Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers

As I was about to make some boring quinoa and veggies for lunch, this recipe on the Trader Joe's quinoa package caught my eye. I realized quickly that I had most of the ingredients involved, and decided to try it. Deliciousness ensued. Here is my slightly altered version of their recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
Olive oil
1 large red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup diced onions or shallots
1 can black beans
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper


Bring 2 cups vegetable broth to boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all liquid is aborbed.


While the quinoa is cooking, dice the onion and pepper. I chose to be lazy today and just used the food processor. Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet, and sauté onions, red pepper, and garlic until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool.


Drain and rinse one can black beans in a strainer or colander, rinsing until water runs clear. Coarsely chop the black beans in a food processor. Combine cooked onions, red pepper, garlic, and chopped beans in a mixing bowl. Add cooked quinoa, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and mix well. Allow to cool until you feel comfortable handling the mixture with your hands.

Line two baking sheets with wax paper. Using your hands and a spatula or large spoon, scoop up about a handful of the mixture and form into a ball, about the size of a large meatball. Drop the ball onto the wax paper and flatten carefully with your hands, making a patty about 3/4" to an inch thick. Continue until all mixture has been used (makes about 10 patties).


Place baking trays in refrigerator and chill the patties for 10 minutes. When patties are cool, drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and heat on medium-high heat. When hot, cook patties about 5 minutes per side in skillet, until each side is browned.

Cook only as many patties as you plan on eating for this meal. Remaining patties can be refrigerated or frozen, stacked 3-4 patties high with wax paper in between in an airtight container.

I recommend serving these burgers either bread-free with avocado slices on top, or as a sandwich with toasted bread, mayonnaise, and sliced avocados or guacamole.

Delicious Vegan Split Pea Soup

You will not believe how good this soup tastes. I can hardly believe there's not meat in it. Even if I go back to meat eating in the future, I'll probably still make this soup because it's ridiculously tasty and still good for you.


The recipe was adapted from two split pea soup recipes from The Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen, and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. This would have easily made 6-7 pints of soup, but silly me didn't plan ahead and ran out of lids. Instead, I froze some of the soup in 2-cup glass storage containers that are surely going to pop their lids in the freezer. Lesson learned.

Ingredients:


3 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 white onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
1 ½ t sea salt
2 t oregano
¾ t black pepper
1 t dried mustard
10 cups vegetarian broth
1 lb. split peas
1 t Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 bay leaf


Heat olive oil in large sauce pan or dutch oven. Add garlic and sauté for one minute. Add onions, celery, and carrots, cooking over medium heat until onions and celery are soft. Stir often. Mix in salt, oregano, black pepper, and mustard, and remove from heat.

Never have I cried so much from onions as I did today - WOW this one was pungent!

Add vegetable mixture, broth, peas, and liquid aminos to slow cooker and mix ingredients together with a large spoon. Add 1 bay leaf. Cook for 6 hours on low heat.


After 6 hours, carefully fish out the bay leaf and discard. Stir soup well to mix everything that has settled to the bottom. This makes a lot of soup, so I highly recommend canning or freezing some for future use.


**If you would like to can your soup: Sterilize jars and lids in boiling water before cooking is completed. Turn off slow cooker after 6 hours, stir, and immediately ladle soup into jars, filling to brim. Wipe tops of jars clean before tightly sealing the lids. The canning process must go very quickly; if soup is allowed to cool, the jars will not seal and will not be safe to store at room temperature.


After about an hour, you should hear a “pop” as the button on the lid pops down. This indicates the jar is now sealed and safe to store in the cupboard. If the button on the lid remains raised after 1.5 to 2 hours, this jar is not going to seal. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and eat within 24 to 48 hours.