Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

I pinned these from Debbi Does Dinner Healthy, and made them the same time as another recipe, Tuna Quinoa Cakes, that I'll share next. Both have sweet potato and quinoa, so it was easy to prep and make them together. It's been busy around here, so I'll take a little convenience where I can.

The original recipe and photos can be found here. My version is below:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium sweet potato, mashed
1/4 cup corn (I used frozen)
1/4 cup onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup quinoa, pre-cooked
3 Tbsp oats
1 Tbsp cumin
dash of cayenne

Remove the skin from the sweet potato and place in a medium sized mixing bowl. Drain and rinse the can of black beans, and add half to the sweet potato. Using a stick blender, mix them together, until they form a play-dough like consistency. Add the remainder of the black beans and the rest of the ingredients, using the back of a spoon to incorporate everything and slightly mash the whole beans.

Heat the oven to 375° and grease a baking sheet. Form the mixture into small patties and place on the sheet. Pop into the oven for ~30 minutes, flipping once.

I formed mine into 9 patties. Each were 92 calories, 17g carbs, negligible fat, and 4g protein.  

I brought some of these to work to heat up for dinner with some frozen peas, and they reheated nicely. They had a bit of a kick and were full of flavor. I'm not sure I'd like them on a bun, it might be a little dry, but on their own, they were good. Debbi served hers with a big dollop of guacamole on top!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

I have to thank the lovely Kristina for this genius idea of her's!

Johnny and I love jalapeno poppers, stuffed jalapenos, or whatever you choose to call them. They go by many names, but the premise is the same: a seeded jalapeno, stuffed with ooey gooey cheese. This is them- but in sandwich form.

Begin by spreading a couple Tablespoons of cream cheese on bread. Add shredded cheese to the other side.

I seeded and roasted our jalapenos in the toaster oven for a few minutes, to give them a charred flavor. 

Sandwich the jalapenos in between the 2 slices of bread and grill (or use a panini press) to cook your sandwich and melt the cheese.

Slice and enjoy! Feel free to swap out your favorite cheese flavors, or even vegan cheeses, as Kristina did!

Tofu UnStirred Fry

This was one of those dinners that gets thrown together because you haven't gone to the grocery store in forever. Our new house is halfway between grocery stores. 9 miles in one direction, 10 miles in the other. It isn't the most convenient, so I tend to put off going to the store until the last possible minute when the only thing left in the house is a tablespoon of milk and a can of soup. (Not really. But, you get the point.)

I tried to resist all urges to get take out from the delicious pizza place that is < 1 mile from our new home, in favor of a healthier option, so I worked with what I had. It turned out pretty good, definitely healthy, and I'm glad I didn't cave and get take out.

This could be made as a stir fry, but mine is an unstirred fry. Johnny and I got some new "waterless/greaseless" cookware before the wedding (post forthcoming) and I'm learning how to cook with them. Please feel free to cook this however you like- the end results will be the same! 

1 cup, uncooked rice - prepared as desired
1 bunch broccoli, steamed
4 stalks celery, steamed
1 onion, steamed
1 container extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/4 cup Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

To start, I drained and pressed my tofu between two heavy plates in the sink. I sliced it in 1/4" slices and marinated it in the dressing.
I cooked our rice separately. Then, I steamed the vegetables separately. I used our Cuisinart griddler on high to cook the tofu and give it some nice color and grill marks.
I combined the rice, vegetables, peanuts, and remaining dressing in a large bowl and tossed until everything was combined. We served giant spoonfuls, then placed the tofu on top.
Serve with additional soy sauce or hot sauce, as desired.

 

This made a lot - we had huge helpings that night and a big container for leftover lunches. 

 

Entered into My Fitness Pal as 4 servings, each serving is 316 calories, 9g fat before adding additional sauces. Not too shabby for a throw together dinner, while trying to behave!!

Griddler (or Waffle Iron) Hash Browns

Breakfast for dinner had been planned for 2 days. I just needed a lil sumthin' sumthin' extra on the side to round out the meal.

