Hummus Burgers

Let me tell you, 50+ hours a week of work is rough. Thank goodness I have a great habit of packing my own lunch for work. The airport location for rental cars has no restaurants, not even a Starbucks. Just a little concession stand that sells popcorn and pre-made sandwiches. Gross! On Sunday, I’ll make a couple of things that I can bring to work during the week. My mom will cook up a ton of chicken and I’ll add that to a salad or wrap for work. I’ve been lacking in the veggie department, so I figure making homemade veggie burgers is a good way to get in more vegetables.

I found this delicious recipe for Chickpea Hummus Burgers at the Daily Garnish. It is so easy to make a homemade veggie burger because all the work is done in a food processor. I had to make some substitutes to the original recipe but other then that, these are amazing! I made 7 burgers and had one for work each day.

    

Hummus Veggie Burgers
Adapted from the Daily Garnish

Ingredients
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup green onion
1 medium carrot (10-12 little carrots), shredded/finely chopped
1/2 cup dried parsley
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
In your food processor add the carrots and pulse till finely chopped. Add the flour and sunflower seeds. Add the rest of the ingredients- green onion, parsley, tahini, lemon juice, oil garlic and salt.

Pulse until everything is combined and smooth. Don’t over process or the mixture will be too gummy. Wet hands and form 6-7 patties.

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-heat and coat with a little olive oil. Cook patties till browned on both sides.

I ate my hummus burgers over a salad or in a wrap. It was delicious and kept me completely satisfied!

Enjoy,
Fallon

In a Jiffy Curry Chickpea Burgers

(This post is originally from July 19th, 2010.)

Whenever I see something curry in the blog world it definitely gets my attention. It is a new spice I've introduced to my pantry and I'm loving it! Like when Ashley from The Edible Perspective posted her recipe for Curry Honey Hummus that was the first time I ever experienced curry. Just recently Angela at Oh She Glows took her jiffy burger recipe and transformed it into a Curry Chickpea Burger.


In a Jiffy Curry Chickpea Burgers
(Adapted from Angela, Oh She Glows)

Ingredients:
15 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinse
1/2 cup regular oats
10 baby carrots or 2 carrots ( I used 11 baby carrots for good luck.)
1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1-2 tsp water
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp sea salt, to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
3 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper and set aside. *I used a pizza stone, I left it in the oven while it was preheating to give the burgers a nice crunchy outside.*

Love the colors.

In a food processor, process the oats, carrots and all the spices/seasonings for 30 seconds or until somewhat smooth. Now add in the chickpeas for 1/2 cup increments and coconut oil, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. If the mixture is still a bit dry, add a teaspoon or two of water to have everything come together smoothly.


Once the chickpeas are mostly processed and smooth, take the mixture and place in a medium sized bowl. *I left mine in the food processor, don't forget to remove the blade if you do this.* Stir in the sunflower seeds and pepita seeds.


Wet your hands and shape into patties. Makes about 6-8 patties. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip over for an additional 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy as a burger or on top of a delicious salad!


And a delicious salad it was. I had made a tomato, radish and artichoke heart salad earlier with an orange champagne vinegar. Topped on a bed of romaine and a generous portion of crumbled goat cheese, this salad was popping with flavors! The curry chickpea burgers were the perfect topping to this salad. While the burgers cooked, it also toasted up the nuts that left a great flavor to counteract with the sweetness of the carrots and the tang of the curry spice.


I'll be making these again because they took minutes to put together and minimal kitchen mess!

Fallon
PS: I think this is the year I'll be getting a new camera. Can you see how poor quality some of my photos have been lately? Blurry, grainy.. It is driving me nuts!

Vegan Bean Burgers

I’ve been in the mood to make some homemade veggie burgers. I finally finished the frozen ones I had in my freezer from when we first moved here. Since these burgers were fresh and homemade they were going to be dinner for the both of us. My boyfriend was raised eating meat all the time unless the meal was heavily focused on pasta, then it might be okay. These bean burgers were made up of black beans, gluten free rolled oats, pistachios and delicious spices. To make the burgers more interesting I made my delicious guacamole and used it as a burger topping. I left the cheese off to continue with this being an entirely vegan meal.

My boyfriend’s burger was placed on some whole wheat Tuscan pane bread from Trader Joe’s and huge glob of guacamole. Served with some crinkle cut fries from Alexia and organic ketchup. I opted to enjoy my burger on a bed of spinach and yellow bell peppers. Guacamole for the dressing and a serving of crinkle cut fries.

This meal was DELICIOUS! The burgers were very easy to put together and the leftovers freeze beautifully. My boyfriend liked it but he said,” It wouldn’t be something I’d ask to have but would eat once in a while.” Blah blah blah! ;)

The Vegan Bean Burgers recipe came from the Daily Garnish. The burgers have been around the blogosphere for quite some time and I’m glad I’ve finally had the opportunity to make them. I ended up using salted pistachios in place of the pepitas and left the coriander out and used smoked paprika instead.

