Black Bean "Burger" with Beet and Sweet Potato Roasted Fries

I finally found the time to spend a few hours in the kitchen, taking my time, making some good good food.  Last evening as a Spring rainstorm, that's been happening off and on all week, stormed on, I cooked up a storm in my happy kitchen.

Shout-out to my husband for helping me clean up the colossal mess that came with dinner.

I modified a black bean/quinoa burger I've made a few times before and here's the recipe I ended up using:

ingredients:

1/2 Cup uncooked quinoa

roughly chopped vegetables:
     2 carrots
     1/2 red onion
     1/4 of a small purple cabbage

2 cloves garlic

spice blend:
     1.5 tsp. paprika
     1.5 tsp cumin
     1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
     1/2 tsp. cayenne

1 can black beans, drained

2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sriracha

1/2-1 cup breadcrumbs

olive oil
salt and pepper

cook quinoa with water or vegetable broth.
meanwhile, wash and roughly chop the vegetables.
heat olive oil in a pan and cook vegetables until they begin to soften.
add cooked vegetables, spice mixture and beans to a food processor and begin to mash them together.  (the length of time you process the mixture depends on how chunky you'd like your burger.)

next, mix the tomato paste, soy and sriracha. then add to the bean and vegetable mixture in the food processor until combined.
transfer mixture to a large bowl.

the quiona should be finished by now.  add quinoa and mix everything together with your hands.  slowly add breadcrumbs until the mixture starts to hold together if you ball it up, and loses most of its moisture.  it will be slightly sticky.  make into round patty shapes and set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

while the burgers were chilling and settling in the fridge I made beet and sweet potato roasted fries.

ingredients:
one beet & one sweet potato, both peeled and sliced into thin rounds

salt, pepper, olive oil

optional:  spices such as rosemary, cumin, cayenne...

I saw a recipe for beet chips with rosemary, salt and cayenne here, which I tried.

mix up a small amount of olive oil, a pinch of rosemary, cayenne and salt.
let the beets sit in this mixture for about 10 minutes.

I kept the sweet potatoes plain except for a small amount of salt, pepper and olive oil.

roast at 375 for about 20-25 minutes, turning the veggies over halfway.

Before I cooked the burgers in a pan on the stove, I chopped up some more purple cabbage, red onion and a half of an avocado to top the burgers with.  I also chopped up one adobo pepper (great fridge item to have on hand)... the kind that come in little cans that can be found in the Hispanic section of the grocery store and mixed it with mayonnaise.

Then, I heated some olive oil in the pan and cooked each burger for about 3-5 minutes per side.  The ingredients are all pretty much cooked, the mixture just needs to heat through.

Get that burger on a bun with some toppings and dinner is served!

Another Quinoa Bowl Idea

Happy New Year!!

This week I finally feel like I'm getting back on track after the weird schedules of Christmas and New Years plus winter blizzard/snow day craziness!  Was it just me or did it seem like there were more Christmas cookies around than usual? It was wonderful to be able to spend time with family and friends, but I'm also grateful to be getting back to a normal schedule, though I'm still on semester break from school.  On Sunday I planned, shopped and have been cooking again!!

I haven't been using a lot of recipes lately.  Either out of just convenience or instinct, I'm not sure which it is yet, I've been doing more ingredient combining rather than following others written recipes.  A couple recipes I know quite well by now as they've been popping up at the table many times this season (for instance: butternut squash soup, roasted Brussels sprouts, and black bean soup).

Here's a dish I made last night.... a tasty quinoa bowl that comes together quickly.  I like to use quinoa in a dish where I might use rice and vice versa.  Lately I have been just throwing things together that sound good.

On Winter evenings  I find myself just wanting to eat something steaming hot that comes in a big bowl and can be eaten with a fork or spoon rather than the sandwiches, salads and grilled items that are so good in the warmer months.

What ingredients would you put in a quinoa or rice bowl?  

ingredients:
1 c quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 C vegetable broth or water

1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 C frozen corn
a handfull or two of raw spinach
1/4 lb. pork sausage
1 C black beans, drained and rinsed

salt, pepper, olive oil

condiments:  hot sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream (salsa might also be good!)

Set the water/broth on the stove on high heat, then rinse the quinoa.
Add quinoa and heat to boiling.  Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low.

Prep other ingredients.

Heat olive oil in large skillet and add onions, salt and pepper.  Cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add sausage breaking it up into small pieces.  When sausage begins to brown, Add corn and beans.  Stir and cook on medium heat.  Add spinach last right before plating.  Cook until lightly wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add hot sauce if desired.