Then, one of my Pinterest friends repinned these hash browns, and it was settled. Original post and recipe can be found here. My take on them is below:

2 medium potatoes, shredded
1 medium onion, shredded
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Shred the potatoes and onions using your preferred method. I used my mandolin, but you could use your food processor's grater, some old fashioned Grandma's kitchen type grater, or just a regular ol' box grater.

Throw the grated potatoes and onion in a medium bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Using a fork, toss everything until mixed well.

Open your Griddler, panini press, waffle iron, or similar weapon of choice. Generously spray with olive oil or non stick spray. Lay the potato mixture out in an even, flat pile, and gently close the lid.

Let cook for 5-10 minutes, and then check on it. The bottom of my Griddler cooks hotter than the top, so I flipped the potatoes at this point. Continue cooking another 5-10 minutes, until they're a beautiful, crispy, crunchy brown.

I served ours with a cheese omelette and turkey sausage links. Later I added some ketchup to the hash browns, but they're delicious on their own. 

It was surprising to get such a yummy crunch from potatoes at home. I usually only get that at diners where I know they slather tons of grease and butter for the desired crunch. Johnny said "holy crap, these are better than Arby's potato cakes." And if you know Johnny, that's high praise. Really high praise.

This whole "recipe" is 266 calories, with ~5g fat from the small amount of olive oil. Both of us ate very hefty helpings (see plate above) and there was still some leftovers.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Don't adjust your computer screens. This really is a new recipe with photos being posted to my blog.

It's been a long, long time, hasn't it!?

But I am so happy to have a kitchen. My pots and pans. A reliable stove/oven. My utensils. My gadgets. And a fridge that doesn't freeze everything. It all makes cooking so much easier and FUN!

I had company visit for Easter break, and while here, we went to our local fruit stand. My God daughter fell in love with teeny bell peppers, so I let her pick out a few so I could stuff them. She liked the yellow ones, so that's what we went with- feel free to use your color of choice.

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 head of broccoli
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
~1 cup frozen spinach
salt, pepper, Italian seasoning to taste
5-8 bell peppers (depending on size, mine were very small lemon-sized ones)

Begin by cooking the quinoa. I cooked mine in vegetable broth. While this is simmering away, prepare the rest of the vegetables by cleaning, chopping, and adding together in a large mixing bowl. Add the beans and the quinoa, stirring everything until combined. Season with salt and pepper, adjusting to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Half and gut the bell peppers, placing in a large baking dish. Scoop heaping spoonfuls of the filling into each pepper, finishing with a generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

Cover the dish with foil and bake approximately 30 minutes, until peppers and vegetables are tender. Reheats well. Also tasty at room temperature!




(Please excuse the photos, I didn't realize until I uploaded them that I changed my camera settings to take small format photos, instead of the usual high resolution ones.)

So, what has everybody been up to!? I try to check in on your blogs, but did I miss anything IMPORTANT you want to tell me about!?

Just Juicy!

For months and months I've been envious of Spabettie's juicing posts. She comes up with the most creative combinations, which result in beautiful photos of vibrant, refreshing looking juice.

Recently, Kristina posted about a juice fast she's been doing. I thought it sounded like a great idea, and was just the motivation I needed to start juicing myself.

I'm sure it's no surprise that the past few months I have been absolutely stressed out. Between finishing my Bachelor's degree, packing to move, being away from Johnny for 2.5 months, re-starting work, planning the wedding, and selling the house in IL there's just been a lot going on.

My cystic acne I had years ago returned, making it necessary to go on a lot of meds. I've been in a lot of pain, which lead me to my mom's rheumatologist to get tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis (I'll know the results next week). Overall, I've just felt pretty crappy, have been on a lot of medications, and have gained some weight and been eating unhealthy.

Scary, and embarrassing to say, but I was actually contemplating buying diet pills. With the wedding in 4 months I'm now feeling desperate to shed about 10 pounds. I bought my dress 8 months ago. It used to fit perfectly, but now it's snug. I want to be comfortable on the big day.

