black bean + beet burgers

I love making veggie burgers. There is just so much you can do, different veggies, different grains, the possibilities are endless. This is a huge batch because I am freezing most of them to have for later, when I don't have time to make dinner. I'm sure it will work fine just doing a half batch too!

These are great for dinner or lunches. My husband takes them for lunches all the time, they are hearty and filling, and full of phytonutrients! 

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 15 oz cans black beans
• 1/2 cup garbanzo flour (can use bread crumbs or more oats)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 large carrot (or two small)
• 1 large beet (or two small)
• 3 spring onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• handful fresh basil
• handful fresh parsley
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bragg's liquid amino acids
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Cook the quinoa first, as directed, and set aside. (I just throw mine in my rice cooker, 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa.) Next, in either a food processor or blender, grind oats into a coarse flour.

Peel the beet. Coarsely chop the beet, carrot, garlic, and spring onions. De-stem the herbs. Chop all veggies and herbs in a food processor. Transfer into a large bowl. Pulse the two cans of black beans (rinsed) in the food processor so they are chopped but still chunky. Add to the bowl of veggies along with spices, bragg's, and olive oil. Add the oat flour, garbanzo flour, nutritional yeast, and all of the quinoa. (It should have made almost two cups cooked quinoa.)

Once everything is folded in evenly, form into burger-sized patties. It actually looks and kind of feels like real burger! So weird! If it is too gooey add more garbanzo flour or oat flour to soak up more of the moisture. Cook burgers on a gas grill with a grill plate or tray. They hold together really well, so you could try cooking them right on the racks, but I'm not that risky! About 5 to 8 minutes on each side, depending on your grill heat. Or you can bake them in the oven, 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Flip and cook and additional 10 minutes.

This batch makes 12 to 15 burgers, depending on the size patties you prefer. I didn't have anything to put my burgers in tonight so I just threw it on top of a salad. With burgers like these, you don't need a bun! Enjoy!

creamy sun dried tomato basil dressing

I have taken the base for my vegan vegan caesar (the cashews and nutritional yeast) to create another creamy treat. I first made it just as a salad dressing, but all I could think about while eating my salad, was eating pasta! So,  the next night I made a pasta with it. It worked out perfectly, two meals in one post! 

For the dressing/pasta sauce:

• 1/3 cup soaked cashews
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic (depends on how bad you want your breath to smell)
• 1/3 cup fresh  basil leaves
• 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, in oil
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper to taste

Soak the cashews for 1 to 2 hours in water. Add drained cashew and 1/3 cup water to blender and blend until completely smooth. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge. Add the rest of the ingredients, and the other 1/3 cup water to blender and whiz away! If you are using dry sun dried tomatoes, be sure to rehydrate them for about 10 minutes with hot water. Mine were in a jar with oil, so no need. 

yes, there is feta on this salad. this is why i am almost vegan, for the love of cheese. there is also walnuts and avocado on there, great combo.

The next day...

A pasta was born. I just tossed the extra sauce with cooked brown rice penne and some fresh spinach. Keep it on the heat for a few minutes to wilt the spinach and heat the sauce. I also sauteed baby squash and onion in coconut oil to throw on top. Voila! 

I am still working on the photography, so I apologize for my dodgy photos. It looked way better than this, I promise. I just think food photos were meant to be taken during the day, which unfortunately, isn't when dinners like these happen. So, just bare with me, and imagine how tasty it really looked!

falafel is easier than i thought

Why haven't I ever tried to make falafel before?! Its sooooo easy! and such a good salad topper! And now, I'm addicted. I found a recipe via pinterest and just played around with it, crispy-baked-falafel.

Start by soaking the garbanzo beans. I had no idea that falafel was made with just soaked beans, I was expecting to have to cook them! I soaked mine in the fridge because it is incredibly hot here right now and anything left out too long will go sour, I can't even sprout anything right now! It's too hot! Anyway, I soaked them for a night, and then all day, so double what was recommended. I did this for two reasons, because they were in the fridge, and also because I was afraid they would give me gas if they weren't soaked enough, I've heard horror stories about raw hummus. Anyway, just to be safe I would soak them for 16-20 hours.

• 1 cup dried garbanzo beans, soaked
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 small red onion
• fresh herbs of your choice (I did parsley, basil, and chives because thats what I have in my little garden)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend. I had to do mine in two batches, beans first, then everything else because I have a mini food processor, but if you have a normal one just throw everything in at once.

garbanzo beans

everything else

combine!

Form into little patties, about two inches across. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F. Carefully flip all of the patties and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

This easy falafel is perfect on a fresh salad, smothered in herbed lemon tahini dressing! And still good tomorrow in a wrap for lunch :)