Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

This recipe received this comment from my number one top taster (Dave):
"This is the best thing you've ever made."

Yes, I was shocked too. From the man who loves meat - the best thing I've ever made is a VEGGIE BURGER?! You heard it here first.

I swear I'm going to have to try every recipe in the Moosewood cookbook, because every single one I have made so far has been so amazingly delicious (and healthy!).

If you want to try making your first veggie burger - start here. But use a food processor for the chips. An immersion blender doesn't work well for solids (unless you really enjoy having pieces of tortilla chips in every corner of your kitchen. That's when I decided I needed to ask for a food processor for my birthday. Oops.).


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup grated carrots
1 fresh chile, minced; or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup ground tortilla chips*
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large egg, lightly beaten

*Whirl tortilla chips in a food processor until they reach the consistency of coarse meal.


Warm the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions soften, a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and orange juice, lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, combine the ground tortilla chips, beans, and egg in a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher, or pulse in a food processor and then transfer to a bowl. When the vegetables are tender, drain, and stir into the bean mixture.

Form the burger mixture into six patties and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, until firm and lightly crusted.



From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

NPR Poll: Are Your Friends Bombarding You With 'Food Porn'?

I sent a photo of my carrot cake to a friend on Saturday and received this text message back:
"ugh cake porn! that looks soooo good!!!"

I was unfamiliar with the term "cake porn," and was relatively unfamiliar with the word "food porn," until I found this article on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/23/151230939/poll-are-your-friends-bombarding-you-with-food-porn

I don't spend a lot of time taking photos of my recipes; I do try to make them look a little bit pretty, but ultimately I think it's easier to make a recipe when you can see what it's supposed to look like. I wish I had the ability/time to take really artsy photos of my recipes, but that seems to be a waste of time to me when you can spend that time EATING!!

Miso Glazed Salmon

I had a recipe similar to this on my cruise last year, and it was a Canyon Ranch recipe, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I found a recipe that called for using a broiler, but I don't have a broiler, so I just baked the fish. Still came out pretty well. I'm not great at determining when salmon is done, so I definitely have to work on that, but at least now I have a starting point! This was one of the only times I've ever cooked fish on my own...


1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons miso (soybean paste)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450.
Combine ingredients for sauce with a whisk and pour over salmon in a baking dish.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.


(The recipe I used called for four 6oz salmon fillets, but I used a large frozen piece from Trader Joe's that was probably about 10oz. Just as long as you have enough sauce to cover the fish, you're good!)



Original recipe here

Cooking for one: hard boiled eggs

This post is a bit late (obviously) but hey, I've been busy(?)

I've always wanted to make hard boiled eggs, but was under the impression that they were difficult to make. So finally, on Easter, my sister and I made hard boiled eggs ourselves (mostly my effort) so we could dye them. It does take a bit of time to make them (about 20 minutes) but they are great to have on hand especially since I don't really like to cook much for dinner when I get home from work. I made a large batch last Sunday, and had about two eggs each night with dinner, and it made getting protein with dinner pretty easy (you can only eat so many veggie burgers...). Definitely worthwhile for anyone who cooks for one.

I saw a few different variations on recipes, but this is what I did:

Add eggs to a large pot, and add enough water to cover the eggs.
Slowly bring water to a boil.
Allow water to boil for one minute, then remove heat.
Leave eggs in hot water for 12 minutes.
Submerge eggs in cold water to cool immediately.

Carrot Cake

I never really cared much for carrot cake until recently - I think I usually just passed it up for other things when it came to dessert. But over the past year or so I've come to enjoy it a lot more, so of course I had to try making my own. I just ate a piece of this cake, and the spices are really delicious and the frosting is extremely rich. I think I'd prefer something a bit more carrot-y, but this is definitely a tasty recipe to try. I almost totally screwed up the frosting using a substitute for sour cream...my second recipe mixup in one week. I'm losing it!


For the cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb carrots, grated
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans or one 13×9 inch pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer, mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs in food until thoroughly combined. Add oil in steady steam and process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified. Remove bowl from mixture and mix in carrots and flour mixture by hand.

Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top with rubber spatula, and gently tap pan on counter to release air bubbles. Bake cake at 350 until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, and when cool, turn cake right side up onto serving platter.


For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
12 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
4 tsp sour milk (mix milk with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Using a stand mixer, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth.

If making a layer cake with two 8″ rounds, level cakes, ice one layer, add second layer and spread frosting evenly over cake and serve. For 13×9″, spread icing evenly and serve.



Original recipe here

Root Vegetable Hash

I swore off cooking beets for a while...but I had to try this recipe. And I discovered that if you peel the beets before cooking them, they create much less of a mess. All of the other times I've cooked them, I followed Mark Bittman's advice that the best way to cook them is to bake them unpeeled and wrapped in tin foil - but they are a disaster to peel afterwards.

I made this a few weeks ago and have been pretty lazy about blogging lately. Oops! This recipe did last me a good week though - and it's very delicious! Maybe not a good summer recipe, but it was appropriate a few weeks ago when it DIDN'T feel like summer...remember that? (I don't really.) This was another great find from the Moosewood cookbook - and it even says you can eat this for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner!



Seasoning Mixture:
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hash:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups carrots cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups beets peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups turnips and/or rutabaga peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons water


Stir together all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch or larger skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add all of the vegetables and stir well. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture and water and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.


From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Maple-Miso Glazed Tofu with Winter Squash and Broccoli

This one you need some lead time with (1-4 hours to marinate), but a very easy and TASTY recipe! I'd say this only makes about 2 meal-sized servings, so I made some quinoa with it and that went with the sauce nicely. I think probably most any grain would work here.

1/4 cup white miso
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 block of tofu, pressed and cut into dice
1 small winter squash, diced
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
1 cup quinoa, uncooked

Combine the miso, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add in the tofu chunks, mixing so that they are all coated. Let marinate in the fridge for 1 to 4 hours.

Heat oven to 450. Roast winter squash for 30-40 minutes or until tender.

Combine 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until all liquid is gone. 

Spray a large pan with cooking spray and heat on medium heat. Using a slotted spoon, add the tofu to the pan, leaving the marinade in the bowl. Cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes per side and then flip over. Repeat until all sides are browned and crisp. Add broccoli chunks to the pan. Mix to combine and then cover the pan, steaming for 2-4 minutes or until broccoli is cooked but not mushy.

Combine the tofu/broccoli mix, quinoa, and squash in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Add in the reserved marinade and mix until evenly distributed.


Original recipe here 

Happy Blog-birthday

I can't believe I forgot to wish the blog a happy birthday - my first post was on March 18, 2011. So, happy blog-birthday!