Posts Tagged by bean burgers
Lazy Girl’s Lentil Burgers
| September 23, 2010 | Posted by Lauren under Dinner, HOTR Eats |
This week, I haven’t felt much like cooking. Blame it on a bad case of post-relay blues, or on being over-tired, or because I found a couple fleas on my disgusting, dirty, lovable furball the other day which has made me itchy ever since. Whatever the reason, when it comes time to make dinner, I’ve been feeling rather uninspired.
I could’ve gone out to dinner, or gone grocery shopping to find some new foods that might inspire a burst of cooking, but I’m trying to save money and put off the grocery shopping until the weekend. So instead, I’ve been surviving on simple, one-dish dinners, doing everything I can to avoid eating oatmeal for every meal.
It finally hit me last night how dumb I was being. Instead of trying to make a dinner from scratch every night, why not just cook a big batch of something simple and use that as the basis of my meals for the rest of the week? Essentially, Meal Planning 101, but hey…sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.
So I filled a pot up with water and got to work boiling a nice big pot of lentils.
My original plan was to actually try Alex’s Lentil Meatballs. But a quick glance in the cupboard reminded me that I didn’t have any tomato sauce or paste or anything, so I changed my mind. Instead, I figured I’d whip up the next best thing: a lentil burger, because it’s quick and easy and because well, if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you’re probably convinced I eat nothing but Mexican food and veggie burgers. And why change that pattern now?
Making these burgers was super easy and just based on stuff I already had in the house. Earlier in the week I had made some Spicy Black Bean Avocado Dip, but used a little less avocado to give it a thicker consistency. I basically just mashed that together with some cooked lentils, breadcrumbs, and a little extra salt. Another super easy recipe for all you lazy cooks out there.
These came out a little flimsier than your typical bean burgers, but are incredibly delicious. I love how hearty lentils are, and how they easily take on the flavoring of other things. They’re cheap, nutritious, and with a little side of veggies, provide a much more rounded meal than a bowl of oatmeal (as delicious as that may be).
Lazy Girl’s (or guy’s!) Lentil Burgers
Makes 2 patties
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooked lentils (see my no-fail lentil cooking method here)
- 1/4 cup Spicy Black Bean Avocado Dip (basically just black beans, avocado, garlic, lemon juice & spices)
- ~1/8 cup bread crumbs
- Salt
Directions
Mash lentils and black bean avocado dip in a bowl with a fork. Once it’s well combined, slowly add in your bread crumbs. You want the mixture to stick together well enough to form a patty, but you don’t want it to be too dry (hint: if the mixture feels too dry and falls apart in your hands, add a little water. Just run your hands under the faucet and shape the patty with wet hands.)
Cook on medium-high heat in a greased skillet (a little EVOO or Pam works about the same) for about 4 – 5 minutes until bottom is golden brown. Flip and repeat.
Sometimes Koli likes to get in on the excitement
And there you have it. Another simple veggie burger recipe that took all of 10 minutes! Makes me wonder why I ever bothered buying Morningstar…
To round out the meal, I had my favorite “lazy girl’s” dessert:
Candy corn + peanut butter. Don’t knock it till you try it. It’s salty, sweet and downright addicting. And as an added bonus, it doubles as the perfect running fuel. 
Cannellini Beans – the other white “meat”
| August 30, 2010 | Posted by Lauren under Dinner, HOTR Eats |
The other day, in search of a different type of veggie burger and some new dinner inspiration, I dumped a can of cannellini beans into a bowl and mashed them together with some lemon juice, fresh cilantro, and a little EVOO.
The result was so surprising and delicious that I immediately called EC. “I think I just found the perfect vegetarian ‘chicken’!” I exclaimed.
His reaction was a skeptical one. “Does it actually taste like chicken?” he asked.
Well of course it does! I wanted to insist. I mean, it’s a white patty with a texture that maybe even looks a little bit like chicken if I squint at it from just the right angle. So what if my memory of chicken’s taste is a little fuzzy from not having eaten it in over 13 years…or that I hadn’t actually added any type of chicken-like seasoning to it – this was the real deal.
The next night EC came over for dinner and my recipe was put to the test. I eagerly watched as he took a bite of his ‘chicken’ patty sandwich, barely waiting for him to finish chewing before asking him what he thought.
“It’s good!” was his only response. “Yeah, but does it taste like chicken??” I insisted.
At that he paused, put down his sandwich, and with a smile he turned to me and said simply: “No.”
