Category: Entree

Vegan Millet, Quinoa, and Bean Burgers

Vegan Millet Quinoa Bean Burger
Vegan Millet Quinoa Bean Burger

This recipe is a follow up of my post Vegan Burgers Without a Recipe. In this burger recipe I am doing exactly what I talked about in my last post; cleaning out my refrigerator. I had leftover Millet, Quinoa, and cooked beans. I threw them all in the food processor with some spices and look what happened!! I made delicious, vegan, gluten free burgers in just a few minutes. In this recipe the grains are the star and I am using the beans as a binder to hold the whole delightful mess together.

Millet Quinoa Bean Burger

 Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked beans
  • 1 handful fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked millet
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
  • salt 1/2-1 tsp
  • cumin 1-2 tsp
  • garlic powder 1-2 tsp
  • smoked paprika 1/2-1 tsp
  • Olive oil for cooking
  • Buns and toppings for serving

Instructions

  1. Place cooked beans and the cilantro in the bowl of a food processor and process briefly until cilantro is minced and combined with the beans.
  2. Add the millet, quinoa, and spices pulsing to combine.
  3. Taste the batter and adjust seasonings to your liking.
  4. Once the burger batter is to your liking, form into patties.
  5. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
  6. Add formed patties to hot oil and cook until crispy and browned, about 3-4 minutes, flip and cook second side until crispy and browned on the second side, another 3-4 minutes.
  7. Serve with toppings of choice on a lightly grilled bun.

Chili Burgers and Vegan Burgers Without a Recipe

Vegan Chili Burger
Vegan Chili Burger

One of my husband’s favorite things to eat is burgers. He loves the real thing, but will also get down on a good vegan burger. He is actually the one that makes these most of the time. He is an expert and just throwing stuff in the food processor and coming out with a delicious dinner. This is recipe is for Vegan Chili Burgers using leftover chili. I put in a few options, but this is an easy, basic recipe to adapt to your needs. Instead of chili you could just use any variety of beans you have on hand.

 Vegan Chili Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats, ground/blended into a coarse meal (binder)
  • 2 3/4 cup leftover or canned chili or cooked beans of your choice (base and flavor)
  • 1/4 cup masa harina, cornmeal, flour, or vital wheat gluten, or more oats, plus more for coating (binder)
  • Oil for frying patties.

Instructions

  1. Strain chili in fine mesh strainer mashing a bit to get as much liquid as possible out. Reserve liquid.
  2. Place 2 cups of chili, oats, and masa harina in food processor, processing until combined.
  3. Stir in remaining chili with a spoon.
  4. Let mixture rest while you place reserved liquid in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until reduced to the consistency of ketchup, 5-10 minutes. Set aside to serve over patties.
  5. After making the sauce  shape mixture into patties, coat with more cornmeal, flour or masa harina.
  6. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
  7. Fry patties until brown and crispy, about 3 minutes, flip, and fry other side until brown and crispy, about another 3 minutes.
  8. Serve hot with toppings of choice ( I like the chili sauce and sauteed onions).

Discussion:

What is important for successful burgers?

  • Texture (size and combination of base, binder, and other stuff like veggies)
  • Base  (beans, nuts, tofu, tempe, or grains or mixture of any)
  • Binder (beans, wheat gluten, bread crumbs, oats)
  • Flavor (salt, hot sauce, onions, garlic, spices)
  • Veggies and stuff (corn, peppers, other veggies)

How I decided on what to add for this recipe

This is a recipe adapted from a black bean burger recipe in . I have made a few changes for my taste. What works here is the base of the black beans, a bit of bread crumbs for the binder, and just enough veggies to keep it interesting. The flavors work well to create a southern burger that is perfect with a bit of BBQ sauce and sauteed onions.

How Does It All Work? 

Texture

The most important thing with burgers is to make sure you don’t puree your ingredients. They should still have some texture to them. This is easier to do when mashing by hand, but a lot more work. I find that adding in nuts and grains helps with the textural element here. For this recipe I ask that you reserve some of the chili and stir it in after you have processed the rest to help with the texture aspect.

Base

For a base I almost always start with beans. Whatever I have in the fridge or pantry. They are all a little different, but super yummy. Try out the ones you like, or have leftover. I also like to add in grains. Making burgers is very much an end of the week clean out the fridge sort of adventure in our house. It is a great way to use up a half cup of this, a quarter cup of that. Here I am using leftover chili, but mix at match at will. Always drain your beans before using them in burgers to prevent a soupy mess.