Check on the quinoa.  It should be done and the water should almost be gone.  Keep covered and if it's done turn off the heat, if not quite done, keep it on low for a few minutes more.

Mix quinoa and other ingredients in a large bowl.

Serve with toppings such as cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, or salsa... perhaps avocado!

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu

This week I was inspired by the cold temperatures that's are starting to be more normal than just a random occurrence.  The menu consists mostly of Fall and Winter comfort-food favorites from the binder of recipes.

The triumphant return of my favorite Black Bean soup!  so many people I talked to read and tried this recipe last year!  I can't wait to taste it again.  With corn bread on the side.

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Baked salmon with wild rice and frozen peas
I use frozen salmon, take it out of the freezer in the morning and it's good to go in the evening.
I will season it with grated ginger (about 2 teaspoons), soy sauce and olive oil (just a drizzle of each on each salmon piece).
Bake at 400 for roughly 20 minutes

Vegetable and quinoa bowl:  broccoli, frozen peas, onions, carrots and peppers-- perhaps some warm spices like cumin and cayenne!

Back to School Menu

I go back to school today.  That means I need to be more organized when it comes to cooking ad eating.  It's been a blissful summer of cooking on a whim with local or garden ingredients.  However, I won't have that luxury when I have school work looming (which I'm very excited to get back to BTW!).  So here it is... a weekly menu!!

I flipped through the growing pile of food magazines on the coffee table and this is what I came up with. Yum!

gnocchi with pesto, tomatoes and bacon  and green beans

black bean and wild rice burritos

pesto chicken burgers (from Martha Stewart Everyday Food issue 94)  and corn salad with red onion and tomatoes (from bon appetit magazine)

BLTs!

grilled pork and mushroom skewers with basil sauce (from Weber's grilling book) and a salad

 Have a great and tasty week!! 

Last week of March Weekly Menu

Here we are at the end of March!  Spring is here and warm weather and spring vegetables are just around the corner.

Last week I got to cook a lot.  Hooray!  Here's one photo of weeknight cooking.  The yogurt marinated chicken, lentils, and a Matar Parantha-- fried bread filled with a spicy pea mixture.  I didn't get a chance to photograph the fish tacos, but they were delicious. I urge you to try them soon.

On the menu for this week...

Peppercorn chicken with a red wine sauce and salad
The famously delicious sweet potato and black bean burrito
baked salmon with brussels sprouts
Homemade pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic and caramelized onions
Empanadas with fake sausage, parmesan, peppers and onions

Weekly Menu March 4-10

Hello Kitchen Table Friends!

This weekly menu is all about ease.  And beans, it seems.  Even so, I am sampling two new recipes from another food magazine called  Taste of Home. It's a magazine that collects recipe submissions. 

You'll also see a repeat of a recipe from a few weeks back, a nice tortilla soup that contains hearty spinach.  I didn't cook the tortilla chips in the soup like the recipe calls for (does that negate it's title as tortilla soup?) I like them to stay crunchy.  Do try it, the link is below.  It's delicious and easy. 

chunky tortilla soup with black beans 

chicken and black bean stacked enchilada 
I made this last night, and while it didn't make me jump for joy at how interesting it was, it was definitely easy to make and tasted good.  Sometimes that's just what I need.  A recipe that gets food on the table without a lot of fuss or prep time. 

veggie wraps also from Taste of Home

cauliflower gratin with tomatoes and feta from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
For when I want a little more fuss and prep time. Many other bloggers have been kind enough to type this recipe out and it can be found here.

pork chops with brussel sprouts
I will roast both of these in the oven one evening this week after work. We picked up several pork chops from the locker near Ryan's parents' house over Christmas... I think these will be the last ones.  That is if I remember to remove them from the freezer...

Weekly Menu February 13-18

It's Winter.  I'm taking 12 credits this semester. And, I work. It's a busier than usual week at my house. So, let's use the crock pot!  This week's menu includes two soups to warm us up... and should be relatively easy to prepare with limited time.  In planning the menu this week I browsed food gawker and came up with recipes from some other food blogs out there.  I also "phoned a friend",  actually we Skyped, for a recipe.  I love hearing about others' go-to recipes..

chunky tortilla soup with black beans

slow cooker squash stew with chickpeas

salmon Patties and steamed broccoli (one of my go-to meals)

Jordan's go-to baked fish with veggies.

