quick & easy veggie burgers

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Jen

Last night I wanted to whip up something quick for dinner.  I kept thinking about all of the CSA veggies we had sitting in our fridge and needed a good way to use them.  Something different than the normal stirfrying, roasting or grilling.

What about veggie burgers?!

Quick & Easy Black Bean & Veggie Burgers

Makes about 12 patties

(recipe inspired by Oh She Glows In a Jiffy Burgers)

I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, so I just added what I did have and I think they cam out pretty good.  Next time, I would season them more!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cooked black beans
  • 3 small carrots
  • 2 spring onions (bulb and stalk)
  • 1 cubanelle pepper (or pepper of choice)
  • 1 stalk of beet greens with stems removed
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • 1/2 t dried chile pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup curry flavored sunflower seeds (Kaia Foods)
  • 2 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup spelt flour

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Place all of the ingredients (except for the nuts, oats and flour) into a food processor and blend until smooth.  You can leave some chunks if you would like.  It is all personal preference.

After the mixture is blended, transfer it to a large mixing bowl and mix in the seeds, oats and flour until well mixed.  I mixed in the seeds, then oats, then flour in small increments.  Only use as much flour as you need.  My mixture was wet, so I added all 3/4 cups.

Shape the mixture into patties of any size.  This amount will make about 12 normal size patties, but next time I may make them smaller and roll them into balls as salad toppers!

Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes, then flip and bake another 15 minutes or so until patties are cooked, but not too dry.

We served these patties on a toasted whole wheat bun with a little mozarella cheese and a roasted red pepper/artichoke spread.

Along with kale chips and pickles as sides.

They were delicious!

You could also grill these, but you might want to bake them a little first to help them stay together.

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stuffed patty pan squash

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Jen

Last night, I was determined to turn my Patty Pan Squash into something amazing.  I was craving a good, healthy dinner and that is just what I got!

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe for stuffed patty pan squash on Oh She Glows, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I basically followed Angela’s recipe, but made some modifications for what I had on hand.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

adapted from Oh She Glows (original recipe here)

Ingredients:

  • 4 Patty Pan Squash
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 2 small carrots
  • 1 spring onion, bulb and stalk
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 2 cups cooked black beluga lentils 
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 small jar tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter of choice 
  • sea salt & pepper to taste 
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • sprinkle parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

Cut the tops off of your squash and the zucchini in half and scoop out the insides.

I sliced my zucchini into smaller pieces so that they would be easier to eat.

Add the squash and zucchini meat, onion bulb and stalk, carrots and garlic to your food processor and blend until smooth.

Let that mixture sit until you have your rice ready.

Add your cooked brown rice and lentils to a pot with the butter and tomato paste.  Warm over medium-low heat until the butter is melted and everything is mixed in.

Then, add the veggie mixture to the rice mixture and mix well.  Add italian seasoning (or seasoning of your choice), salt and pepper to taste.  I added about 1 tsp of salt and pepper.

Stuff the squash and zucchini.  I like them to be overflowing!

Then bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until the squash is tender.  23 minutes was perfect for this amount!

Let cool for a few minutes before serving and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

We loved these!  They were perfect and the tomato in the rice was awesome.

Glad I have leftovers for lunch today!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

use up your csa veggies stirfry

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Jen

What did I want for breakfast on a Monday morning to start off the work week?!  Dessert, of course!

I had a few frozen bananas in the freezer just waiting to be used, so I whipped up a batch of banana softserve, but made it a little bit fancier.

To my food processor, I added:

  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 tbsp of peanut butter

Once it formed my peanut butter banana softserve, I put it into a bowl and added a sprinkle of trail mix on top and a drizzle of chocolate coconut butter.

It was so good and very filling.  You should make this right now!

My lunch options were limited today because we were away for the weekend and don’t pick up our CSA until tomorrow night.  But, we still had some kale and and avocado left, so I made do.

Honey Avocado Massaged Kale Salad

I tore up my kale stalks and washed the leaves.  Then massaged in some homemade dressing – 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tbsp balsamic, drizzle of honey and lemon juice,  pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Really use your hands and massage the leaves to spread the dressing evenly and to break down the kale a bit.  After it was coated in dressing, I mixed in 1 very small chopped avocado and 1 ounce of sweet curry sunflower seeds (from Kaia Foods).

It turned out great.  Along with my salad, I had an apple and chocolate yogurt.

Snacktime came late today, but I needed something to get me through my workout and cleaning before dinner, so I snacked on a Liberate Glo Bar and a few dried mango slices.  This bar was great.  I like the texture of the regular Glo Bars better, but for a raw and gluten free bar, this was awesome!  And, the flavor tasted just like banana bread!!

For my workout, I did 40 minutes of Jillian Michael’s No More Trouble Zones, then cleaned my whole condo!  That was a workout itself!

Once dinner rolled around, we needed to use up the rest of our veggies before picking up our new CSA tomorrow.  In the fridge we had the following:

  • 1 bulb fennel
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 2 spring onions

What do you do with those crazy ingredients?

You make a Use Up Your CSA Veggies Stirfry!

My feeling is that anything can be made into a stirfry.  I chopped one onion and fennel and sauteed them over medium heat with a little olive oil and garlic.  After about 7 minutes, I added in the chopped green pepper and cooked the mix for 5 minutes.  Then added 1/2 of the chopped cabbage along with some lemon juice, white wine, salt and pepper and cooked for another 5 minutes.  The flavors actually worked!  I was pleasantly surprised.