Binder

Something to bind the burger together is important. A non-vegan recipe would use egg. For vegan burgers the overall consistency is important. You want the burger batter to be firm, and when you pat it into a burger you want it to hold its shape. This can be achieved simply through processing or mashing the beans and adding dry ingredients such as oats or bread crumbs until the desired consistency is reached. My husband loves to use vital wheat gluten (about 1/4 cup per 2 cups beans) for the binder as it makes a chewier finished texture.

Flavor

Obviously flavor is important. Pretty much always I use onions and garlic which I mince very finely with the food processor before I put in the other veggies. Spices are also a must using whatever combination sounds good at the time. I also love using fresh herbs such as cilantro and parsley when I have them on hand. This recipe does not add extra spices as the chili itself provides the flavor for the burger.

Other Stuff

Adding in veggies is totally acceptable here. Try out grating, chopping, and mincing them for the balance of flavor and texture you are looking for. Just look out that they aren’t huge chunks or they will fall out of your burger. These chili burgers have the vegetables from the chili in the base, so none are added.

Remember to balance the five tastes in your finished burger. You can take into account the burger itself, and any toppings you feel like adding. Also texture, adding a bit of something crunchy on the burger or on the side will round out the meal and leave you feeling more satisfied.

For more inspiration check out these recipes for patties/burgers and sausage.

Pesto Patty With Roasted Eggplant

Vegan Tempe Sausage 

 

A Vegan Mother’s Day In Food

Vegan Blueberry Muffin
Vegan Blueberry Muffin

So you’re looking for food to serve the vegan mother in you life for Mother’s Day. Good job; you’re working hard to fulfill her desires and it will be appreciated. Just for you, I’ll tell you what I would love for a food-filled vegan Mother’s Day.

Vegan Hot Chocolate

1. Start with vegan hot chocolate. If she’s into it, and most mothers are, add a shot, or ten, of espresso to make this a mocha.

 

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich

2. For first breakfast choose something savory such as a tofu breakfast sandwich, or just a delightful jalapeno bagel. If your special vegan is also gluten free try this savory oatmeal. For extra credit you can make the bagel at home. Just for you I made a video in case you’re going for the big wow factor.

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

3. Of course, she will need a late morning snack. I suggest something sweet again and bakery quality. Maybe a blueberry muffin or cinnamon bun with another cup of coffee. Preferably iced at this point.

Vegan Chili Salad

4. Just a salad for lunch please to balance the morning and get her ready for the delightful dinner you are going to prepare.

 

 

Vegan Smoky Bean Dip5. Now a little appetizer of happy comfort served up in this smoky bean dip.

 

Vegan Lentil Tacos with Homemade Refried Beans

6. For dinner I’m going between these lentil tacos, or a pasta with vegan alfredo sauce. Hmm, I guess I’ll leave it up to the cook.

 

Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake7. Dessert, the most important part of the day! You have a few options, but in my world they are all chocolate. My first choice would be this vegan French Silk Pie. You could also do a chocolate cake, or chocolate chip cookies.

8. Good luck and thank you. The person you are cooking for will love the fact that you took the time to figure out and make something special just for her. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Vegan Lentil Tacos

Vegan Lentil Tacos with Homemade Refried Beans
Vegan Lentil Tacos with Homemade Refried Beans

It’s May! May is my favorite month to eat Mexican food. I don’t know if that’s true; we eat Mexican at least once a week all year. I love it. After living in San Diego and having amazing Mexican, I can’t just go out for it anymore. Most restaurants fall flat when it comes to tasty vegan Mexican. Because of this I have turned to my own kitchen to build the flavors I miss while living ever so far from a good burrito stand.

These lentil tacos are rich and savory and bypass any processed fake meat product. In the fall and winter I serve this lentil filling with roasted veggies, which is awesome. Pictured here I am serving the filling with homemade refried beans (watch for a new refried bean recipe coming soon), homemade corn tortillas, fried onions, and a cabbage slaw. I also added guacamole and served them with margaritas. Truly a winning combination.

Happy May and enjoy your tacos!