So, long story short - I'm going to be replacing one or two meals a day with juicing to see if that helps my body feel better and shed some extra weight.

Today I stopped by my local fruit stand and the grocery store to stock up.

I bought 10 pounds of carrots, 5 pounds of apples, 6 limes, 4 lemons, 5 pounds of beets, a pineapple, 2 heads of broccoli, a head (?) of celery, a big knob of ginger, and 4 peppers for juicing.

I also bought a bag of mixed greens, a little butternut squash, and a quart of figs for the sake of yumminess.

The first juice I did was pretty tame. I'd never juiced before and I wasn't sure how I'd like the flavor of everything unsweetened and raw.

Four large carrots and two small apples went into this. It was very carroty, but good.

I ate a big meal at work, so by the time I got home I was hungry, but didn't want to eat a huge meal again.

Two beets, two carrots, two stalks of celery, and a lime went into this one. A little more "root vegetable" flavor than I'd like, but still good.

I've also made sure to follow Kristina's golden rule of cleaning the juicer before you enjoy your juice. It's a great motivator and makes it easy for the next time!

Kale Chips

I finally tried kale chips. I know, I know I'm late to the game. But the only place around me I can find kale is at Wal*Mart and I know you won't blame me for avoiding that place.

It's a simple process. Stem the leaves and tear into 3-4" pieces. Rinse thoroughly and drain. Toss in a bowl with olive oil and your choice of spices. You could sprinkle garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, cayenne pepper, etc. depending on your mood.

Spread out onto a greased baking sheet and pop into a 350° oven for 12-15 minutes. The leaves will be dried and crispy when they're ready to be removed. Some areas might remain slightly soggy/steamed but most crisp up some upon standing.

I thought they were good, but they didn't rock my socks off. Plus I think it's a lot of effort for not a lot of product.

If I were to make these regularly, I'd do really big batches because you snarf them down pretty quickly. Although I'm not sure how well they keep and also how the nutrients are once you've baked them to a crisp.

Southwestern Succotash

We enjoyed some of my tamales for dinner, so I needed a quick side dish. Working with what I had on hand, this is what I whipped up.


1 Tbsp olive oil
3 green onions/scallions
1 cup frozen corn
15 oz. can of black beans, drained
1 cup leftover grilled bell peppers
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the scallions. Once they're softened, add the frozen corn and stir until it comes up to temperature. Add the can of beans and grilled bell peppers. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin, stirring to mix everything. Put a lid on the skillet and let it slowly heat through.

The house is coming along pretty well! My dad and cousin got here Monday and have already finished the drywall job downstairs that Johnny and his brother started. The downstairs bathroom is re-drywalled and the shower gutted. Next comes some tile work for the bathroom and fireplace, then they'll be able to paint! It's exciting to see so much work get done in such a short amount of time.

Hasselback Potatoes

I saw these potatoes while clicking around a blog carnival. I was immediately smitten, despite not being the biggest fan of potatoes.

We had company this week for dinner, so what better time to try something "special?" In reality it's just a baked potato, but the presentation is what earns it a gold star.

I used Chris's pictured tip of slicing the potato sandwiched between two items to avoid cutting all the way through. He used chopsticks, I used the handles of two wooden spoons. (See his post for photo demonstration.)

There really isn't a recipe, per se.

Just grab potatoes, give them a good scrub, slice them, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with Kosher salt and black pepper. Pop into a 350° oven for about an hour, until the insides are tender and the outside is crisp and browned.

Serve plain, with butter, with sour cream, or ketchup!

Cold Thai Peanut Salad

I come across recipes I want to try.

A lot.

Most of the time I bookmark them and they sit in wait. It could be days, weeks, months, sometimes years before I get around to making them, if at all.

Then, other times there are recipes I see and I need to make them right then. Regardless if I have all the ingredients or not, it just sounds so good I've got to try and replicate it ASAP.

This recipe is one of those. I got it from Laura, the Queen of All. Her version is here.