    

Goes well with white fish such as sole, tilapia, etc.  Cut up a few medium sized tomatoes, one good sized zuchinni, chopped onion.  throw in about half a can of chickpeas and throw it all in a baking dish, drizzle all over with olive oil, cumin (go heavy on the cumin!), paprika (also consider using turmeric, coriander, garlic, and/or fennel) and a little bit of cayenne pepper, cover and throw in the oven, 450° for about 35 min. 

I mostly blog about dinner here, but thought I'd include a breakfast or snack recipe for a sweet, cinnamon quinoa.  I'll probably try it sometime this week.  

Have a great week everyone.

I Made Your Dinner!

I made the sweet potato black bean burritos tonight.  I will admit that at first I was a bit leery of the sweet potato and black bean combo for what reason I cannot understand since I LOVE both ingredients.  The aversion was 100% foolish.  What a terrifically tasty combination.  This is a delicious and easy dinner.  Just be careful not to burn the cumin seeds or the potatoes (I almost did!) the outer edges of those potatoes will brown before the rest is tender.  Watch the heat carefully and you'll be all right. 

sweet potatoes with cumin seeds

sweet potatoes combined with corn, beans and diced tomatoes

A couple things I did differently...  I made about a half recipe (our fridge is full of leftovers!).  Ryan had 2 small burritos, I had one and there was a little left over.  Also, I had some leftover diced tomatoes with green chiles from the last time I made black bean soup so threw those in.  I also didn't have any cilantro or fresh limes wedges so I omitted them.

I paired the burritos with a side of quiona with golden raisins and chopped almonds.

Bring 1 Cup water + 1 tsp veggie bouillon to a boil.  Add 1/2 Cup quinoa.  Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

Toast a teaspoon of ground cumin and a some red pepper flakes in a hot skillet.  Add about a handful each of chopped almonds and golden raisins to the skillet and heat until raisins begin to puff up (don't walk away it doesn't take long).  Add to quinoa.  The quinoa is done when most of the liquid is gone and the quinoa has grown larger and formed little rings around the outside.

This quinoa dish is a perfect example of my "well-stocked pantry" mentality. I hadn't really planned a side for this dinner and threw this together by taking a quick peek in the pantry while thinking about the spices included in the main dish.  I usually stock up on walnuts (I put them in so many dishes), almonds and other dried fruits for snacking, to toss in with my hot cereal, baking whims, etc.  I like to keep a variety of versatile grains on hand: several kinds of rice, lentils, quinoa, bulgur, barley, etc. to mix with veggies or other ingredients as I have done here. 


I highly recommend this dish to everyone!

Your Kitchen Table Friend,
Allison 

Weekly Menu Jan. 22-28

Ryan's Chili with Martha Stewart's Buttermilk Cornbread.  Ryan's chili is made with turkey, a lot of beans, our homemade canned stewed tomatoes(!!!) and always while he drinks a beer. We ate this last night.  The leftovers just get better throughout the week.

Homemade pizza with olives and peppers

Cara's sweet potato and black bean burrito

Salmon with lentil salad a new recipe from a book I got for Christmas

Pasta with rosemary and sage sauce

Risotto with rosemary and white wine sauce

I hope I have time for these 2 new recipes From a book by Marcella Hazan that Ryan and I were given this summer but haven't cracked yet...

Have a great week everyone!
Allison

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

Here's an easy meal we put together last weekend. In the winter I'm always looking for delicious ways to get more veggies in while I wait for those farmer's markets to open up again late spring! Sweet potato sauteed in spices make this burrito a very satisfying lunch or light dinner. Prep time is only about 15 minutes. That's pretty quick in my opinion!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp veg oil
2 tsp paprika
salt & pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup corn
a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
some sour cream or whole fat yogurt
lime wedges, to garnish

Toss the sweet potato with the paprika, salt & pepper and the oil. Dry roast the cumin in a hot pan until fragrant. Add the sweet potato mixture and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the edges are golden brown and the insides are tender (about 10 minutes.) Meanwhile, combine the black beans, chopped tomatoes and corn in a small saucepan and heat through. Add the cilantro.

Spoon bean and sweet potato mixtures into warm flour tortillas. Add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and a squeeze of fresh lime, roll up and enjoy.