Vegan Lentil Tacos

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup brown lentils
  • 2 cups mushroom broth
  • 1/4 cup reserved lentil broth
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 3/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 3/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 cup prepared salsa
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Bring lentils and mushroom broth to a a boil over medium high heat in a covered saucepan.
  2. Once Lentils have started to boil reduce the heat to low, crack the lid and simmer until tender, but not mushy, about 20-25 minutes.
  3. Once lentils have cooked, drain them reserving the lentil broth.
  4. Return lentils, 1/4 cup reserved broth, tomato paste, garlic, paprika, chili powder, onion, and salsa to the pan. Heat through, taste, and adjust seasoning to your preference.

Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Here is a delightful, rich, creamy, spoon-licking good vegan Alfredo sauce. It is also soy free, nut free, and tastes a bit like actual Alfredo (my husband said so). I have only made this a few times and served it over pasta every time, but I believe it would also be wonderful in a white lasagna, or a vegan moussaka. I’ll let you know when I try them.

The amazing thing about this sauce is it is actually pretty darn good for you, and yet has the creaminess and sumptuousness you expect from a cream based sauce. I started this recipe off from a recipe on Pinch of Yum. It was a wonderful place to start. I added a few things to give it a little more body and cheesiness without the cheese.

How are you going to use this sauce?

Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce 

Ingredients

  • 6 cups vegetable or mushroom broth (I used a mixture of both)
  • 6 cups cauliflower florets
  • 8 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons soy-free Earth Balance
  • 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon pepper (more to taste)
  • ½ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used homemade almond milk)
  • 2 TBL tahini
  • 2 TBL nutritional yeast

Instructions

  1. Bring vegetable broth and cauliflower to a boil, cooking until tender, 7-10 minutes.
  2. While cauliflower is cooking melt Earth Balance over low heat, add garlic and saute until soft and fragrant, but NOT browned. The garlic will turn bitter if browned.
  3. Strain cauliflower reserving 2 cups of the vegetable broth.
  4. Combine cauliflower, 1 cup of the vegetable broth, salt, pepper, non-dairy milk, tahini, and nutritional yeast. Blend until smooth. I used an immersion blender, but you could blend in a stand blender as well.
  5. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Pot Pi(e) for Pi Day! and a modification for St. Patrick’s day

This picture is from the Vegetarian Times Website
This picture is from the Vegetarian Times Website

It’s Pi day! My husband can’t stop talking about it. He was so excited that he suggested I post at exactly 9:26:53 am so I would have been posting on Pi day while representing the first 10 digits of Pi. I missed it, but I will have it posted before 9:26:53 pm. A good thing too or I would have to wait another 100 years for my opportunity!

Since this is Pi day I wanted to celebrate by bringing back my husband’s favorite recipe of mine: Vegan Pot Pie! I posted this a few years ago, but thought it would be good to again draw attention to it. Here is Maine we have a bit longer where root vegetables are in season, and this is a good one to make with root vegetables. Also due to the wonderful nature of this being a potato dish I am posting it in honor of St. Patrick’s day. Just add a few tablespoons of whisky to the vegetable broth for a little depth of flavor and a “touch of the Irish.”

This is a very rich pot pie and will satisfy any meat eater out there. I know it sounds complicated so I created a video to show you my process to get it in the oven fairly quickly (about 30 minutes). And just look at the expression on my face in the screenshot below. It just makes you want to eat whatever I am making!

Vegan Pot Pie

Ingredients

For the Vegetables

  • 1 TBL olive oil
  • 2 medium Potatoes, diced
  • 2 Carrots, sliced
  • 2 cups Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 large Onion, diced
  • 1 cup Broccoli, chopped
  • 2 cloves Garlic, minced

For the Tofu

  • 1 TBL olive oil
  • 1 lb Tofu, cut into cubes
  • 2 TBL tamari or soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp granulated garlic
  • Few dashes Cayenne

For the Sauce

  • ¼ cup Flour
  • 2 cups vegetable broth (optional add 2 TBL vegan whisky such as Jameson, or check you brand on Barnivore)
  • ½ plain non-dairy milk, or more vegetable broth
  • ½ tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ cup San-J Tamari
  • 1 tsp Hoisan sauce
  • ¼ tsp granulated garlic
  • 1//8 tsp Cayenne
  • 1 TBL fresh Thyme, minced (can also use dried, about 1 tsp, or take it out altogether)
  • 1 TBL fresh Sage, minced (can also use dried, about 1 tsp, or take it out altogether)
  • 1 tsp black Pepper

For the Crust

  • 1 ¼ cups Flour
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • 2-4 TBL cold water
  • 1 tsp fresh Rosemary, Minced (can also use dried, about 1/2 tsp, or take it out altogether)
  • 1 tsp fresh Sage, Minced (can also use dried, about 1/2 tsp, or take it out altogether)

