So I got a bit creative...

Since I'm on a veggie burger kick, I decided I'm totally wing it today and come up with my own.

I wanted to do a lentil based burger for the week and ended up with something a bit more.

I used about 1 cup dried lentils I had left in the pantry and combined that with about 2 cups of leftover Red Mill pea/lentil soup mix with barley, etc. that I had left as well.

From there, I just went nuts and what I got was WONDERFUL! I can't wait to have them this week for lunches.

The use of the remaining soup mix was a great way to go - I may buy more of that and use it for more burgers. It's a nice mix of lentils, split peas, barley and some little ABC pasta which cooks down enough that it helps to hold the mixture together to form the burgers.

I boiled the lentils with salt, pepper and bay leaf.

Once the lentil mixture was tender, I drained it and it made about 6 cups worth of the lentils.

Puree - roughly - in the food processor in two batches.

Once the lentils are done, place an onion and two carrots in the food processor and chop that up. Toss that mixture with the lentils. Season the mixture as you'd like - I went with rosemary, basil, thyme, and pepper. I also added in about 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds for some crunch. I did have to add some oatmeal to help congeal a bit. You could also add egg or bread crumbs. Just let the oatmeal or breadcrumbs sit in the mixture a bit to soak up the moisture.

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Form in to patties - I used my WW 1/2 cup measure as the guideline for getting the patty amount and the 1/2 cup seemed the right amount.

Place on an oiled griddle pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a heated cookie sheet in the oven. I put the oven at 350 and I do let the burgers sit in the oven for a half hour or so to really form and keep their shape.

I tried one this afternoon and they are filling, hearty and delicious!!

I will have to do this one again!

Who needs Burgers and Dogs...

When you can have Ginger Flank Steak and Asian Cucumber Salad for Memorial Day Dinner?

Since we were home today, I took the opportunity to make something nice for dinner - even if it was the holiday meant to have burgers and dogs on the grill.

The flank steak recipe is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Blog - but interesting, as I was putting the marinade together, I realized, it's just abut identical to what I already used - passed down to me from my Sister In Law about 10 years ago. IT"S AWESOME!!!

Then again, I never met a flank steak I don't like - it's my favorite cut of beef if I"m going to eat red meat.

The Salad - WOWSA! So incredible. The recipe came from Cooking Light.

This whole meal, is a make again.

Pioneer Woman's Flank Steak

1/2 cup soy sauce - I used half low sodium, half full sodium

1/2 cup cooking sherry

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 heaping tablespoons minced ginger

3 to 5 cloves minced garlic (I used 5)

1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 flank steak

Combine all ingredients in a glass or ceramic dish. Remove flank steak from package and give it a quick rinse. Coat both sides of meat with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours.

We let it flavor in the fridge until the last 45 minutes. Then we took the pyrex dish out and let it sit on the counter to come to room temp - a tip we picked up on food nextwork and has proven to be a wonderful addition to cooking meat in our house. We grilled it up for about 7-8 minutes per side and it was perfectly done, medium rare in the middle and a bit crispy on the edges.

Asian Cucumber Salad

2 cups thinly sliced, seeded and peeled cucumber - I did not peel this or seed it, I just used an English Cucumber sliced thin.

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup matchstick carrots

1 T sugar

1 T fresh cilantro - I used more about 1/4 cup - we love cilantro

2 T fresh lime juice

2 tsp. fish sauce - we used sweet chili sauce instead

1/8 tsp. salt.

Combine cucumber and the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine. Set aside to chill for an hour before serving to let the flavors blend and mello out the onion a bit.

Fiddleheads made another appearance

I found this recipe on a blog I frequent - Vegan Yum Yum. I have really grown in to loving this blog and it's one of my favorites to visit in my feeds.

The photos are stunning, the recipes are easily laid out, and they are delicious!

I saw this one the other week and it piqued my interest because it is fiddlehead season out here in RI. I had planned to make this recipe this week using the frozen fiddleheads we blanched earlier this season. But we found some nice ones at the market that were fresh so I knew this had to get bumped up in the meal rotation this week.

We made this saturday night for a nice meal in.

I didn't have any dried morels, nor fresh, so I opted for some dried shitake mushrooms that we had in the house and I feel the flavor was still wnderful.

I did made a few alterations - such as using a mix of olive oil and butter to pan fry the gnocchi and veggies in. I also added some garlic to the mix to get the flavors going.

