Veggie Black Bean Burgers

I've found a burger I really like - we ate them wrapped in lettuce after we covered them in dill pickle slices, ketchup, (relish on my husband's), onion slices and fresh summer tomato. Sorry I didn't photograph the process, but I was just not thinking that it would turn out as well as it did. So I'm posting the recipe, and next time I promise I'll add the way things looked as I go along. This started with a can of black beans (organic, low salt) drained and dumped in a bowl. It would need more salt if you cook your own black beans. I ended up with 7 burgers .. but you could fix that by making them all just a little smaller and get 8 out of it. We ate 3 between the two of us, and froze 4. (I'm so excited about that!)

Veggie Black Bean Burgers (makes 7-8)

Mash together in a medium sized bowl:
1 can black beans
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup roasted corn
1/4 cup chick pea flour
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/3 tsp salt

CHOP & THEN STEAM IN A STEAMER BASKET
Small bits but not too finely chopped:
1 small golden zucchini
1 medium-small carrot
1 small stalk of broccoli (1/2 cup?)
2/3 of a small sweet potato
(you could add a little mushroom... or red pepper ... or hot pepper)

Once this is softened, add it to the beans, and combine well.
ADD: 1/4 - 1/3 cup masa harina (flour made from roasted corn - Bob's Red Mill makes a nice one)

Spread about 1/2 cup masa harina on a plate, form patties and gently place one side and then the other in the corn meal. Cook in a non-stick saute or fry pan for about 10 minutes, turning gently. Cook less if you are going to freeze and reheat ... OH YUM!  I promise I'll show you how beautiful these were all wrapped in fresh lettuce and dressed up the way a burger should be!!

Veggie Black Bean Burger Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (118g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 96 5% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 381mg 16% Total Carbohydrate 19g 6% Dietary Fiber 5g 21% Sugars 3g 0% Protein 5g 10% Vitamin A 11% • Vitamin C 20% Calcium 4% • Iron 10% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Multigrain Millet Veggie Loaf

Every July my husband is invited to go pick chanterelle mushrooms in the woods in preparation for our friend's annual party and the classic cream-of-chanterelle soup he likes to make for that occasion. Usually we can tell by the weather that the call will come soon, but sometimes it is just that the date of the party is approaching and mushrooms must be found.  This year there was a lot of rain, and the mushrooms were plentiful, but some were too soggy and many if not most had already been inhabited by other little organisms that love them too.  Coincidentally, errands had taken us into Woodstock, NY where we had chanced upon The Garden Cafe and a lovely polenta-like "millet veggie loaf." When I saw the small quantity of beautiful mushrooms that would not keep well, I thought they would add a golden color to a millet loaf. Then I discovered I only had about a half cup of millet. For one more day I kept the mushrooms in the fridge and sought out millet from the nearby town grocery stores and even a large grocery in Cobbleskill. No go. So multi-grain the loaf became. It was delicious!! One of our new favorites.

Multi-grain Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf  
(6 reasonable, 4 huge servings)

GRAINS
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup red quinoa (pretty, but pale would do too)
1/3 cup red lentils
1/4 cup corn meal
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tumeric
approximately 4 cups water

1) Cook this slowly in a pot for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile...

2) Chop & then saute about 15 minutes in a large non-stick saute pan until softening:

VEGGIES

1 medium carrot
1 cup vidalia or other sweet onion
1 medium zucchini
1/2 cup fresh corn (cooked & cut from cob)
1/2 a red pepper
2 tsp Bragg's Liquid Amino
1-2 tsp fresh dried thyme or fresh thyme or something else you like

THEN ADD: 1 cup of chanterelles (I know, I know, use what you have -- regular button mushrooms would be lovely too, or chopped shiitakes...)
And saute another 5 minutes.

COMBINE the grains into the saute pan and mix well until the whole thing is one textured beautiful melange. Let cool about 5 minutes and then EITHER mold into a loaf shape in the same pan if it can go in the oven, OR dump this onto parchment paper on a baking sheet or wide baking pan, and gently push in from all sides until this is about 1.5 inches deep (or thick)... loaf- like! You can store it in this format until about 20 minutes before you need to serve it.

FINALLY: Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Let stand a couple minutes and then cut and serve with any sauce you like -- marinara, or plum/mushroom sauce or spicy onions and peppers  or grilled tempeh ... oh my, it's good with so many other flavors!

