Posts Tagged by lemon

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.