Instructions

  1. Put the carrots and potatoes in a pot, cover with water and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes.
  2. Drain and set aside.
  3. Heat oil in a skillet and cook tofu over medium/high heat.
  4. When tofu starts to brown add 2 TBL tamari, garlic and cayenne. Once tamari has cooked off turn off heat and set aside.
  5. In a large cast iron dutch oven heat oil, add mushrooms and onions cooking for 2 minutes.
  6. Add broccoli and garlic sautéing for about 2 minutes until the onions are just beginning to soften.
  7. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to coat all the vegetables.
  8. Pour the vegetable brother over the vegetables while stirring constantly.
  9. Once mixture is smooth add the non-dairy milk, worcestershire sauce, tamari, hoisan sauce, and spices.
  10. Add the cooked tofu, potatoes and carrots stirring to combine.
  11. Turn off heat and let stand while making the crust.
  12. Pre-heat oven to 375.
  13. To make the crust combine the flour, salt, and vegetable shortening in a bowl.
  14. Mix with a pastry blender or fork until mixture in crumbly and lumpy. Do not over-mix.
  15. Add Rosemary and Sage mixing briefly.
  16. Add cold water, start with 2 TBL and add slowly. You want your crust to star sticking together and pulling away from the bowl.
  17. Shape dough into ball with your hands.
  18. Once crust is ready you can put it in a plastic bag and using your hands push out from the center of the ball.
  19. Keep shaping the dough until it is the size of your dutch oven.
  20. Take crust out of the bag and place in dutch oven.
  21. With a sharp knife poke holes in the crust to let the steam escape.
  22. Put pot pie in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until crust is starting to brown. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Vegan Pesto Patty Pizza Quesadilla

Vegan Pesto Patty Pizza Quesadilla
Vegan Pest Patty Pizza Quesadilla

Ok, this has a long name, but it is descriptive. This takes a tortilla, adds pizza sauce and vegan cheese, then the pesto patty, fold it up and it is a little pizza, a little quesadilla, and some good protein and yum from the pesto patty. This is of course a way to use up the pesto patties you made last night since you have already consumed any leftover roasted eggplant. You can’t resist cold leftover eggplant can you? Me either. But that is not what this post is about. This post is about a meted cheesy, soul satisfying, delicious, vegan treat.

Vegan Pest Patty Pizza Quesadilla

Ingredients

  • Leftover pesto patty
  • 1 tortilla
  • 3 TBL or so Pizza sauce
  • 1/2 cup or so Vegan mozzarella cheese (I only use Daiya brand)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Put tortilla on a baking sheet, spread pizza sauce evenly over tortilla, sprinkle with desired amount of cheese.
  3. Place the leftover pesto patty next to the tortilla pizza on the pan and cook everything in the preheated oven until the tortilla starts to brown and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
  4. Remove everything from the oven.
  5. Break the pesto patty into pieces over half the tortilla pizza, fold tortilla in half over the patty and eat while reveling in the glory of a melty, satisfying, cheesy, pizza-like goodness that is still practically a health food.

Vegan Pesto Patties With Roasted Eggplant and Quinoa

Vegan Pesto Patty
Vegan Pesto Patty

Mmmm, pesto. I love the stuff. I had a batch in the refrigerator after hosting a pasta party with other popular sauces. I wanted to make something with the flavor of pesto, other than pasta or hummus, my two go-to recipes for pesto. We make a lot of patties in our house with a combination of whatever leftovers are in the fridge. This seemed like a yummy place to use my pesto. These come together quickly and are very little work. In the picture they are served with roasted eggplant slices, pesto quinoa, and marinara sauce. They would be good in many ways, so experiment. The one caution is to make sure you do not over-process these or the patties will be mushy. They will still taste good, the texture just won’t be super awesome.

Pesto Patties 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or one 15 oz can, drained
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup prepared pesto
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 1 tsp salt.
  • Olive oil for frying patties

Instructions

  1. Place oats in food processor and process until ground to a flour.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until the mixture is starting to hold together, but there are still chunks of walnuts and garbanzo beans.
  3. Heat oil over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet.
  4. Shape mixture into patties and fry in batches, about 4 minutes on each side. This made 6 large patties for me.

