Archive for July 2, 2009

Veggie Burger

July 2, 2009 at 11:22 am · Filed under dinner, photo

My aunt Lynda sent me a recipe for veggie burgers the other day. I had never even considered making my own before, but they were really great. I did change the recipe a bit, not only because I compusively change recipes, but because I didn’t buy everything I needed at the store. But really, you could change this recipe in a bunch of different ways. Here’s what I did:

Veggie Burger

1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 egg
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp wochestershire sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp olive oil

Mash the beans together in a bowl (I used a potato masher, but a fork or your hands would work well, too)
Add all of the other ingredients together with the beans, and shape into patties. Be careful not to make the patties too thick or too big… they don’t shrink like real meat, and if you make them too thick they’ll be mushy inside.
Cook on medium heat in a greased skillet for 3-4 minutes on each side.

I added a slice of cheese for the last minute or so, and then I topped my burger with a slice of grilled pineapple. I just popped the pineapple down on the skillet as I pulled the veggie burgers off, and let them cook for a minute or two on each side.

You could add all sorts of things to these burgers. Just try to not add too much more moisture. If things seem too mushy, pop the mixture in the freezer for a few minutes to come together a bit more. You can also up the oats just a bit.

veggie burger

veggie burger

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Garlic Scapes

July 2, 2009 at 11:10 am · Filed under misc, photo

garlic scapes

This isn’t a recipe. This is me jumping on the garlic scape bandwagon. My guess would be that the current infatuation with them started with Dorie. Most infatuations in the food bloggersphere seem to start with Dorie. She posted a recipe for garlic scape pesto, and soon everyone was going to the farmer’s market in search of them.

I was no exception. Char and I went to the North Hills farmer’s market a couple of weeks ago, and I had hopes of finding garlic scapes. But I didn’t really think I would. Their season at the market is so short, and since they were currently showing up in markets all around New England, I figured I was too late for them in North Carolina. But at the first booth we came to, I saw a woman holding a curious green onion looking thing, and I said, “What are those?” “Garlic scapes” she replied, looking like she was about to explain what in the heck they were. I stopped her, “that’s just what I came here for!!!” She said they were the last two bunches of the season, and that there would be no more until next year. They were also the only two bunches I saw at the whole market (to be fair, it’s a small market).

Anyhow, garlic scapes are just the stem of a certain type of garlic. They have a very concentrated garlic flavor, and raw they have quite a bit of a bite to them. Since the ones I got were so late in the season they were tough, and definitely needed to be cooked. From what I’ve heard, the earlier ones are more tender and are great raw.

Here are a few more garlic scape posts from the past few weeks.

Not Without Salt’s garlic scape post

Foodie Reflections did garlic scape pesto on gnocchi

Amateur Gourmet did a post about them

Since I could only come up with two bunches of garlic scapes, I didn’t really think I had enough for pesto. So I added one bunch to the regular basil pesto I was making, and another bunch I diced up and threw in a pot of boiling water with some green beans.

I know it’s a bit cruel to tell you about these now that I possibly got the last garlic scapes for the year in the whole wide world. But… next year, right?

garlic scapes

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Potatoes and Greenbeans with Pesto

July 2, 2009 at 10:56 am · Filed under side dish

Potatoes and Greenbeans with Pesto

This is one of those times that it’s better to just direct you to the blog where I got the recipe. Smitten Kitchen does a great job of taking pictures, and has just an all-around great blog.

I did make a couple of small changes. I couldn’t find pine nuts at Food Lion, and wasn’t in the mood to go to another store, so I used chopped walnuts. And since I had garlic scapes on hand (read about them in the next post), I added one of those to the pesto, and chopped one up and added it to the green beans as they were boiling.

Here is Smitten Kitchen’s recipe

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Black Bean and Corn Salad: take 2

July 2, 2009 at 10:44 am · Filed under photo, side dish

Black bean and corn salad: take 2

I posted a black bean and corn salad a while back, and this one is similar, but still different enough to warrant it’s own post, I think. The main differences are the lack of salad dressing, changing green onions to regular, getting rid of the basil, and using fresh corn.

We went over to Char’s the other night to cook on the grill, and she had a ton of fresh farmer’s market organic corn, and wanted to make some sort of corn salad. We were brainstorming about what goes well with corn, and I suggested blackbeans. She had a can on hand, so we dumped them in. Then we decided that some tomatoes would be good, we used canned with garlic and onion, but fresh would work. Some lime juice, cilantro, vinegar, and olive oil later and we had a great salad.

You don’t cook the corn for this, so the fresher the better. If you can get yummy corn from a farmer’s market, do that. I went with Harris Teeter corn, and it was good, too.

Black Bean and Corn Salad: take 2

6 ears of corn (I used 4 yellow and 2 white)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can tomatoes, rinsed and drained
2-3 tablespoons chopped onion (use less if you use flavored tomatoes)
1 tsp garlic powder (or use some minced garlic, again, use less if you use flavored tomatoes)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro (or to taste)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1-2 limes (or 1 lime and the zest)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Remove husks and silk from the corn, and cut the kernals away from the center into a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Serve with goat cheese on top (optional)

Black bean and corn salad take 2

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