Veggie Burger Mania!!!!

Hey Baaaaaaaaaabes,


I have two delish and super easy veggie burger recipes for you!  I love to make large batches of burgers and freeze them.  I have been eating on the cheap lately: dinner comes straight out of the pantry.  Foods like beans, rice, quinoa, lentils, pasta, cous cous, canned San Marzano tomatoes, udon noodles, and a whack load of spices make for a huge variety of healthy and inexpernsive eats.  Recipes to come... 
My siblings and their significant others and I had another dinner party on Sunday, this time Italian themed.  I brought Spaghetti Aglio Olio which is basically spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, chili flakes and fresh Italian parseley.  Easy, easy, easy and so yummy!  I love hearing your feedback on recipes that I have posted so please don't be shy and let me know how yours turn out!!!

Basic Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

2 cups beans (I used adzuki for this batch but you can use your fave!)

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1/2 tsp thyme (or any spices you like! If you use black beans try cilantro, if you use white beans use basil!)

2 tsp smoked paprika (again, have fun with the seasoning, maybe chili powder or curry!)

2 tbsp shoyu

S&P

In a large bowl, mash the beans until mostly smooth with a few chunks.  Add the rice.  In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic until very tender.  Add them to the rice and beans along with the spices and shoyu.  Mix well until the mixture is well combined.  Season with S&P. 

I find that it's easier to form patties when the burger mix is chilled.  Set the bowl in the fridge for 30 min to an hour and then form the mix into patties.  At this point you can wrap them in parchment paper and cling wrap and freeze them in freezer bags OR oil up that skillet and fry 'em til the burgers are golden on both sides!  If you freeze them allow them to defrost for a couple hours.  I have also has success baking the burgers in the oven with a little olive oil drizzled over them.

Tofurkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1 block of firm tofu

1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs plus extra for breading

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 tsp smoked paprika

fresh ground black pepper

2-3 tbsp shoyu

Mash the tofu with your hands or a fork.  Stir in all the other ingredients until well combined.  Form the mixture into patties (they can be a bit finicky so be patient!) and coat with remaining breadcrumbs.  Freeze in the same manner as the basic veggie burgers and cook in the same manner as well!  Easy easy EASY!!!

Happy Trails,

XOXO

V.V.

Spaghetti Overload

Dudes and Dudettes,

I haven't posted for a week already, how time flies!  I made a huge pot of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (same sauce as the one from the Penne with White Beans recipe, minus the beans and you can leave out the wine and just replace it with a little of the water that your spaghetti has cooked in) and have been living on it for about three days.  I call it the Sophia Loren Diet ("Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." - Sophia Loren, when asked about how she maintained her famous figure). 

My multitude of siblings and their significant others (I was the ninth wheel) had a Mexican themed potluck dinner on Sunday night.  The Boom bought all the ingredients for my guacamole and I whipped it up for her (will post the recipe soon!) and my stepsista Teff made a DELISH couscous salad with black beans, corn, red onion, avocado, cilantro and lime...mmmmmmMMMMMMM.  I made a mock up of the twelve pound burritos of amazingness served at Burrito del Rio, all too conveniently located down the street from me here in Osborne Village.  Okay, maybe they aren't exactly twelve pounds, but the vegan burrito is ENORMOUS (when I carry it home, I carry it like a small infant...awww...but then I EAT IT!) and full of fresh, authentic flavours.  This ain't no Taco Bell, people!  My version of burritos is basically a filling made of up two cups of cooked brown rice mixed in a pot over medium heat with a can of diced tomatoes and a can of black beans that have been drained and well rinsed.  Then I throw in some sauteed onions and garlic, cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, a drizzle of olive oil, maybe a splash of white wine if there's some lying around, and a squeeze of lime is nice too.  Season with S&P and roll 'em up in some homemade whole wheat tortillas.

It's Thanksgiving weekend coming up and I have a couple dinner's to attend so I will definitely have some festive recipes for ya!

Until then,
XOXO V.V.

Penne with White Beans, Tomatoes and Wine

Hey Babes,

The cold I had last week was the third I've had since April.  My Momma stocked my medicine cabinet with all kinds of vitamins and insisted that I start eating more protein.  Protein is a building block for a healthy immune system, my friends, thus I cooked up a bag of dried white beans and made this wicked pasta dish!

  Penne with White Beans, Tomatoes and Wine
Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat or brown rice penne
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili flakes (as always, more if ya like it HAWTA)
3 or 6 cloves garlic, minced (as garlicy as you like!!)
1 large glass of dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped basil
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 cup cooked or canned (rinsed well) white beans
S&P

Cook the penne in plenty of salted boiling water until it becomes al dente (tender but with a bit of a bite).  Drain the pasta and set aside.  To save yourself some dishes, just use the same pot you used to cook the pasta to make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil on medium heat and add chili flakes.  Saute the garlic for precisely fifteen seconds and add wine (watch out, it's gonna get steamy!), tomatoes, herbs and beans.  Stirring every so often, bring the sauce to a boil and then add the cooked, drained pasta and simmer for five to ten minutes (this lets the pasta and sauce become BFF's).  Season with Salt n' Pepa.  Shoop Shoop.  Enjoy!

XOXO
V.V.