By accident we had some leftover poblano-tomatillo-plum sauce and I added chopped portobellos and chopped red onion to that.

ADDENDUM: It just happened that I created a quick successful little sauce the last time I made this. It added moisture and a nice touch - tahini (1/4 c) plus tamari (1.5 TBLSP) plus a little honey (1+tsp) and water (to the consistency you want) ... yum.

Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (305g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 206 10% Total Fat 2g 4% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 198mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 39g 13% Dietary Fiber 6g 23% Sugars 4g 0% Protein 8g 17% Vitamin A 7% • Vitamin C 36% Calcium 3% • Iron 15% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Quick 2 Dish Spring Meal: Asparagus, Mushrooms & More

When the asparagus begins to come in it seems that it appears at every meal for a while. I had been thinking about cabbage rolls, but the weather turned cooler for a spring day and a hot meal felt right. So the asparagus went together with the leftover cannelloni beans and tang of tomatillos, not a common combination but delicious. Then the cold temperatures prompted me to impulse-buy Brussels sprouts, and so the sauté evolved to round out the plate.

ASPARAGUS CANNELLINI TOMATILLO CABBAGE ROLLS with Bean Threads!
4-5 large unfurled cabbage leaves
2-3 cups asparagus cut in 2-3 inch lengths
1/2-2/3 cup canned Cannelini beans ( or other beans)
4-5 sliced tomatillos
Mung Bean Threads
3 cloves garlic crushed & diced
Tblsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Tsp oregano

1. Start by steaming the cabbage leaves and set them aside. Don't worry if they aren't intact, you can use 2-3 for each serving to form an informal wrap. This is not finger food after all is said and done. You can soak the bean threads in the cabbage leaf water OR you can use the Brussels sprouts steaming water (I used the same water for everything). After the bean threads soften, put them in a strainer and run cool water on them to keep them separated. They will heat again when you throw them all together in the next step.
2. In a good sized sauté pan, put asparagus, garlic, beans, and sliced tomatillos with a little water and the Bragg's Liquid Aminos, cover and steam (about 6 minutes). Add the bean threads and stir all together.
3. Lay out overlapping leaves, fill with veggies, and gently roll up, pouring any pan sauce over them. This could also have some heat if you add some red pepper flakes.

BRUSSELS SPROUT MUSHROOM SAUTÉ
4 large white mushrooms
2-3 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup rough chopped onion (I used Vidalia)
Water for sauté (1/4 cup)
5-8 pitted black olives
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
Tsp thyme
Tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper if desired

1. Lightly steam the cut Brussels sprouts in the cabbage water.
2. Saute the sliced mushrooms, garlic and onions in a bit of water with the thyme and rosemary and salt.
3. Combine the Sprouts into the saute, adding the black olives chopped into big pieces.
4. Stir together and add salt and pepper as desired.

SERVE -- with some rough chopped fresh tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar ... What a beautiful quick meal!

Kidney Bean Tomato Soup

Inspired by a vegetable soup that rescued me on a freezing cold day in Troy, NY, I wanted a hearty lunch soup to offset the snow cover that still clings to our little North facing slope upstate. This is where it is wonderful to have a pressure cooker, in order to turn organic dry beans into whatever quantity you want or need in half an hour! If you don't have a pressure cooker, you have to soak the beans and cook them much much longer, or resort to a can of organic beans - which I do, oh yes, I do, when that's the way to get what I want!  My freezer has a bag of whole plum tomatoes that I just literally threw in a plastic freezer bag last summer when they were $8 per bushel ... (I highly recommend doing this, and as soon as they begin to heat in a little water, the skins peel right off). I also have a couple frozen bags of sweet summer corn that I cut off the cob in the height of the season. Feel free to make this with store-bought frozen corn, and a small can of whole or crushed plum tomatoes. You can add chili peppers and more heat in all kinds of ways, but it was good just like this, with a dash of tabasco or other hot sauce to meet each person's tastes.