Not quite the answer I was hoping for, but I have to at least love him for his honesty. So it doesn’t really taste like chicken. Even so, this light, summery patty is a perfect veggie meat alternative. It’s delicious and super easy to make. And no matter what anyone says, it’ll always be “chik’n” to me.
Lemon Cilantro Cannellini Bean Burgers (aka Veggie Chik’n)
Makes 4 – 6 patties
Ingredients
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup oatbran
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg (preferably local, organic and not from a certain farm in Iowa)
- 2 TBS of lemon juice (more if you like it really lemony)
- 1 tsp garlic
- A generous drizzle of olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
1.) Dump all your ingredients into a small to medium-sized bowl.
2.) Take out your handy-dandy mashing implement and mash everything together until well mixed. But don’t puree it — you want to still have some full/partially full beans in the mix. You also want the mixture to be moist, but not so wet that it isn’t able to stick together.
3.) Take a big handful and shape it into a patty.
4.) Place patties in a lightly greased frying pan and cook over medium heat for 4 – 5 minutes until bottom is brown. Flip and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes, until golden brown.
And voila! Lemon cilantro cannellini chik’n patties!
Serve on a bun, over a salad, with marinated veggies, or in your favorite pasta recipe.
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A couple of additional things:
1.) This past week, I’ve been playing around with the look of the site. So if you’ve been reading these posts in a reader or email, take a quick minute to actually go to the site and let me know what you think!
2.) Tomorrow is the last day of August! Which means if you’ve tried The Core and haven’t let me know yet, please leave a comment here or shoot me an email by midnight on the 31st. I only know of a couple of you who have done it, so at this point your odds of winning my “fabulous” prize are pretty good!
3.) And finally, on a completely unrelated note… I know I talk a lot about public health and marathon running and eating beans instead of chicken, but just so that there’s no false perceptions out there about me, I figured I’d show you the inside of my freezer. Overall, I think I eat pretty healthy, but I do strongly believe in allowing yourself to indulge. Most nights after dinner, I treat myself to some of dessert. And I’m not just talking about indulging in a square of chocolate…
Along with a couple hidden bags of frozen veggies, the only thing inside my freezer:
The Seagrams belongs to EC, but the ice cream is all mine. I’ve got a slight problem – I can’t pass up a sale on ice cream. What can I say…it just goes against my very nature. 
Five Facts
| August 2, 2010 | Posted by Lauren under Misc |
A vague title for tonight’s random post. Because after such a long blogging break, random is the only way to be. So without further ado…
1. Blogging without internet is tough to do.
Yes, I know. This isn’t news to anyone. And if I was a good blogger, I wouldn’t have let a little thing like no internet stop me. But that’s neither here nor there. Instead, this past week was consumed by packing (yes, I finally did it), moving, and unpacking…which is probably even worse. And although I thought I might go crazy during those first couple of days without internet, in the end, it was actually pretty nice. I sit in front of a computer at work, and I found that I welcomed the excuse to not be in front of one at night too.
2. From this day forth, I will always cook fruit into my oatmeal.
Ever since I made this blueberry peach crisp, I’ve been dreaming about eating it at every meal. The closest I can come – blueberry peach oats with granola on top.
Oats made with almond milk, ground flax, cinnamon, peaches, & blueberries, and topped with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter, and blueberry granola
As much as I love the contrast of cold fruit on top of a warm bowl of oats, this is heaven. Nothing can compare to the way the flavor of the fruit is released when cooked…and the pie-like taste of this oatmeal.
3. Organic cheese tastes really different.
Just like the cheese you buy from the deli section of the grocery store tastes different than the stuff in the Kraft package, so does organic cheese taste different than “regular” cheese. It’s richer, more complex, and just all-around tastier. And for all that extra money, it better be…
4. Kidney Beans make really good homemade veggie burgers.
I love my basic black bean burger recipe, but lately I’ve been experimenting with other, simple combinations to mix things up. Kidney beans form an excellent base and give the burger a great texture. I’m still working on perfecting the burger and will share it on the blog once I move it out of my dump-and-pour method and into an actual recipe.
5. And finally, as I hinted above, I have finally admitted to myself that I am a bad blogger.
Not even because I don’t post on a regular schedule or disappear for long stretches of time. No, I’m a bad blogger because two months ago, I created a challenge…a challenge that I didn’t really promote much and that should technically be over right now.
But here’s the deal. Since I declared it the Shape Up Summer Challenge and it’s officially still summer, I am extending it one more month. And I‘m making it even easier to participate. All you have to do is try the workout one time. If you’ve already tried it, great! That still counts toward the challenge. And if you haven’t, I encourage you to give it a try. I‘ve been doing it consistently for the past couple months and am amazed by the changes I’ve seen. I plan to write a post about this in the near future, but for now I’ll just say that I’m officially a strength-training believer.