My version, modified because I didn't have everything on hand:

mix of No Yolks egg noodles and elbow macaroni
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup your favorite salsa
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 carrots, julienned/shredded
1/2 green pepper, diced
salt, to taste

Cook noodles according to package instructions. (If being "resourceful" like me and using more than one type, make sure to compare cooking times.)

Mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, salsa, pepper, ginger, lemon juice, garlic cloves, and parsley in a pint mason jar. Shake until well mixed, about 1 minute. Taste and add salt as needed. (Fight the urge to put it in a syringe and inject it directly into your bloodstream.)

Drain the noodles, rinse with cold water. Pour into a large mixing bowl with the dressing. Stir to coat and add the sunflower seeds, carrots, and green pepper. Toss to mix everything. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to let the flavors develop.

Enjoy! This is GOOD. I highly, highly recommend.

Garlicky Kale

Cans for Comments - going on HERE. Each comment left on the linked post will equal one can of food donated to a local food pantry. Please help me help others this holiday season! Ends Monday 12/20.

---

Ever since starting Friday Firsts, I'm constantly on the lookout for new and interesting things to try (moreso than usual).

When Foodista tweeted about this kale dish, I bookmarked it. I had been wanting to try kale and this dish looked like a simple, flavor-packed way to do just that.

I doubled the recipe, making slight alterations.

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 bunches curly kale
~8 cloves garlic, minced
~4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
dash freshly grated nutmeg

To prep the kale, remove the stems by holding in one hand and running the other hand's index and middle finger along the stem, "stripping" the leafy greens from it. Place in a colander and rinse really well under cold water.

In a high sided large skillet add the olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, add the kale and cover. It will take about 5 minutes to reduce. Stir occassionally, taking care to rotate the bottom kale to the top, and vice versa.

Uncover and add the garlic, balsamic, and nutmeg. Cook for another minute or two, until the garlic has softened. Toss so the garlic and vinegar are combined well.

Yields 4 generous servings, probably closer to 6 if you're normal. (Hey, we love our veggies, ok!?)

I loved it! It was really substantial, if that makes sense. It had a great, hearty flavor for a green. The tinge of the balsamic was the perfect balance and all of the garlic was the perfect compliment. I'm not really sure what the nutmeg added, but Rachael Ray swears by it, so I had to try, right!?

Hello, new beautiful side dish! Welcome to our house, it's nice to have met you!

Do you like kale!?

Have you left a comment for my Cans for Comments post yet? Please do!

Basmati Rice

Long time readers of my blog will remember that last year Johnny and I took a trip to Washington D.C..

While there, we ate at Lebanese Taverna, a Zagat rated restaurant hailed as being "consistently excellent and authentic Middle Eastern fare." I showed a (very bad) photo of my plate and gushed over the delicious rice that I could not stop eating, even though I was stuffed.

Later, my cousin told me it was called Basmati rice. Aha! I love when I get answers to questions I didn't even know I had! I tracked it down in my store and made it for the first time this week.

Basmati rice (on the left) has long, thin grains in comparison to the shorter, stubbier grains of white rice. When cooked, Basmati also remains free flowing, versus becoming sticky like other rices.

The cooking instructions are similiar to white rice. It is still 1 part rice to 2 parts liquid. However, it is a shorter cooking time of about 12 minutes, instead of the white rice's 20 minutes.

I cooked mine in vegetable broth for about 12 minutes. Then I let it sit for a few minutes and fluffed it with a fork.


Served with baked butternut squash, and a mixture of roasted veggies seasoned with sundried tomato oil.


It was not as good as I remember the restaurant version to be, but still far superior to white rice, in my opinion. I have a hard time eating white rice plain, but this-- this I could shovel in my mouth with no problem or complaints! It's definitely a keeper!

Have you ever tried Basmati rice? If so, did you like it more or less than white rice?

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

You have two days left to enter my surprise giveaway!

I've made Biz's pizza crust several times, but in an effort to eat healthier, I made it with whole wheat flour. The verdict?! Still just as delicious as the white flour version. In fact, it has a little more flavor!