Kidney Bean Tomato Soup (makes 2 quarts)

1.5 cups dry organic kidney beans, cooked
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2-3 frozen, fresh or canned plum tomatoes
2 medium-large carrots, sliced diagonally
3-4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
3-4 small stalks celery, roughly chopped
3 small onions, rough chopped diagonally
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp thyme (dry)
pinches of sage, rosemary, chili powder or whatever you like
1/2 tsp salt

1. Cook the kidney beans. I did this in a pressure cooker with a chunk of ginger, smashed garlic, a couple dried twigs of sage and rosemary. It amounts to at least 3 cups of beans, which you can get from a can too.
2. In a soup pot, bring to a boil about 2 cups of water, with the garlic, celery, onions, carrots, plum tomatoes,  tomato paste, and herbs.  Simmer this, with a cocked lid, for about 35 minutes, adding more water as it cooks down.
3. Add the kidney beans, the corn and the pepper flakes, plus salt, and cook another 10 minutes. Serve with an array of hot sauces if that's your thing, or even fresh chopped cilantro or onion.

I make a meal out of a pint, adding savory cornbread muffins and a salad. You can definitely eat less of this and have it with rice, other grain or potato based dishes. The large slabs of carrot give a nice color and texture alongside the dark red beans and bright yellow corn kernels. It is filling and pretty!

Red Bean Tomato Soup

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 pint (538g)

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	322	16%
Total Fat	2g	2%
Saturated Fat	0g	1%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium	644mg	27%
Total Carbohydrate	63g	21%
Dietary Fiber	14g	58%
Sugars	13g	0%
Protein	19g	37%

Vitamin A	19%	•	Vitamin C	41%
Calcium	11%	•	Iron	33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.Courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Moo Shu Style Veggies

Maybe it isn't really Moo Shu without the pancakes, but it sure is yummy! This is a combination of textures, the harder vegetables like the carrot and turnip sliced into thin sticks, the savoy cabbage sliced into thin strips, mushrooms in sticks, tofu in strips, and the combination of salty and sweet from the Tamari and the Mirin.  Easy, one pot stir fry. We ate it with Lundberg's Black Japonica Rice. a gluten free whole grain with an almost fruity overtone and, according to the package, "containing the anthocyanin antioxidants like those found in blueberries and blackberries." The idea is to combine chewy, crisp, and soft, use what you have and like!

Moo Shu Veggies (serves 4 hungry -6 with pancakes and side dishes)

6 leaves Savoy cabbage
1 medium carrot
1 small turnip
6-8 Cremini mushrooms
1 large onion
2/3 of a block of firm tofu
3/4 cup pea shoots

1. Chop all the vegetables into strips.
2. Put about 3/4 cup water in a wok or large saute pan, adding carrots, turnip, onion, mushrooms, tofu and cabbage. Add Tamari and Mirin, and cook for 10 minutes covered, stirring and mixing the sauce into the veggies.
3. Taste for doneness and flavor of the sauce. Add tofu, stir and add the last 1/4 cup of water with another splash of Tamari or Mirin, covering for another 5 minutes and serve.

Moo Shu Veggies Nutrition Facts for 4 servings Serving Size: 1 Serving (278g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 137 7% Total Fat 4g 6% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 773mg 32% Total Carbohydrate 19g 6% Dietary Fiber 4g 17% Sugars 8g 0% Protein 11g 22% Vitamin A 12% • Vitamin C 40% Calcium 32% • Iron 11% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Nutrition Facts for Black Japonica Rice

Serving Size: 1 Serving (45g)  based on 1/4 cup uncooked

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	150	8%
Total Fat	2g	2%
Saturated Fat		0%
Trans Fat
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium		0%
Total Carbohydrate	33g	11%
Dietary Fiber	3g	12%
Sugars		0%
Protein	4g	8%

Vitamin A	0%	•	Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	0%	•	Iron	4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using data provided by Lundberg's Rice.

Eggplant Pizzas

Eggplant Pizzas

1 Eggplant (1.25 lb)
2 Tomatoes
1 sweet red pepper
1/2 cup mushroom slices
1 medium sweet onion
2 tsps oregano +/- basil
2 tsps fresh parsley
2 Tblsp tamari with a bit of added water (or use miso soup)

Medium thick slices of eggplant, thin slices of everything else (anything else). Put on parchment paper in a flat pan or cookie sheet. Drizzle the watered tamari onto each one and sprinkle the herbes (your choice). You could put garlic bits too, olives or anything else you like. Oven at 400F for not even 15 minutes... but do check on it. Peel off the paper carefully with a spatula and serve!

The next time I made these, I used some miso soup instead of the tamari -- you could use watered down miso paste -- so it was moist and not as salty. Thin slices of fresh garlic made a huge impact too.  I also used tin foil so I could put it under the broiler and crisp it. Really good with 3/4 inch eggplant slices. Two slices made a lunch with soup and salad. And this one made a great leftover lunch melange.