This was incredible, I was not disappointed, nor was the hubs. It was out of this world easy, fresh, light, tasty and delicious!

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Morels and Fiddleheads

The recipe from Vegan Yum Yum is here
This is how I made it to serve two.

2 T olive oil, give or take and 2 T butter

1 16 oz. package gnocchi, cooked and drained and dried.

1 package of dried shitake mushrooms

1 cup fresh fiddleheads washed and dried

1 can quartered artichoke hearts

salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste

Wash and soak the mushrooms until tender - about 20 minutes.

Boil the water for the gnocchi and get them cooking - let them drain and dry.

Heat a skillet with 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter and once hot, add the fiddleheads. Cook until the color begins to brighten and they start to get tender. Add the mushrooms and artichoke hearts and season with garlic, salt and pepper. Once everything is tender, remove to a bowl.

Return the skillet to the heat and add more butter and oil Once hot, add the gnocchi and let them brown, tossing as they cook.

Once the gnocchi are browned, add the vegetables back to the skillet to heat everything. Add a touch more salt and pepper if needed. Toss gently as not to break the artichoke hearts or the ferns.

ENJOY!

It's a new twist on Chex

I was looking for a recipe for a dessert type chex or snack mix to take to our friend's house this week - we're big snackers so we always like something sweet to munch on after our dinner while we're sitting around watching TV or playing games.

I found this on Allrecipes.com and picked it because it was highly rated by a lot of users. It certainly did not disappoint. I will add this to the mix of things to take when I need to go somewhere - heck maybe this will make it's way in to our holiday treat packs we send to friends and family.

Caramel Snack Mix

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white corn syrup
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans and 1 cup almonds - I just used mixed nuts
1 12 oz. package Chex - I used half corn, half rice
*I also added in some pretzle twists*

Preheat oven to 275. Spray roasting pan with non stick cooking spray

In a medium sized microwave bowl, mix butter, corn syrup and sugar. Place the mixture in the mincrowave and cook for 2 minutes or until better melts.

Place the cereal, nuts in the roasting pan. Pour the butter mixture over the cereal and nuts and mix gently.

Bake for an hour and stir every 15 minutes - Mine went for an hour 15 total.

While it is cooling, be sure to stir otherwise it will clump.

Homemade Veggie Burgers

I'm a big fan of veggie burgers, but I don't lovethe frozen ones - they are so greasy and either laden with peppers or have a horrible after taste or texture.

I like making my own, and realized I just need to get better about taking sundays to make some veggie patties for the week.

I tried this recipe this week from Prevention Magazine's site. They are SO incredibly good. I did have to make some adjustments to make it so they would stand up for a week in the fridge, transport and reheating but they came out awesome! They are NOT spicy - you could certainly add a hotter curry to make it have more kick.

Vegetarian Curry Burgers
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil - used light sesame oil.
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 1/2 cups white button mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas - went ahead and used the whole can
1 medium carrot, grated (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro - used dried cubes from Knor.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
flour - opted for breadcrumbs because the whole mixture needed to be more firm


Directions
1. In a medium nonstick skillet over mediumhigh heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion, curry powder, coriander, and fennel. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften. Add the mushrooms. Stir to mix. Cover and cook for about 4 minutes longer, or until the liquid pools in the pan. Uncover and cook for about 3 minutes more, or until the liquid is evaporated.

2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the chickpeas. Pulse until well chopped. (NOTE: I added in the walnuts and cilantro, salt and pepper before I pulsed it - then I blended with the carrots) Transfer to a bowl. Add the carrot, walnuts, cilantro, salt, and pepper and mix well.

3. Lightly dust hands with flour. Shape the mixture into six 4" wide patties. NOTE: Mixture was too gooey to stay together, so I added about a cup of breadcrumbs. This helped firm things up and make it so you could form a nice patty.

4. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Place the patties in the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until browned on the bottom. Flip and cook for about 4 minutes longer, or until heated through. NOTE: I let them cook longer in the skillet on the non stick griddle pan. Then I placed on an air bake baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 to help firm them up so they would withstand storage for the week. Came out perfectly and delicious!

Another Homemade Hummus

I opted for Black Eyed Pea Hummus this week.

I bought the frozen bag at the market of black eyed peas and cooked them down in a can of chicken stock.

