Cranberry Bean and Veggie Burgers

Howdy, howdy, howdy.



















Cranberry Bean and Veggie Burgers
Makes about 4 large patties

3 tbsp canola oil
1 small potato, scrubbed, and diced small
1 onion, diced small
1 carrot, peeled and diced small
1/2 zucchini, diced small
2 anaheim chiles, seeded and diced
1/4 cup sweet corn
6 cloves of garlic, minced
salt, to taste
2 cups cranberry beans, cooked
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup regular rolled oats
1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the potato and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the onion, carrot, zucchini, chiles, and corn. Fry for an additional 5-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Add the garlic and fry for about 2-3 minutes until the garlic gets fragrant. Remove veggies from heat.

In a large bowl, using your hands, mash up the beans and veggie mixture. Then slowly add the dry ingredients.

Form into four equal parts and roll into balls.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Place the balls on the paper and flatten.

Bake for ten minutes, then flip the burgers. Bake for an additional ten minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Top burger buns with your desired fixin's and enjoy!

Well, that's all for now.

'Til next time.

Honey Chipotle Garlic Glazed Delicata Squash and Kidney Bean Burritos (Vegetarian)

I do still cook Mexican, it might not seem like it with what I have been blogging about lately, but we have really been enjoying some of our favorite "oldies but goodies". With all the squash around though, I am really enjoying playing with ideas for how to "Mexicanify" winter squash. Surprisingly, it isn't as hard as one might think. What I love is that most of the Mexican meals I have made with winter squash end up having the delightful sweet and spicy combination that both Brett and love so much.

I also apologize to the vegans who read this blog about all the honey I use. We strive to eat as locally as possibly, and living lower on the food chain, for environmental, social justice, and other reasons means that for us, honey fits in with our principles more than agave from far away. I imagine most of the recipes I have that call for honey could have agave subbed in without too much problem. I do also still have some agave, so I plan on using that up too - so you will see some of that in the coming weeks/months as well.

This might seem like an intensive dinner, but I made this last night, after work. I think it took about an hour, but half of that time I did other things (I read more of The Shock Doctrine). When I told Brett what I was making, he gave me this look like "are you sure this is going to be good?" I wasn't of course, this meal was just an idea I had, but as we were eating it, all questions of whether it was good or not quickly faded away. It was good - really good - this is one of the best new things I have made in awhile. And I really think that I could just eat the glazed delicata squash plain like candy. It was just that good. Oh my!

Oh, and it made our apartment smell wonderful - just wonderful. This was a mostly local meal that even included some of the tomatoes we picked green from the community garden plot that have ripened. In fact, the only non local things in this meal are the chipotle chiles, the spices, the kidney beans, and the tortillas.















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

Honey Chipotle Garlic Glazed Delicata Squash and Kidney Bean Burritos

Honey Chipotle Garlic Glazed Delicata Squash:
1 delicata squash, halved, seeds removed, peeled, and chopped *
1/4 cup honey +
1 clove of garlic, grated (I used a microplane grater) +
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine honey, garlic, and chiles in a bowl. Toss with the delicata making sure to coat completely.

Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until tender. Be sure to stir a few times, and "baste" with any leftover glaze.

Remove chiles before serving the squash.

Kidney Bean Mixture:
2 cups kidney beans, cooked
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and minced +
2 Anaheim peppers (or Hungarian Wax, pasilla, New Mexican chile, etc), seeded and minced +
1/2 yellow onion, chopped +
2 cloves of garlic, minced +
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped ***
ground coriander
ground cumin
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the veggies and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Add the beans and seasoning and heat through.

The Rest of the Schtuff:
tortillas
salsa (we used the local Hot and Smoky Tomatillo Salsa) +

Layer bean mixture and glazed squash in a warm tortilla. Roll up and serve with salsa.

