Black Bean Burgers

I love when I find a good vegan burger. There are many out there that seem to me a little scary to try. My family of two preschoolers and a husband are subject to my kitchen makings and I want to make that a painless as possible. Most of the time I have to make my food GF and vegan which poses a challenge to find recipes that taste good for everyone, including my husband who is a flexitarian (a person who eats mostly vegetarian and occasionally eats meat.) I found The Simple Veganista blog and love the vegan options she gives. This recipe for Santa Fe Black Bean Burgers was super good. My family loved them, however it was on the spicy side and hard for one of my girls to finish. I think I will omit the cayenne next time. I made the recipe as written. I hope you enjoy.

Spicy Black Bean Burger

Ingredients

1 can (14 oz) organic black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup oats (I use GF)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour, or flour of choice* (I used Almond flour)

3/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne (I suggest to omit this for children who don't like things spicy)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/4 cup chunky salsa or pico de gallo, give or take (choose mild to reduce spiciness) 

1 tablespoon sesame or olive oil

corn meal, for dusting (I used course grind) (optional)

Method:

1) Drain and rinse black beans in colander. In a medium size bowl mash black beans with a strong fork or use a potato masher, leaving some chunks for texture if you like. 

2) Add oats, flour, spices, salt and salsa, mix again. If mixture is too wet, add more flour to the mix, if a little dry, add more salsa.

3) Shape your patties into whatever size you like. I made 5 patties. 

4) Give a light dusting of corn meal if you have it, it will give a nice crunch, flavor, and cook up crispy. (I did not use this as I was out of cornmeal.) 

5) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet on medium. Cook for about 5 five minutes each side. It's ok if the cornmeal gets a little crispy.   

I served mine with peas and a side of hummus and GF crackers.

I also chose to serve without a bun. It was really yummy and filling.

This was my girls' plate.

*Suggested accompaniments: red onion slices, leafy greens, and/or salsa. Mashed avocado as spread, or sliced avocado. 

My girls eating this supper. 

Gluten Free Tortillas

It is amazing how much better my daughter feels after being off gluten for about two months. Since changing her diet to gluten free, we have found that there are many products out there for her, but in reality they don't taste very good or totally different from what she was used to. One of her favorite things to eat were tortillas. She would run to the snack drawer and pull out a tortilla just to eat. We tried the Udi's tortilla, even though they were similar consistency, she found they smelled funny. She refused to eat them. I was then in a bind. Being vegetarian we eat a lot of beans and usually use them in burritos and taco salads. I had to find an option for her that she could eat when the rest of the family had tortillas. Not fun to watch your baby upset because she can't have what everyone else is eating. I then decided to venture out and look for a tortilla recipe. I have tried two recipes and both were a flop not to mention very detailed and time consuming just to make two tortillas. I recently found one that looked much more simple on Yammie's Gluten Freedom blog. After making these, I made plenty and it took half the time. The taste? Super good. I would say they are pretty similar to the gluten ones and the consistency is the same. An A+ in my book. This will become a regular recipe in our family. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Gluten Free Tortillas

Ingreditents:

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 tablespoons shortening 
3/4 cup water

Method:

1) Mix together the rice flours, tapioca flour, white sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.

2) Mix in the shortening with your fingers until well combined. Add the water and mix well. If the mixture is still dry, add a little more water.

3) Heat an ungreased skilled on medium-high heat. Roll out tortillas and cook each one on the hot pan until it begins to bubble. Then flip it and cook until the bottom has some brown spots. They're the best if you stack them on top of each other as they come out (this softens them up a bit). 

4) You can also throw a slightly damp towel over the top one. These keep pretty well in a plastic bag in the cupboard. 

Pinto Bean Burgers

If there is a time where you have a lot of pinto beans left over, here is a great recipe to use them up. I was so impressed with this that I will be making this recipe as a dip for parties and gatherings. Love that it is vegan too. I found the recipe off of yummly.com, to be honest, I just googled pinto burgers and this was one of the first sites to pop up. Hope you enjoy it and if so, share my blog with others. 