I then put them in the food processor with a clove of garlic, zest of half a lemon and juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper and some parsley. I drizzled in about 4-5 T of olive oil on this one.

So flavorful and good. Light with the lemon in there, but a little heartier and less runny than the lima bean hummus from the other week.

Next up I want to try a chickpea, carrot and curry hummus.

Must Eat More Donair!!

Last summer when the hubs and I were in Canada, we tried Donair for the first time and we fell in love with it.

We stopped at the local Sobeys to pick some up and brought it home and placed it in the chest freezer. So we finally decided it was time to give it a shot and we decided to make it as Gyros.

SO GOOD. MUST EAT MORE DONAIR.

We were so sad when it was gone, that I got on all recipes.com and found recipes for how to make the donair at home yourself. So we will try that next time when we have a donair craving.

If you're ever in Canada, try the donair, you won't be disappointed.

Time for some baking!

I found this recipe on the blog Your Home Based Mom. I love her blog, she's crafty, creative, a great baker and cook. This blog is a pick me up every day!

This recipe came to her from the Orgeonian Newspaper. It did NOT disappoint!

I loved these, they were light, delicate, crispy and just enough sweetness. I want to try these as well in the fall with brown sugar and apple zest as well to see how they turn out.

But do make these, they are great to take to someone's house for a party or in to work, they have a lot of appeal.

Oatmeal Lemon Cookies

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C unsalted butter ( 2 sticks)
1 1/3 C granulated sugar, divided
1 tsp lemon extract
Grated zest from 1 medium lemon
1 1/2 C old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Into a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer set on low speed, beat the butter and 1 cup sugar until creamy and light in color, 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. On medium speed, add the lemon extract and zest and beat until blended. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on low until blended. Add the oatmeal and beat until blended.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out some dough and roll it between your hands to form a ball (if the dough sticks to your hands, keep a bowl of cold water nearby and occasionally dip your hands in, shaking off the excess) Place the cookies, 2 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place the reserved 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl alongside another small bowl filled with water.

Lightly dip the bottom of a flat glass in the water and then in sugar. Lightly flatten each cookie, refreshing the glass with every one or two cookies. Bake until the tops are just golden, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies firm and cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

NOTE: I placed some of the wet sugar on top of the cookies too so it had a sugary crust when they came out of the oven.

Preparing The Fiddleheads

It's Spring, that means it's time for Fiddleheads.

The hubs and I took a trip to Whole Foods to see if they had any in stock and thankfully they did. We ended up with about 5 pounds that we brought home. I had read up online how to freeze them for the winter so we could enjoy them year round.

We got the cleaned, blanched and dried and then packaged them up to freeze to enjoy this winter.

We made one batch the other night to see how they were out of the freezer. Certainly not quite the same but still good to have as a special treat. And I had found some recipes that use fiddleheads now too so I think these will work well in those recipes later in the year.

We did end up getting some fresh yesterday at the market as well, and those were better tasting - Our local store had much larger Fiddleheads than Whole Foods did - so I'm wondering if that had something to do with the taste when they were thawed and cooked. Who knows. I'm must happy we got some this year!!

Homemade Hummus

We're trying something new at our house - trying to make more things ourselves at home - avoiding preservatives, using ingredients we know are fresh and what they are and just being more natural with our foods.

In terms of labels we're trying to buy things with 5 ingredients or less - or as the Hubs prefers - things that don't contain words Grandma wouldn't know.

I am trying to do that while keeping a low calorie and fat diet that is rich in veggies and whole grains.


So I decided I would start making my own hummus - since I adore hummus but never find store ones tasty enough for my liking.


I found this recipe for Lima Bean Hummus on the Expatriate's Kitchen Blog. It's a great blog - great recipes, great photos, I highly recommend you check it out.


I made some slight alterations, I didn't do any of the added flavor items she recommends, I just made it as is.

Lima Bean Hummus


1 16 oz. Package frozen lima beans


1 cup vegetable broth, low sodium - I actually ended up needing the whole can to even cover the beans.


2 garlic cloves


1/2 tsp salt


3 tbs. Fresh lemon juice (plus zest strips for garnish) - I used the juice of 1 lemon and zest of one lemon.


Pepper to taste


1/3-1/2 cup olive oil - I cut this down to aboug 3 T of olive oil and it was more than enough.



