slow to getting around to posting about them.

They were really good, and I was particularly happy to find a 'new' black bean burger. You see, Main Squeeze, the vegetarian restaurant here in town, used to serve a black bean burger, topped with vegan chipotle mayo, avocado, red onion, the works. It was so good. It had actually made it's way to my top favorite foods, then Main Squeeze stopped serving them. I was crushed, and haven't had a black bean burger since, which is such a shame. I think I did a fairly good job replicating my old favorite and I'm happy it's back in my meal routine! I adapted this recipe from a Vegetarian Time's recipe which can be found here.

Lisa (the Show Me Vegan) posted about a chipotle potato salad awhile back which she dubbed 'Cantina Potato Salad'. It seemed like the perfect accompaniment to the burgers so we whipped up a batch. This potato salad was AWESOME. Seriously good stuff. I will definitely take this to the next potluck I attend, you couldn't even tell it was vegan! Brett really liked the dressing for the potato salad and thought, if toned down in spiciness a bit, it would be an awesome salad dressing too. Lisa, you rock, thanks for the recipe.

J-Style Black Bean Burgers

Makes 3 MEGA burgers

1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked

1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1/4 cup sweet corn, cooked

1/2 cup Matzoh meal

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced (optional)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of one lime

1 tbsp ketchup (I use organic, no sugar added)

chili powder

cumin

ground coriander

onion powder

dash white pepper

salt

1/4-1/2 cup water, as needed to get desired consistency

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Add the water a little bit at a time until you get the desired consistency.

Form batter into three large patties and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat just a tiny bit of coconut oil in a medium skillet. Add the burger and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.

We topped our burgers with vegan chipotle mayo, lettuce from our CSA, red onion, and avocado.

Really, really good, we will be having these often!

I apologize that I've gotten a bit behind reading everyone's blogs, I am hoping to get caught up soon. And this cold better split pronto, I am taking a four day weekend this weekend.

'Til next time.

Southwestern Lentil Burgers with Spicy Shoe String Yams and Roasted Asparagus

This meal was really good. I modified the recipe from one of Chandelle's that can be found here. I basically changed the spice combination to suit our tastes and changed up the ingredients based on what we had on hand.

'Burgers' are a great summer meal as you can make up a large batch, freeze what you don't use, and have yummy dinners that require the stove to be on for just long enough to cook the burgers. I don't know about anyone else, but I like to avoid using appliances that heat the place up when it's hot!

Note: Don't get the 'super-ultra-mega' big burger buns like we did. I had to make the patties HUGE, these were so big we didn't need the sides! In my own defense, these buns had the fewest preservatives in them.

Southwestern Lentil Burgers with Spicy Shoe String Yams

Lentil Burgers:

1/2 cup green lentils (raw)

2 cups veggie broth

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 cup Matzoh meal

1/4 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, minced

juice of half a lime

2 tbsp Bragg's

chili powder

cumin

salt

The Rest of the Stuff:

whole wheat (or whole grain) burger buns

leaf lettuce

sliced cucumber

sliced avocado

sliced red onion

chipotle vegan mayo (I just mixed some chipotle chili powder, cumin and salt in some Veganaise)

Bring broth to a boil and add the lentils. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers, garlic and onion and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft, drain any excess liquid.

Combine all other ingredients with the lentils.

When cooled, form into patties.

Heat just a bit of coconut oil in a small skillet.

Fry for 5 or so minutes on each side until golden brown.

Spicy Shoe String Yams:

1 large yam, cut into very thin strips

1 tbsp coconut oil

chipotle chili powder

cumin

cayenne pepper

ground coriander

dash cinnamon

dash cocoa

Mexican oregano

salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Toss yams with oil and seasonings. Layer in a baking dish.

Roast, uncovered for 30 minutes or until soft.

We also made some roasted asparagus to go with the meal.

Aside from the size of the burger, this was an excellent meal!

'Til next time.