Black Bean Soup Revisited

I discovered this  delicious black bean soup last winter and have now made it countless times. I've had it on the menu for two weeks in a row, and both weeks I made it on Saturday afternoon. It's a perfect Saturday afternoon soup, because I have found that it is best when stewed for about 45 minutes to an hour (there's usually no patience for that on a weeknight) and it makes nice leftovers for the rest of the weekend.  However, to make it even better, I've been modifying the recipe in cooking method and ingredient ratio and lucky you, I kept track of my changes this time.  Here's what I've come up with so far.

ingredients:
5 slices bacon
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
32 oz. chicken broth
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1.5 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin

1/2 cup frozen corn*
2 Tbsp sour cream

cook the bacon in a dutch oven or large soup pot.  while bacon is cooking mince the onion and garlic in a food processor.  when bacon is brown, remove and set aside.  chop into small pieces later.

add onions and garlic to pot (which should be generously coated with bacon grease-- if you prefer to omit the bacon just add a splash of olive oil). when onions are soft add the broth, beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. cover and bring to a boil.

once soup has come to a boil, reduce heat and remove lid.  allow soup to simmer on medium low until it reaches desired thickness. if you like your soup more soupy, just allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes or so to let the flavors combine.  I like it to be thicker, so I let my soup simmer for about 45 minutes while some of that liquid evaporates and the flavors mingle.

add the corn and chopped bacon at the last fifteen minutes. 
add the sour cream at the last 5 minutes.

*My Secret Weapon!!  I recommend using Iowa sweet corn that was purchased at it's peak and frozen on a thoughtful afternoon, but fully admit I am totally biased on the corn opinion.  

AND another variation....
Cara made it  in a crockpot this week!

Black Bean soup in a crockpot.

I made this in my tiny 2 quart crockpot. I adapted the recipe, basically halving most ingredients, using 1 can black beans, but sticking with the one full can of diced tomatoes. I threw everything in the crockpot (except the lime and cream) then filled to top with chicken stock (maybe 1.5 or 2 cups?). Stewed it on high for 6 hours. Served with a squeeze of lime and a dollop of whole fat yogurt. This made about 4 generous bowls, and it was delicious!

Try this soup. Tell us what you think and how YOU made it!  

Cooking Report: What I Made Yesterday

I made the carrot ginger soup yesterday, creating my recipe from others I found online.  Here's what I used....

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced with the slicing tool on my food processor (!!!).
one onion, minced.
2 inch piece of ginger, minced.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
2 cups vegetable broth.
2 cups water.
1/4 teaspoon cayenne.
2 teaspoons cumin.
1/2 teaspoon curry powder.
salt and pepper.
olive oil.

heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat.
put the onions and garlic in the large pot and cook for about 5 minutes.
add carrots, ginger, spices.  cook for about 5 minutes.
add liquid and cook for 30 minutes. leave uncovered if you desire soup to be thicker, or leave lid on to preserve the liquid. I did about half covered, half uncovered, but found the soup to be a little too watery so next time, I'll leave the lid off most of the time for a thicker consistency.
puree soup with immersion blender (turn off the heat first, for safety!).

I liked my soup,  but there was something left to be desired.  Maybe it was the omission of dairy... many recipes I looked at used heavy cream or coconut milk, which I didn't have or want to use this time around to create a more healthy soup.  Due to the large amount of ginger, it was a little too spicy and not carrot-y enough. I am going to try again.  Suggestions encouraged!!!

I also wanted to share how I made the black bean burritos... 

1 cup brown rice.
1 can black beans, rinsed.
1/2 green pepper, chopped.
1 green onion, chopped.
1/4 -1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes with green chiles.
homemade taco seasoning.         ----------->
olive oil.
salt and pepper.
shredded cheddar cheese.
cilantro.
whole wheat tortilla.
salsa.




cook rice, using 1 1/2 to 1 water to rice ratio.
prep other ingredients and mix homemade taco seasoning.
when rice is almost finished cooking (approximately 15-20 minutes in) start heating olive oil in a medium pan.  add green peppers and green onion.  season with salt and pepper.
when veggies start to soften, add beans, tomatoes and 1-2 teaspoons of the taco seasoning. 
Mash some of the black beans with the back of a spoon.  Mix and keep on low.
Stir 1 teaspoon taco seasoning into the rice.  When it is done, add rice to bean mixture. Mix it together and if you want a little more liquid, add more diced tomatoes.

I topped my bean and rice mixture with a little bit of cilantro, salsa and shredded cheese and rolled it up in the tortilla.  My husband created a salad with spinach, green onions, shredded mozzarella (resourcefully from a piece of string cheese), and topped it with a little lime juice and the salsa. 

This hit the spot. Healthy and delicious!