Heat vegetable broth and frozen lima beans to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the lima beans are soft. Peel garlic, no need to chop. Put everything except the zest and garnish ingredients in the food processor, including the broth from the lima beans. Pulse until it is a nice puree. Add olive oil with processor running until the hummus is the desired texture.




I realized this is SO easy to do, there's no reason to not make my own hummus each week for work to take with veggies and crackers. We've really been enjoying Trader Joe's Everything Crackers.

The Hubs Favorite for dinner

The hubs is a big fan of Mushroom Barley Soup and Beef Barley Soup. Me, not so much. I don't like soups with beef in them. And I never did find a good recipe for Mushroom Barley soup that intrigued me.

He was really in the mood for it for dinner, so I found a recipe I thought sounded like something I'd enjoy and gave it a shot.

It was really good! Easy, tasty, hearty and good. A great winters night dinner or even a cool spring night.

We did freeze some as well and it has re-heated well too!

Mushroom Barley Soup recipe from Epicurious.com

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms or other dried mushrooms such as porcini, morels, or chanterelles if desired
1 cup boiling-hot water if using dried mushrooms
6 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped fine
2 pounds white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup medium-dry Sherry
5 cups chicken broth
5 cups water
1 cup pearl barley
8 carrots, sliced diagonally 1/2 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

In a small bowl soak dried mushrooms (if using) in the boiling water 20 minutes and transfer to a cutting board, reserving liquid. Discard stems of shiitake (if using) and slice mushrooms thin. Strain reserved liquid through a fine sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into another small bowl.

In a heavy kettle (at least 5 quarts) cook garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Add onions and cook, stirring, until pale golden. Add white mushrooms, dried mushrooms (if using), and soy sauce and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Sherry and boil until evaporated.

Add broth, water, strained mushroom-soaking liquid, barley, carrots, and dried herbs to mushroom mixture and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Season soup with salt and pepper. Soup may be prepared up to this point 4 days ahead (cool uncovered before chilling covered.)

Just before serving, stir in parsley.

Greek is the word...

I was inspired by this recipe on All Recipes for dinner when I made this.

It was a nice light, flavorful dinner, but probably could have used some beans or something for some protein because I remember us being hungry a couple of hours later.

Certainly was tasty, easy and fun though. We always like to find new things to make with spaghetti squash - since we grow them each summer in the garden, we always have a pile of them to use the rest of the year.

Greek Spaghetti Squash

I tossed the cooked spaghetti squash with quartered artichoke hearts, diced tomato, feta cheese, oregano and basil - both dried from our garden, and sliced black olives.

So easy and good, good for a main dish or a side.

Tropical-licious

For easter dessert I decided to make something light and springy.

I had a container in the freezer of fresh pineapple that we cut up and froze and it had been in there for so long, I knew it was getting time to do something with it.

I came across this recipe for Pineapple Sorbet and knew it would be a great use of the pineapple.

I can not for the life of me find where I got this recipe from, but it was online. So if it's yours, let me know so I can link it.

This was so tasty, it will be awesome for summer time, barefoot, on the patio, with a giant margarita.

Pineapple Sorbet

Makes about 4 cups

1 whole pineapple

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp vodka or rum - we used vodka but next time I want to use Malibu rum.

Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan, heat until the sugar dissolves. Peel and core the pineapple, then cut the fruit into rough chunks. Puree the fruit and sugar syrup in a blender of food processor, then pour into a bowl. Stir in the vodka or rum. Chill for at least 4 hours, then freeze in an ice cream maker.

p.s. 3 scoops was WAY too much, it's very sweet, one small pyrex dish or scoop will certainly satisfy that sweet tooth!!

Springtime Risotto

My planned meal for this night - which the camera tells me was April 9th - was to make the Spaghetti Squash with Balsamic Beans. However, the Hubs worked really late and I couldn't cut through the Spaghetti Squash so I played around and decided that the box of risotto in the pantry should get used.

Since I was craving something creamy and flavorful I decided to make up a nice spring risotto recipe and just see where it took me.

I started by heating chicken stock and white wine in a saucepan to use to cook the risotto with.

In my pan, I toasted up the risotto, added sliced onion and garlic and started cooking by adding the broth mixture slowly and simmering until tender and creamy.

Near the end, I added 10 oz. of frozen lima beans and a can of drained and rinsed canellini beans. I continued to add broth and simmer until the lima beans were done.