I served the stirfry with some leftover eggplant parmesan from Friday night’s dinner and a locally made pickle.

I am stuffed! :)

Filed under: CSA, Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

pesto & eggplant parmesan

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Jen

Check out the gorgeous flowers my husband came home with today!

What a great guy! :)

What is better on a Friday night than a home cooked meal?!  Sure, going out is nice, but you won’t always get something as delicious as this:

Pesto & Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 -2 cups almond flour
  • Italian seasoning mix (or herbs of choice)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • homemade Garlic Scrape Pesto (see recipe below)

I pretty much made up this recipe on the spot with what we had on hand.  It isn’t the healthiest version of eggplant parm (for super healthy eggplant parm, you can just bake the eggplant), but I wanted breaded eggplant, so here is my take.  It turned out great!  However, next time I think I would do a few things differently:

  1. Use a thicker tomato sauce
  2. Cook the eggplant for longer pre-baking
  3. Bread the eggplant, then pre-bake it to brown instead of frying (obviously, you need more time for this!)
  4. Use more pesto!!

On to the recipe!  I am going to take you through step by step, so bare with me. :)

Start off by slicing your eggplant, keeping all of the slices the same size.

Set up your dipping stations.  Whisk 2 eggs together and pour onto a plate or low bowl.  Scoop the almond flour onto another plate and mix with herbs of choice.

Dip the eggplant slice by slice into the egg,

then into the almond flour mixture.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and warm 1 tbsp of olive oil.  Then, add the first batch of breaded eggplant and ‘fry’ on each side for 2-3 minutes until browned.

Repeat for the next batch.

Once all of your eggplant is ‘fried’, preheat your oven to 350F.  Then, begin to make up your dish.

Start with a layer of diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce).

Add a layer of eggplant, scoop on some pesto, and add 1/2 of the mozzarella.

Add a little tomato sauce, then repeat the steps adding some pesto and ground pepper to the top.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling, then add a few basil leaves for garnish and broil until slightly browned.  (Make sure you watch it closely while broiling, as it browns fast!)

Once it is out of the oven, let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

We enjoyed our eggplant parm with roasted cauliflower and sugar snap peas.

It took about 60 minutes to make everything, but once in a while, that is definitely worth it!

If you try it out and make any tweaks, let me know.

Garlic Scrape Pesto

  • 5 garlic scrapes
  • large handful fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup toasted almonds
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Throw everything into a food processor and blend until smooth.

This was so delicious that I wanted to eat it by the spoonful, but instead I spread it onto some bread.

You can use any pesto you want, but I suggest you give this one a try!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

have you tried romanesco?

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Jen

It was another scorcher out there today!

I could not drag myself out of bed this morning for a workout, so I ended up heading out for a run after work.  It was definitely hot, but there was a cool breeze along the water and it was nice to be outside after a long workday.  I completed a 5 mile run & 1 mile walk in 60 minutes, then lifted a few weights once home.

  • Bicep curls
  • Tricep kickbacks
  • Overhead press
  • Chest press
  • Tricep Extension
  • YTA’s
  • Pushups
  • (complete 3 times with 1 min rest between each circuit – 12 reps per exercise)

It felt good to fit in some weights after over a week off.

I was dying to use our CSA beets for juice this morning, so in to the juicer went the following: 2 carrots, 2 small beets, 2 small apples, knob of ginger.

This tasted awesome!

Served along with some healthy fats and carbs – 2 homemade Carrot Banana muffins toasted and smeared with 2 tbsp almond butter.

My breakfast completely hit the spot this morning and left me feeling full and satisfied.

In fact, it kept me full until lunch when I broke out some leftovers.

Cabbage & Apple Slaw

I added a base of plain cabbage, then placed the slaw on top.  Served with yogurt and blueberries.

This yogurt was a pretty good replica of Stonyfield’s Chocolate Underground yogurt.

I hate to turn the stove on when the temps are this hot, but I was in the mood for pasta tonight after my workout.

Romanesco & Cauliflower Pasta

I wanted to use the romanesco that we received in our CSA yesterday, so I picked up some pasta on my way home.

Ingredients:

  • 12-16 ounces pasta of choice (preferably penne or rigatoni)
  • 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
  • 1 spring onion bulb & top, chopped
  • 4 garlic scrapes, chopped (or 2-3 cloves garlic)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup low sodium vegetable stock
  • 1 small head of romanesco (or broccoli), cut into small florets
  • 1/2 large head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 sprigs rosemary, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

I started out by boiling water and cooking my pasta according to the package instructions.  I decided on a tricolor pasta that is colored by beets, spinach and bell peppers – yum!  Nothing artificial in the mix.

While the pasta was cooking, I began to cook my veggies.

Begin by heating butter over medium heat.  Once melted, add onion and garlic.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes, until golden brown.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the vegetable stock and wine.

Let cook for 1 full minute, then add broccoli, cauliflower, lemon juice, rosemary, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook for a full 10 minutes over medium-high heat.

After 10 minutes, add the pasta to a serving bowl.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixture, Parmesan cheese and walnuts.

Serve with extra cheese!

From start to finish (including chopping and cooking) this meal took less than 30 minutes to complete.  It is definitely worth it!  The flavors all worked really well together and the romanesco and cauliflower were cooked perfectly.  The red pepper flakes gave it a good amount of kick.  The romanesco was good!  It definitely tasted like broccoli, but with more of a bite like cauliflower.  I hope we get it again!!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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