Pinto Bean Burgers

Ingredients


15 oz pinto beans (rinsed and drained- if in a can).
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chipotle chile (adobo minced)- I omitted this as my husband does not like too much of the smoky taste.
1/2 cup salsa
1 slice jalapeno pepper (pickled pepper cut and minced)
2 Tbs. olive oil
5 Tbs. Breadcrumbs- Plain dried ( These can be gluten free or vegan) 
4 hamburger buns
4 lettuce leaves
cilantro

 Olivia trying the beans before mashing them. 

 My Juliana.

Method:

1) In medium bowl, with potato masher, mash pinto beans until smooth. Stir in cumin, chipotle, pickled jalapeno, 2 tbsp salsa, and 2 tbsp breadcrumbs until combined.

2) Place remaining 3 tbsp breadcrumbs on sheet of waxed paper. With floured hands, shape bean mixture into four 3-inch round burgers; coat with breadcrumbs.

3) In nonstick, 12-inch skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add burgers and cook until slight browned on both sizes, about 8 minutes, turning burgers halfway through cooking.

Note: The burger on the left, I flipped too early and it broke. 

4) Spoon remaining 1/2 cup salsa on bottom halves of buns. Top with lettuce and burgers. Serve burger with cilantro, onion, and sour cream if desired.

Olivia loves the burger.

**Note- This makes a really great bean dip for chips. **

Tortilla Casserole

This recipe is my own. I was wanting to make something Mexican since Mike likes is so well. After I was almost finished with it, I decided I wanted to put this one on this blog. So unfortunately this is the only pictures I have of this dish. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to experiment with this recipe and tell me about it.

Tortilla Casserole

Ingredients:
4 - 10 in. Flour Tortillas
1 large can Refried Beans
1- 8 oz pkg. of Veggie Cheddar Cheese (This is a soy cheese, you can modify to your own liking).
1 can Vege-burger mixed with 1/2 package of Taco Seasoning (This is a Vegetarian burger)
2 Cups Mild Salsa

Method:
1) Place 2 tortillas on the bottom of a glass 9x13 pan.
2) Layer the following: Bean-Burger-Cheese-Salsa.
3) Repeat Steps 1 and 2 until all ingredients are used.
4) Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Note: Morningstar Vegetarian Griller Crumbles will work, but you need two packages mixed with 1/2 cup water and about a 1/3 package of Taco Seasoning.

Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Potato Skins

So I decided that I wanted something completely different for supper tonight. So I saw on foodnetwork.com some ideas for potato skins. Out of all the options, I found the Tex-Mex ones. However, I was not thrilled with the recipe that was given, so I decided to make my own and found that it was really good. It passed the "Mike test", which is where my husband thinks it is good and would have it again. So, it is now an added recipe to my book.

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients:


3 Medium sized potatoes
1 c. Re-fried Beans
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash Salt-free Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend
 Sour cream or Tofutti sour cream (which is vegan)
Salsa
Shredded Cheese or Shredded Veggie cheese (which is vegan)
5-6 Pickled jalapeno pieces (for decoration)
Olive Oil


Method:

1) For a quick baked potatoes, poke 3 medium sized potatoes and put in microwave for about 7 minutes. If you prefer to cook them in the oven it usually cooks for 1 hour.

2) After potatoes come out of the microwave carefully scoop out potato centers into a glass dish. Mash the potatoes and add re-fried beans.

3) Add spices and mix the ingredients well. Put in microwave for an additional minute.

4) Take potato skins and rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in pan on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and place 3 skins on each plate.

5) Fill each skin with the re-fried bean mix. Be careful not to fill it to much.

6) Top each skin with cheese, sour cream and salsa. Then add a jalapeno piece on top for decoration.

Serve and enjoy.