I added in the juice of one lemon, the zest of one lemon, salt and pepper to taste and soem fresh grated parmesan cheese.

This was so filling, so tasty, the lemon added a nice light flavor. The beans made it a hearty one pot meal for dinner. Coupled with some nice fresh asparagus and garlic bread it was wonderful!

A New Twist on Bolognese

I found this recipe on Epicurious.com.

DELICIOUS! A little time consuming with cooking the lentils but still not that bad for a week night meal.

It was hearty, filling, flavorful, and delicious.

I can't wait to make this one again.

Pasta with Lentil Bolognese

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 (16-ounce) cans whole peeled plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped (juice reserved)
1 1/4 cups dried French green lentils
Coarse sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound shaped pasta, such as cavatappi, rigatoni, or ziti
Pecorino cheese, grated or shaved
Fresh basil, chopped (optional)

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook slowly until the vegetables soften and turn golden, about 20 minutes.
2. Increase heat to medium-high and add the tomato paste. Cook until the mixture dries out a bit, about 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved juice from the tomatoes and cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid has reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Season with the salt and pepper and simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the lentils. (If the sauce begins to dry out, add additional water as needed.) Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
4. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain. Serve with the lentil sauce, sprinkle with the pecorino, and garnish with the basil, if desired.

So, the entree wasn't great, but the veggies were!

So I made this so long ago now - my camera says April - and the recipe itself wasn't that great, so I didn't keep it and so you won't get that.

But the green beans... now that's the whole reason for this post.

My most favorite thing to get at a Chinese restaurant are the stir fried green beans. The hubs has a fit though because they are like 7.95 and we get that with other entree items and it does get a little pricey.

So I found this recipe for Garlic Green Beans on BlogChef.net - it's one of my most favorite blogs that I visit daily - the recipes are easy, simple and I haven't been disappointed yet.

They were out of this world and exactly what I had been looking for. I had tried other recipes but nothing was just quite what I wanted - but this most certainly was.

I didn't have any green onion so I omitted that. Otherwise I did everything as is, well maybe a little less red pepper flakes since I don't do spicy so well and that's because I didn't have chili paste. I think next time I may try using Hoisin Sauce instead of Black Bean Sauce for a smoother texture sauce with the beans.

INCREDIBLE!!! You so have to make these!

1lb fresh green beans - I just used the ones in the bag in the produce department that are pre-cut.

1 tablespoon black bean sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 ½ teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon garlic (minced)

1 tablespoon ginger (minced)

2 green onions (minced, white part only)

½ teaspoon chili paste - did not have so I omitted thisbut used crushed red pepper instead.

3 tablespoons oil (for frying)

In a small bowl combine black bean sauce, soy sauce, sugar and rice vinegar. Set aside.

Heat the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add green beans and fry for 10 minutes or until beans have reached your desired tenderness. Remove beans from the wok.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add garlic, ginger and green onions. Stir fry for 15 seconds. Add chili paste. Add the sauce mixture a cook for a few seconds. Return beans to the pan tossing to coat. Serve.

Restaurant Review - Crazy Burger

So I know I've been lax in postings lately, I have a ton of updates to make, but I wanted to post this one.

While kicking around town for the week on staycation - the hubs and I tooled around and decided to try some new restaurants in the area.

We finally made it to Crazy Burger in Narragansett - I've been wanting to try this restaurant for a year or so and was so excited we finally made it there.

What a great, fun, and delicious restaurant. Talk about the most varied menu I've ever seen. The breakfast selection was incredible, the burger options were insane, and I can't even begin to imagine making it through the whole menu it's so huge.

It's a great dining out option for vegans and vegetairans as well because the menu really does have nice options to cater to that lifestyle.

The Hubs and I ended up both having vegetraian options for lunch.

I had a walnut and lentil burger on a polenta patty and the hubs had a mushroom and rice burger with mushroom gravy. Their sweet potato fries are wonderful and the hubs highly recommended their asian cole slaw as well as a side.

We ended the meal with their Key Lime Raspberry Pie and it was decadent and surely home made with a wonderful graham cracker crushed crust.

We can't wait to go back and try the breakfast menu and other burger options - including the salmon burger, lamb burger and pizzas.

Their website for you to check them out if you're in the area is http://crazyburger.com/