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.

Crockpot Chile Chili

The weather is starting to get chilly here in Mid-Missouri and there is nothing better (at least in my opinion) to eat when it is blustery than a hearty soup, stew, or chili. So I decided to make chili!

I like my chili to be really spicy - well, if I am honest, I like EVERYTHING to be really spicy, but Brett has complained many times that the reason he does not like me to make chili is because it is too hot. I decided to be nice and use chiles for flavor, and just a little bit of heat and we ended up with this super tasty chili that we enjoyed with Fritos!

















Sorry for the horrible picture. Hopefully someday I will figure out how to use my camera.

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

Crockpot Chile Chili
1/4 cup Anasazi beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup cranberry beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup pinto beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup navy beans, rinsed
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed +
2 pasilla chiles, stems removed and rinsed
2 ancho chiles, stems removed and rinsed

4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 habaneros, seeded and minced *
2 gypsy (or other sweet peppers), seeded and minced *
2 yellow onions, chopped *
4 large tomatoes, cored and chopped *

2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed *

cumin
cilantro
salt
pepper

(Start this chili in the morning.)

Combine beans and dried chiles in a crockpot and let simmer on low all day.

Before you go to bed, add all the vegetables except the sweet and regular potatoes.

In the morning, add the potatoes, and season to taste. Let cook for an additional hour or so or until potatoes are soft.

This chili was super tasty and would also be excellent with tortilla chips or on a baked potato. Mmmmmm.

'Til next time.

J&B's Huevos Rancheros (vegetarian)

I don't eat eggs very often, but will on occasion as I don't really consume all that many enriched products, nor do I take supplements, and this is a great way to have them. It could easily be made vegan by simply omitting the eggs and spicing up the beans, or using tofu and doing whatever it is that you do to make tofu taste good. I also made a vegan version awhile back.

I will not vouch for the authenticity of this meal, I actually don't think it was very authentic at all, but it was really, really good. Brett recently had Huevos Rancheros at a local restaurant called Cafe Berlin. He really liked the dish and we had what we needed on hand to make it at home. Now I didn't taste the dish as it was loaded down with cheese and I don't do cheese, so I only have what Brett told me about it and my own interpretations to go on. Oh, and I added roasted potatoes to the dish because roasted potatoes make everything better.

Just a reminder of the local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















J&B's Huevos Rancheros
Makes enough for 3 large servings (I took some to work for lunch the next day).

The 'Taters:
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1 tbsp safflower oil
chili powder (ancho would seriously rock)
ground cumin
ground coriander
cayenne pepper
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Toss potatoes with oil and spices. Cover with foil* and roast for 35-45 minutes stirring a few times throughout cook time.

*If the foil doesn't get any food on it, it can be reused a few times.

The Eggs:
4 eggs *
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
2 ripe serrano peppers, seeded and minced *
1 small yellow onion, minced *
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
black pepper
pinch of salt

Heat 1 tbsp of water in a medium skillet. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain any excess liquid. Add the eggs and scramble. Make sure they fully cooked. Season with pepper and salt.


The Rest of the Stuff:
1 cup cranberry beans (or pinto), cooked ****
1 cup black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked ****
salt

Season the beans with a little bit of salt.

really spicy salsa
tortillas (flour or corn would work)

Eating Huevos Rancheros can really be approached in two ways. You can layer all these components in a large tortilla and make a mondo burrito, or you can serve it family style with smaller tortillas.

Yum!

I am quickly getting a cold, I hope it goes away soon. I'll make sure to get lots of orange produce at the farmer's market tomorrow, and may even get some citrus from the regular grocery store if there is USA grown organic available.

'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.

Portobello and Cranberry Bean Quesadillas with Pico de Gallo

This meal made my mouth very happy. I really love trying out new beans and salsas. Today we used cranberry beans. These beans are typically used in Italian or Spanish food, but I like to do things my way, call it rebellion if you will - they worked wonderfully. :-)

These beans may look like pinto beans, but they are not. They get freakishly large once cooked, like a really fat lima bean. If you cannot find cranberry beans, pinto or kidney beans would be a fine substitute.

The Pico de Gallo is a fresh condiment made of chilies, onions, tomatoes and some spices, and can be as hot or mild as you want it - you can vary your peppers accordingly. I like quite a bit of spice, but can't get away with too much, especially when they are fresh peppers, as not everyone (Brett) is a spice freak like me. But I can still get away with making it far spicier than some people might like it.

This was Brett's quesadilla, topped with guacamole and cilantro.

This was my quesadilla topped with guacamole and more Pico de Gallo.

Pico de Gallo

6 roma tomatoes, chopped (or 2-3 large regular tomatoes)

1/4 red onion, minced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (or 2 tbsp dried)

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of half a lime

1-2 tsp white vinegar

cumin

salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Refrigerate for a half hour or so to allow flavors to blend.

Portobello and Cranberry Bean Quesadilla

Makes enough filling for two large quesadillas (may have some beans left over).

2 cups cooked cranberry beans

1-2 large portobello mushrooms, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 a red bell pepper, roasted and sliced

1 zucchini, roasted and sliced

chipotle chili powder

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

cumin

salt
vegan jack (optional)

2 burrito sized tortillas

guacamole

Pico de Gallo

Heat a couple tablespoons of water in a medium sized skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and season with a few pinches of chipotle chili powder, cumin and salt. Cook until mushrooms are soft, about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, season warmed beans with chili powder, coriander, Mexican oregano, cumin and salt.

Layer beans, mushrooms, roasted veggies, vegan jack and a bit of Pico de Gallo in a warmed tortilla. Fold tortilla over and fry if desired.

Top with guacamole and more Pico de Gallo.

'Til next time!