Sadly, we only have two delicata squash left. I think I had mentioned it in an earlier post, but this is the first winter we are trying to eat as locally as possible. We wanted to stock up on as many things as we thought we could before winter, but didn't get a boiling water bath canner until quite late in the season, and also didn't know how much we would need to put away. After some discussion, we decided to just get what we thought might work, if we have to buy produce from the grocery store, so be it, we will try as hard as possible to source from at least within the US, and start getting a gauge on how much we need to put away. With all that said, it is looking like we will maybe make it to late January with the winter squash we have. I think we might be able to pick up a couple from The Root Cellar too though. We've been tearing through the delicata, the hubbard has been eaten, and we are working down all those many butternut squash we got from our community garden. We still have a few butternut, acorn, buttercup, and two delicatas. We haven't really had to break into our freezer "stash" yet as there have been peppers and such at The Root Cellar. Anyways, long story short, we are still learning, and when I looked at how low our winter squash stash was getting already, I realized that we are probably going to need more next year. But who knows, if we only eat one or two squash a week, we might make it longer than I think.

I don't know if anyone noticed the banner on the sidebar, but Brett and I are participating in the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge. This challenge entails eating and blogging about one 90% local meal a week. If you are up to it, please consider participating! Now, I actually seek some advice, by what criteria do we decide if something is 90% local? Brett and I thought of looking at it in terms of the number of ingredients (this didn't seem very good though as some of the ingredients are small and inconsequential really), calories (this would be incredibly difficult to figure out, especially since we work with mostly whole foods), and weight (this seemed like the best way to go about it, but even still, there are meals that have TONS of local stuff in it, but the weight is mostly comprised of rice, would this be a 90% local meal?). If you have any suggestions as to how to figure this out, please let us know.

I am going to consider this meal our weekly Dark Days "entry" as the local ingredients outweighed the non locals significantly.

Well, that's all I have for now. I will post tomorrow on the local booty I score from The Root Cellar after work tonight, and early next week I will post October's Garden Update - which I'm pretty excited about, I really enjoy the garden updates.

Anywho, have a great Friday!

'Til next time!

Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos

So, my tooth is finally gone! I didn't think I'd ever be so happy to go to the dentist. I am now happily at home, with gauze in my numb mouth, but the jaw pain should be gone! Wahoo! It's likely that I won't be able to eat solid food for a day or so, but seriously, I'm just happy the whole 'tooth fiasco' is over with!

Last night, I was still able to eat solid foods, so I whipped up some taquitos. Yet another good finger food, and really easy. Enjoy!















Black bean, quinoa and veggie filling!















Taquitos ready to go in the oven.















Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos
1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
1 cup mushrooms, finely minced
1 zucchini, chopped
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 red onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can of sliced black olives, drained
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

corn tortillas (we used white corn)
toothpicks
guacamole
Green Chile Taco Sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers and onion and cook for 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed corn tortillas and secure with a toothpick.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tortillas crispy and golden brown.

I hope when the numbness wears off that my mouth isn't too painful. We get our first CSA box this weekend and I want to be able to enjoy some of it!

Anyways, I'm off to read, it's a gorgeous afternoon here in Mid-Missouri.

'Til next time.

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This meal was a slightly more 'experimental' idea that I had, but it turned out wonderfully. Both Brett and I weren't sure on our first bite, but in less than 10 minutes, the meal was gone!

And we both agreed, this taco sauce just plain rocks! Don't be turned off by the icky color, this stuff is fantastic.

Veggies for taco sauce.

Taco sauce simmering.

Green Chile Taco Sauce

8-10 Anaheim peppers

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2-4 tomatillos, husked and chopped

1/2 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup white distilled vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole Anaheim chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, until peppers soft and blistered, turning a few times through cooking.

Place chilies in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam, for about 15 minutes, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.

Remove stems and skins and chop.

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This sauce will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas and Taco Salads

Spicy chipotle black bean filling.

Yum!