Vegan Bean Burgers with Guacamole
Adapted from Daily Garnish

Ingredients
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 carrots, grated
1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1/4 cup pistachios, salted
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Add the oats and pistachios to the food processor and grind until coarsely chopped. Let it run for roughly 10 seconds. Transfer to mixing bowl. Next add the carrots and pulse in the food processor till finely chopped. Add back the oats and pistachios. Add 3/4 of the beans, all the spices and the oil. Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whirl and mix it all together.

Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and fold in the rest of the saved beans. Wet your hands and form into 6 medium sized patties. Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle.

Cool until lightly brown and remove. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy,
Fallon

Happy Valentine’s Day

 (source)

Don’t you feel the love out there? Hah! The only thing I like about this holiday is having an excuse to eat chocolate because chocolate is all over the place! Other then that it is not one of those important holidays. Definitely a cute holiday with all the pink and red hearts, cupids flying around and heart boxes of chocolate. We don’t celebrate this holiday by going out for a special dinner that night and getting a dozen of roses. Instead we stay home, drink wine (eat chocolate too) and hang out.

I like anything with chocolate, if you didn’t know me by now. Like these Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies I made the other day. I had brown bananas screaming to be made into delicious banana bread but I really wasn’t in the mood for banana bread. I wanted cookies! Healthy cookies, so if I wanted 4 cookies I wouldn’t feel bad about eating all 4 cookies ;).

These cookies come from the Clean Food By Terry Walters. Without hesitation I sent myself to the kitchen to bake these up bright and early. All natural ingredients used and could be gluten free if made with brown rice flour. I used whole wheat flour because we don’t have gluten allergies here. I may of added more chocolate chips then the recipe states too ;).

Make these for your honey or for yourself. If they don’t like coconut, leave it out and add more chocolate chips! Depending on the size of your bananas you may need to add a little more flour if the cookie batter is a bit runny. A little tip from me is to freeze the dough for 15 minutes before baking. It will stiffen up the batter and will prevent the cookies from spreading too much. Plus the dough frozen is quite delicious but you didn’t hear that from me!!!

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Clean Food

Makes 21 cookies

Ingredients

2 bananas, mashes

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut

Pinch of sea salt

1/3 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine bananas, oil, syrup, and vanilla. In separate medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, coconut and salt. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and blend until just combined (do not over stir). Fold in chocolate chips.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop batter by the heaping teaspoon onto sheet. There is no need to roll, flatten or shape the mounds. Place in oven and bake 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place directly on wire rack to cool.

Other sweet treats to enjoy on Valentine’s Day:

Almond Joy Chocolate Bark

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Clusters

Dark and Milk Chocolate Brownies

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

White Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Peanut Butter and Honey Muffins

Oat ‘N’ Toffee Grahams

Red Velvet Cake

Always,

Fallon

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls

I wish I had the pleasure to try the original Annie the Baker Cookie Dough Balls. I could order them online but I think that takes the fun out of actually experiencing it in person at an event where they are being featured. They look delicious and something you can’t just eat one of. Hopefully I’ll get to experience the original dough balls one day.

Being this wannabe vegan, I came across some vegan dough balls from Peas and Thank You. She was inspired from Annie the Baker dough balls and decided to create a vegan version. When I become a mom one day, I definitely am inspired by Mama Pea and how she has raised her kids. Vegan or not, it is good to be open minded and try new things, like vegan dough balls of course! Something you can make with kids and you can even eat the raw dough without getting sick! Vegan baking is the best for that reason. ;)

I made these for my friends at a UFC event held at their house one weekend. They seemed to enjoyed them but I definitely kept it a secret they were vegan. Can’t knock it till you try it! I kept them as vegan as much as possible except instead of peanut butter chips, I had extra toffee bits to use up. I didn’t bother reading the ingredients, but I’m sure they weren’t vegan. Then I ran out of dark chocolate chips and mixed in some milk chocolate chunks.

As for that, everything else was vegan from the buttery spread and natural peanut butter. Instead of whole wheat pastry flour, I used spelt flour!

Everything turned out perfect and I decided I will be making these cookies for my first Holiday Cookie Exchange I will be hosting with my good friend Lisa. It’s not a traditional holiday cookie I would normally make but right now I’m really into vegan baked goods, and would like to share it with other individuals! Plus I’ll make sure to keep it 100% vegan for the party.

 

Head on over to Peas and Thank You for the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls recipe.

Ooey, Gooey, Goodness!

Enjoy!!

Fallon

PS: Las Vegas has been so gloomy and cold lately! Check out these clouds. This weather just makes me want to bake and stay extra cozy ;)

Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach

Good morning my friends! How has everyone been? I’m doing great on my end. Work is very busy (YAY!) and if I’m not at work, I’m at Krav. It has been over a month I started going to a Krav Maga studio and you can’t believe how much I’ve improved. My teacher is VERY proud of me and I’m proud of myself, I never thought I could coordinate myself enough to hit, kick, knee, elbow, etc. Let’s just say it is a GREAT way to release built up tension. ;)

My main goal while practicing Krav is protein, protein, protein and less sugar. This method is what keeps me stable and full of energy. In the end I’m actually craving less sugar because of the additional protein. Plus I've always been a carb lover and with extra protein, I’m a happy girl!