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dried yeast (or 1 packet)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Add the yeast to the warm water and let sit about 5 minutes to activate and become bubbly. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, and garlic powder. Once the yeast mixture is ready, stir the olive oil in and add to the flour mixture bowl. Stir until everything is combined, adding more flour if necessary. The dough will still be slightly sticky, but don't over-flour because you will need to add more flour while you roll it out. This is enough to make two 12" pizzas.

I usually have the oven on at 400° to 425° and pre-bake for 5 minutes or so. Then I spread on the sauce, cheese, toppings and pop back in the oven for about 20 minutes.



This night's toppings were leftover roasted broccoli, fresh spinach, green peppers, onion, and garlic. What are your favorite pizza toppings? And have you ever tried a whole wheat crust?

Vegan Banana Oat Chewies

Allie and my mom are victims of the Harris Teeter reduced rack. Sadly, I don't have one here - but this summer my mom and I bought our fair share of spotted bananas.

The second I saw Allie's Banana Oat Bites I thought "Look ma! Something else to do with dead bananas!" because pretty much all we could think of this summer was banana bread and/or smoothies.

I took three of my own "past-due" bananas out of the freezer and had the bites made in less than 24 hours after seeing Allie's post.

On a pretty funny side-note, when I printed out the recipe, for some reason it printed microscopic! It's all there, perfectly intact, just micro sized! Johnny and I were cracking up.

I made a couple variations to her recipe, since it is so easy to play around with. You can swap out any dried fruits, nuts, seeds, or spices!

3 ripe bananas (fresh, or thawed frozen)
1 cup chopped, dried fruit (I used raisins)
2 cups oats
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

My add-ins:
sesame seeds
sunflower seeds
chopped peanuts
cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg (trust Alton Brown, it makes a difference!)

Begin by chopping the dried fruit so it gets sticky and place in a small bowl with a splash of hot water to slightly rehydrate.

Next, mash the bananas in a large bowl with a fork. Add the oil, extract, seeds, nuts, and spices. Last, add in the dried fruit and the oats, mixing until everything is incorporated. Let sit about 15 minutes for the mixture to moisten, which will let the oats soften.

Form the mixture into patties (I got 16 out of my batch) and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

First of all, these smell delicious throughout the entire process. While mixing, while baking, and fresh from the oven.

I love that they have a crunchy, textured exterior, but the inside is still moist and chewy. The darker bits of the seeds and nuts give terrific depth to the flavor. Johnny thought they tasted like a cross between a cookie and a bran muffin. I agree, they are very chewy, that's why I called them "chewies" instead of cookies, so you don't make them with the wrong idea in mind.

In the future I'm going to play around with more dried fruit, nut, and seed combinations. I am also going to try adding maple syrup because I think that would be a great flavor with the oats as well!

The best part is that these are vegan and if using gluten-free oats, can be safe for those with Celiac. They'd be great to bring to a group event, where they'd be safe for virtually everybody!

Hummus

We've really been trying to cut back on our budget so I thought I'd save a few bucks by making hummus from scratch, versus paying top price for a small, ready-made container.

Johnny and I absolutely love hummus, but I've never made it before. I did a quick google search and picked the one with the shortest ingredient list and 5 star reviews. I wasn't looking for anything crazy, just a basic hummus.

15 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/4 cup liquid from the can
3 Tbsp of lemon juice (more if desired)
2 Tbsp tahini
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
dash black pepper
dash of cumin
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
red pepper flakes or cayenne (optional)

Drain the chickpeas and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid from the can. Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender or bowl. (Try not to drink the tahini straight from the jar.)

Blend until everything is smooth (I did this with my hand blender). *Pause to admire my 10¢ thrift store spatula*

Place in a serving bowl and make a shallow well in the center of the hummus. Add the olive oil in the well.

This will keep in a covered container in the fridge for about a week. If the hummus begins to dry out during storage add more olive oil.

Serve with pita bread, or our personal favorite - fresh veggies!