I thought this picture looked a little like a face. :-)

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos

1 cup black beans, cooked and warmed

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 chipotle chilies in adobo, miced

1 tsp sauce from chilies in adobo

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp unseasoned brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp agave

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

salt

canned pineapple tid bits, drained.

hard taco shells

baby spinach

sliced avocado

Green Chile Taco Sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the bean filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer spinach, bean filling and pineapple in warmed taco shells. Serve with sliced avocado and Green Chile Taco Sauce.

So yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

'Til next time.

Anasazi Bean Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce

We have yet another winner!

I've been thinking that I may, at some point, write a Mexican/Southwestern veg*n cookbook, it just seems to be my thing. Not to mention, most authentic Mexican food is very un-veg*n, and also very unhealthy, which it doesn't have to be. If I end up doing this at some point in the future, I will probably use a lot of the recipes I've posted here, what you all see is my 'rough draft' of a recipe, I perfect my recipes more with each consecutive attempt. I will also have to work on measuring my spices and tracking my cooking time. Anyways, I have so many ideas, and I haven't seen a wealth of cookbooks that center around the style of food I prefer, so we'll see. I just hope I'm not crazy to think my food is good!

Lindsay (the Happy Herbivore) and I have also been tossing ideas around for a book we could do together, so far it's just ideas, but they seem to have a lot of potential. We'll see how that goes.

But anyways....

This meal was not nearly as involved as the last meal I posted about. This took about an hour to make, 30 minutes of which was spent sitting on my bum, as the enchiladas were baking in the oven.

Note: This is not Green Sauce, this is Green Chile sauce – there is a difference. This sauce, for one, is not green, it is brownish-red. Why? Well there is tomato in it. The sauce can be used in similar applications as Green Sauce such as enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, burritos or burros, quesadillas, etc. It can also be used in place of other salsas. When I spend lots of time in the kitchen making something authentic, I like to make extra sauce so that I can freeze it, and have a quick meal in the future. This time, I did not freeze it, as it lasts about 3+ weeks in the fridge as is (and it will definitely get used), but next time, I will freeze it.

You can also use kidney beans in place of the Anasazi beans here - it would still be tasty!















Green Chile Sauce:
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small tomato, chopped
a few tablespoons water
8 Anaheim peppers, seeded, roasted and sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded, roasted and sliced
2 cups veggie broth
ground cumin
chili powder
1-2 tbsp dried cilantro
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Heat water in a small sauce pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for five minutes. Add the tomato and cook for another five minutes.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Put back in the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and water mixture and stir frequently until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Makes 2-3 cups.

Anasazi Bean Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce:
2 cups anasazi beans, cooked
1/4 red onion, diced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilies, drained
1 cup no salt added tomato sauce
cumin
chili powder
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
salt

8 corn tortillas
Green Chile Sauce
1 tbsp dried cilantro
guacamole

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic and serrano and cook until soft, about ten minutes.

Add beans, chilies, tomato sauce and spices to the pan and simmer for about ten minutes.

Coat the bottom of an oven safe dish (such as a casserole dish) with green chile sauce.

Spoon a small amount of the bean mixture into warmed corn tortillas. Roll up and place in the baking dish. Spoon some green chile sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with some dried cilantro.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until sauce is bubbly and the tortillas have crisped.

Serve with guacamole.

Yum!

'Til next time!

Pancakes, Baked Goods, and Polenta Lasagna

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend. I know I have been.

Yesterday, I ended up spending a bit of time in the kitchen. But probably not nearly as much as it looks from these pictures. I also listened to music, watched a film with Brett, and listened to a couple of the Compassionate Cooks podcasts.

For brunch yesterday, I made Lizzy's Raspberry Apple Pear Pancakes. I figured these would be a winner, as they are fruit stuffed pancakes and I'm a fruitaholic. These are delicious! So far the best pancakes I have had actually. I haven't made pancakes too awful much, but these are simple and delicious. It was also my first experience using agave. The flavor of the stuff is wonderful, and I can definitely see how it could be used in place of honey. So thank you so much for providing the recipe Lizzy, these are excellent!