And there’s more…not only will this workout give you amazing results, but I’m offering an additional prize. If you try The Core just one time, you can choose between any of the original prizes or a box of one of the new Larabar flavors, delivered right to your doorstep. Not a bad deal for just lifting a couple of weights.
So once you’ve tried it, just leave a comment on the official challenge page, letting me know you’ve done so.
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And now it’s time to quickly catch up to the end of The Bachelorette, the show that sucks me in, despite my best efforts to resist.
Remember, if you want to be eligible for the Shape up Summer Challenge, don’t comment on this post. Leave your comment here!
‘Best Ever’ Black Bean Burgers
| April 10, 2010 | Posted by Lauren under Dinner, HOTR Eats |
The first thing I did when I decided to cut down on the amount of highly processed foods I was eating was to experiment with making my own veggie burgers. Veggie ‘meats’ have been a staple of my diet for years and years, and while I absolutely love Morningstar Farms Grillers (…and black bean burgers…and mushroom burgers…ok, pretty much everything they make), their products contain an awful lot of ingredients, many of which I cannot pronounce. Not only that, but they are expensive!
On the other hand, making your own veggie burgers can be done easily with some staple foods you probably already have in the cupboard. And as an added bonus, since you actually have control over what’s going in them, you don’t have to worry about the effects of eating mystery ingredients “X,Y, and Z” on your health somewhere down the line.
I’ve experimented with several different types of burgers – nut/tofu burgers, spinach & mixed veggie burgers, white bean burgers, chick pea burgers, etc. You can use many different things to bind the ingredients together, such as whole wheat flour, cooked quinoa, cooked lentils, or oats. {Although I will say that as much as I love whole wheat flour, I tend to use it sparingly (if at all) in my veggie burgers because the first time I tried making them, I relied primarily on this and they came out very bland and pasty.}
But, no matter how many different types I try, the one recipe I keep coming back to is based off a 2006 recipe in the NY Times by Mark Bittman (the Minimalist). These bean burgers are made with oats and have a lot of flavor! It even got the seal of approval from my carnivorous steak-loving boyfriend – which is when I knew the recipe was a keeper!
‘Best Ever’ Bean Burgers
- 1 14-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- {Generous} ½ cup rolled old fashioned oats (instant is okay, but old fashioned is better!)
- 1 TBS chili powder, or mixture of spices of choice (I usually use a mixture of chili powder, paprika, and a dash—or two—of cumin)
- 1 egg
- 7 or 8 chopped sundried tomatoes (or more if you love them!)
- Garlic salt & pepper to taste
- Drain and rinse the black beans (this is important, otherwise the mixture may be too watery)
- Combine all ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until well combined, but still chunky. The mixture should be pretty moist but if it’s looking a little dry, add a drizzle of olive oil and stir (water or bean stock can be used in replace of the EVOO, but use sparingly!). Do NOT puree.
- KEY STEP – let the mixture rest. This is a super quick, easy recipe, but it’s important to build in some time (3 – 5 minutes) to let the ingredients sit. This will help them stick together while cooking.
- Shape mixture into 4 patties and let them sit again for 5 – 10 minutes. Bittman suggests using wet hands but I’ve never found this to be necessary. I think the easiest thing to do here is to shape them on a piece of wax paper or even cling wrap and let sit out on the counter. If you want to speed the process along, stick them in the fridge for a few minutes.
- Put a thin layer of olive oil into a pan (the recipe says non-stick, but I’ve found that stainless steal really browns the patties well) and heat up on medium heat. Add the patties and cook for at least 5 minutes on one side, or until browned. This is another important step: don’t flip the patties until the bottom has browned, otherwise you risk them falling apart on you!
- Flip carefully and cook the other side for another 5 minutes or so. You’ll know they are done when they’re nice and browned on both sides.
It’s as simple as that! These are great on a toasted bun with salsa, guac, and tomatoes. Traditional burger toppings work great too – I love them with just ketchup, spinach, and some swiss cheese. Also, if you don’t want to make all 4 patties at once, you can refrigerate the uncooked patties for a day or two. For longer storage, I’ve shortened the cooking time on a couple of the patties, wrapped them in cling wrap and aluminum foil, and then frozen. Then when you’re ready to eat, just heat them up on the skillet!
Alright, I’m off to go consume said meal and then on to “Release the Kraken!!” –ahem, go watch Clash of the Titans. Three guesses to whose pick this movie was. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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