Optional additions

Roasted eggplant:

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Slice eggplant in 1/8″ slices.
  3. lightly oil a baking pan with olive oil.
  4. Arrange eggplant slices in a single layer in the pan, and brush more olive oil over the tops.
  5. Cook about 30 minutes, flipping eggplant halfway through.
  6. Salt lightly before serving.  

Quinoa:

  1. Rinse 1 cup quinoa in a fine mesh strainer under cold water until the water runs clear.
  2. Place quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook about 15 minutes until broth is absorbed.
  3. Remove quinoa from heat and stir in 2 TBL prepared pesto if desired.

Marinara:

  1. Heat a jar of your favorite marinara.
  2. Serve with pesto patties.

Savory Oatmeal with Kale and Walnuts

Savory Oatmeal with Kale and Walnuts
Savory Oatmeal with Kale and Walnuts

As strange as this meal sounds, it is quite delicious. Wolfie is sensitive to something and I have been on a major elimination diet to try and figure it out. One of the things I have been eating a lot of for breakfast during this time is oatmeal. Well I’m just plain sick of sweet oatmeal and I needed something savory for breakfast. This has been my go-to breakfast for the last few weeks. It would also work for a dinner if you called it oat risotto or something fancy like that. I was hesitant to try a savory oatmeal, but I needed the salt. Ohh, do I love salt. I am now looking forward to breakfast again. Anyway, here is a wonderful entry to the world of savory oatmeal, and one of the healthiest breakfasts you can find. This combination is one that actually keeps me full for several hours unlike most anything I eat in the morning. This is also gluten free if you make sure to use gluten free oats. I hope you enjoy it.

Savory Oatmeal with Kale and Walnuts 

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups chopped kale
  • 1 TBL olive oil, or 1/4 cup water
  • 2/3 cup vegetable broth
  • 1/3 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts or seeds (toasted if you desire)
  • 1 TBL nutritional yeast
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add oil or water and kale, sauteing until tender, 7-10 minutes. -If you cook the kale in oil it will get a bit crispy and yummy bitter like kale chips. If you want your kale more tender as if steamed use water.
  3. While kale is cooking, heat vegetable broth in a small saucepan to a boil.
  4. Once vegetable broth is boiling, add rolled oats and cook, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
  5. Once oatmeal is cooked remove from heat and stir in nutritional yeast.
  6. Add salt to kale to taste, then place kale on a plate, top with cooked oatmeal and nuts.
  7. Serve immediately.

Vegan Lentil and Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Vegan roasted vegetable and lentil pasta
Vegan roasted vegetable and lentil pasta

It’s winter. We just got a huge storm, which is totally fine with me. We are warm and toasty inside and it is beautiful to look at. I even got a little exercise shoveling this morning. Anyway, winter… In the winter I roast a lot of vegetables. I love roasted vegetables and they come in handy for tons of things as leftovers. Also vegetable that are good for roasting are pretty much the only thing at the farmer’s market in Maine in the winter. Pretty much every week I end up roasting a big batch, then using them throughout the week. I have also been making a big batch of lentils and using them as well. I cook the lentils in vegetable broth and the saltiness of the lentils pared with the sweet carmelization of the vegetables is something I crave on a regular basis. This recipe combines the two with some leftover pasta with amazing results. My husband stared at it before eating with a skeptical look, then went back for seconds saying “I just don’t get it, it is so good.” Gluten-free pasta works just perfectly here. I have use a brown rice-quinoa pasta that is a great texture for this. I have also use wheat pasta, so whatever your pleasure.

If you don’t know how to roast vegetables it is pretty much the easiest thing you can do. Some people are a little more picky than I am on cooking times, but I choose vegetables that I like to cook about the same length of time and everything is wonderful. Simply chop vegetables into a uniform size, toss with olive oil and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, stirring every now and again, until everything is browning and carmelized. Done. The house is warm and you have a delicious and healthy treat for the week.

The trick to this pasta is cooking everything until the pasta gets a little crispy which makes it ohh so yummy, and something you can’t make fresh. You need the cold leftover pasta to get the crispiness.

Vegan Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Pasta Using Leftovers

Ingredients

  • *4 cups cooked pasta (gluten free works beautifully)
  • 2 cups roasted vegetables (mixture of butternut squash, onions, turnips, broccoli, and parsnips shown)
  • 1 cup cooked lentils
  • salt to taste
  • olive oil to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add pasta, vegetables, and lentils cooking until parts of the pasta start to become crispy, 5-8 minutes.
  3. Taste and add more salt and olive oil as desired.