I made a light Raspberry Sauce to go with these, as I mentioned before I'm a fruitaholic and neither Brett or I are huge fans of topping things with maple syrup.

Simple Raspberry Sauce
1-1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup organic sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1-2 tsp arrowroot starch/flour

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan on the stove. Once fruit has began to cook down, add arrowroot and let boil, stirring frequently, until to desired thickness.

I had all sorts of peppers around so I went ahead and roasted them for meals later this week. You will probably notice one thing on top of my being a fruitaholic and that is, I really like peppers, spicy, sweet, whatever, I like 'em. During the summer, I always grow peppers on my porch, and this year, I am going to try my hand at a Community Garden plot, and dedicate all sorts of containers on my porch to different types of peppers: anaheim, serrano, thai chili, habanera, jalapeno, banana, poblano, bell, wax, caribbean, etc. I can't wait!

Anyways, this time I roasted Anaheim's, jalapenos, poblanos, bell peppers and a shallot.

I decided to bake Brett a couple of chocolaty goodies, 'cause it gives him yummy treats, which he loves, and gives me a good excuse to bake. This week I tried out Nava Atlas' Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake and the Mocha Chip Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance.

You can find the recipe for the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake here.

Brett adores chocolate and thought these were very good, I expect they won't last too long around here. Both Brett and I agreed that you probably didn't need to put in as many chocolate chips as the recipe called for though, it was very chocolaty.

Next were the Mocha Chip Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. I understand that Lizzy was also planning on making these this week sometime. Ha! I beat you to it! Just kidding, but do tell me what you thought of them, and anybody who reads this blog should stop by hers for what is likely to be a much better picture of the muffins, as she has a really nice camera and is good at taking pictures.

The only modifications to this recipe I made was using whole wheat pastry flour in place of the all-purpose and using applesauce instead of oil. I think these were already pretty 'cakey' muffins to begin with, and replacing the applesauce with oil resulted in their being even 'cakier'. I prefer to do the whole 'lower fat baking thing' whenever I can.

While I was in the kitchen I was thinking about my co-workers a bit. I'm an Institutional Research Analyst, which essentially means when people want data about the University of Missouri, they often come to us. Our office also does reports for the government, etc. Well we have been having some issues with our data, and as a result many of the my co-workers have been working essentially around the clock to meet a deadline. I am lucky in that I am more of an 'underling' of the office as I haven't had to take part in any of this; I'm just waiting for the data they are working on. Needless to say, they have all been working so hard, they deserve some treats, so I made some Sunny Blueberry Corn Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance for them, and I might make up a batch of cookies today as well.

These muffins are pretty good and easy to make too. I used frozen blueberries, so my muffins ended up being a bit blue, but this doesn't really bother me too much. One thing I noticed about this recipe, and I'm not sure if this is a result of an error on my part, but the batter was much thicker than any other muffin batter I have worked with. The muffins turned out alright, but I worried due to the consistency of the batter.

And finally, for dinner I made SusanV's Polenta Lasagna with Portabellas and Kale. This was my first time working with polenta, and I purchased the premade stuff in a tube, so I had a hard time making nice uniform slices out of it. But I understand that making your own polenta isn't very hard, so I might do that next time. Brett also had an idea about how to get the premade polenta into more even slices, so we might try that as well. Suffice to say, my first experience with polenta was a good one. It was very delicious. I will definitely make it again. The 'cheese' sauce was very easy to make, and both Brett and I thought it was wonderful - though I'm not sure if it really tasted like cheese or not. Brett said it reminded him of potato soup - it was really good though, not too heavy or salty. This is a slightly more involved recipe than many of the others I blog about, so I would save it for a weekend or when you can dedicate some time to being in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got of it. Once we got it plated up, both of us just dug in, and forgot to take a picture. Another testament to the tastiness of the dish.

Well, it is 'Superbowl Sunday' here in the US, and oddly enough, I am a bit of a football fan. So I'm off to prepare brunch, a football snack and get ready to watch the game. Go Giants!

'Til next time.