Eggplant Pizzas Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (443g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 117 6% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 683mg 28% Total Carbohydrate 25g 8% Dietary Fiber 8g 32% Sugars 16g 0% Protein 5g 11% Vitamin A 8% • Vitamin C 126% Calcium 6% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com with my data

Low Calorie Spaghetti Dinner: Squash it is!

Spaghetti squash is a delicious low calorie alternative to pasta that adds a crisp texture without  interfering with flavors of sauces or toppings. We first tried it with homemade torpedo onion sauce and brussels sprouts, and decided to try it again with garlicky broccoli raab and a store-bought organic tomato sauce.  Eating whole grains and vegetables does tend to make for a lot of cooking and I'm happy to find short cuts like a good jar of sauce. Today I tried Walnut Acres Organic Tomato & Basil because it is low sodium and fat free (yup, no oil!). It turned out to be a little sweet, and so I added a little salt and pepper on the plates. Preparation of the squash can be done ahead of time, since it does have to bake for an hour and is easily heated by pouring boiling water over it in a colander just before serving.  Use fresh herbs if you have them, but dried will do -- and season as you like best, taking into account the flavors in your tomato sauce.  You can definitely do without the tomato sauce if you want more green and less red.

And, I'm sure that garlicky chard would be just as terrific as the broccoli rabe, though go easier on the salt if you use chard. 680 calories for the whole thing and feeds 4-6 people! I've given separate nutrition facts for the main ingredients below, since you could use home made or different sauce, and spread this out for 8 people by having something besides a salad (like sesame zucchini or something) on the side.


Spaghetti Squash With Garlicky Broccoli Raab & Tomato Sauce 
A big bunch of broccoli raab
A good sized spaghetti squash
At least 3 cloves to a whole head of garlic
1 cup water
Jar of good tomato sauce
2 tsp salt
pepper
1.5 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp basil

1. You will need about an hour to bake the squash (prick it first a few times with a fork) at 375F.

2. In the 20 minutes or so of that, you can begin to water saute the garlic with herbs of your choice, wash and chop up the broccoli raab into 2-3 inch pieces to make it easier to eat in a normal mouthful. Toss the broccoli raab into the garlicky, salty, herby water and cover, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat your sauce by your preferred method.
4. Once the squash is soft to the touch (not mush though), you will pull it out of the oven and chop it in half long wise. With a fork, hook-lift-scoop out the seeds and then use the fork to scrape out the spaghetti like strands of squash flesh. You can definitely do all this ahead of time and then heat the squash just before serving by putting it in a colander and pouring boiling water over it.
5. Pile the squash spaghetti on a platter. You can cover this in sauce and then pile the garlicky broccoli raab on top, or pile the green on top and pour the sauce all around the base of the squash pile. Either way it looks beautiful -- and tastes great!

Here's the tomato sauce nutritional facts, according to their label 1/2 cup is a serving, but you might want more or less:

Walnut Acres Tomato & Basil Sauce Nutrition Facts (6 servings per jar) Serving Size: 1 1/2 cup Serving (125g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 40 2% Total Fat 0% Saturated Fat 0% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 20mg 1% Total Carbohydrate 9g 3% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Sugars 7g 0% Protein 2g 4% Vitamin A 10% • Vitamin C 15% Calcium 2% • Iron 6% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Here's a big squash - 1760 g before taking the seeds out! Makes about 8 cups "spaghetti" and less than 2 cups will fill the plate!

Squash, winter, spaghetti, cooked, boiled, drained, or baked, without salt Nutrition Facts  Total Squash: 8 cups (1240g) (divide for servings) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 335 17% Total Fat 3g 5% Saturated Fat 1g 4% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 223mg 9% Total Carbohydrate 80g 27% Dietary Fiber 17g 69% Sugars 31g 0% Protein 8g 16% Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 72% Calcium 26% • Iron 23% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Here's about 480 g of broccoli raab, enough for 4 people as a main course:

Broccoli raab, raw Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 17 oz (482g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 106 5% Total Fat 2g 4% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 159mg 7% Total Carbohydrate 14g 5% Dietary Fiber 13g 52% Sugars 2g 0% Protein 15g 31% Vitamin A 42% • Vitamin C 162% Calcium 52% • Iron 57% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. according to cronometer.com