In this dish today I wanted to have a side dish with some leftover vegetable pizza. I had roasted butternut squash and huge tub of spinach. Something about cooking it on the stove top in garlic would make a good side dish, but it needed one more thing.. Chickpeas! It needed that extra protein. This dish was wonderful, hearty and very tasty. The roasted squash is a must because it has been caramelized in the oven and adds a whole other layer of flavor to this dish. This dish reminds me of the Fall. Enjoy!



Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach 
Serves 2

Ingredients
3/4 cup of roasted butternut squash, diced
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup baby spinach
2-3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Heat up a skillet on medium-high. Add your olive oil a few minutes later and add the butternut squash to heat up. Next add in the chickpeas. Add a little salt and pepper. Once the squash and chickpeas start to get color and have warmed through, add in the garlic. Cook for a few seconds and add in half of the spinach. Mix till it starts to wilt. Then add the rest of the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until just slightly wilted. Shut the heat off and remain mixing till everything is incorporated and the spinach has been married to the other ingredients.






This dish goes well with grilled chicken or even at your Thanksgiving dinner.

If anything your vegetarian/vegan friends will love you if you make this dish. ;)

Love,
Fallon

Trying tempeh for the first time…

It is not that I’m a picky eater and I do believe in trying everything at least once. As for seafood, I’ve tried, I just can’t stomach it. The smell is gross and the word fish just creeps me out! Soy milk, tofu those items also scare me because of so many controversial issues behind these products. It is great to find protein in other sources but when something that is marketed as being good for you can but may actually cause cancer and mess with your hormones, I don’t want to touch it. Then I think about it and everything can cause something to harm your body. So I believe that everything in moderation is best! I drink soy milk on occasion when I’m out if it is a choice to add into my coffee drink. Tofu I really haven’t given a chance and after trying tempeh I’m definitely interested in trying it soon.

I hope this will taste good!

Look’s interesting…

The green onions were a good addition to the casserole!

I’ve seen tempeh on several blogs and all the reactions were quite positive. It definitely has its own unique taste but in a good way. I have the hardest time consuming protein, so  I’ll take advantage of new protein sources like tempeh. I love owning Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. It has opened up my eyes to explore other sources of food and preparing in different ways. Plus vegan recipes are OH SO TASTY!

Tempeh Hashbrown Casserole introduced me to the new protein called tempeh. I figured if it wasn’t up to par, I could mask it with ketchup or cheese. Except, I didn’t have to do that because this casserole was amazing. Just 260 calories a serving, it was very satisfying and tasty. It was also very simple to make as well using Yukon potatoes, tempeh, tamari, apple cider vinegar, green onions, rosemary, paprika and olive oil. You couldn’t taste like there was something soy in the dish, it tasted almost like bacon and potatoes. Thanks to marinating the tempeh in tamari and apple cider vinegar.

     

The recipe is from the book, so you’d have to buy the book to get the recipe. No one is paying me to write this up, I’m just doing it for the sake of Eat, Drink and Be Vegan for being an amazing cookbook. Vegan or not, I love this cookbook and I’d think you’d like it too. If you know someone who cooks and likes different foods, they’d probably enjoy this cookbook as well! It would make a fun holiday present!

I’m glad to say my first attempt at trying tempeh was a success. Do you have a favorite tempeh recipe? If so, please leave me a comment telling me about it!

Let’s start this week off on a healthy note!

Always,

Fallon

17 Bean & Barley Soup

All I want is a nice, hot bowl of soup! I like chunky soups, on the verge of being a stew. It has to have texture from vegetables, grains and legumes. Plus good flavor and seasoning is key. I’m not really a fan of smooth soups. I just get no satisfaction from them. I want a soup that keeps me full and satisfied for several hours! Trader Joe’s carries a wonderful mix called 17 Bean & Barley Mix. It is a bag of dried beans and barley with a recipe on the back to make it into a soup. Brilliant! A serving packs in 13g of fiber and 13g of protein. I’m so glad that they still carry this soup mix because it is so helpful for me to bring to work for a lunch break. It the easiest and best meal for the working holiday season for me! I know my store will be super busy and this soup will help me work through those busy times! If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, you must pick up a bag of this bean mix. It will  not disappoint! Thanks to my mom for making the soup for me. She has become quite the cook thanks to me guiding her on what she needs to do. ;)

17 Bean & Barley Soup
Ingredients
2 cups Trader Joe’s Bean & Barley Soup Mix (I just use the whole bag)
2- 32 oz vegetable broth
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp. dried basil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 bay leaf
1.2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 16oz Canned tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Soak the bean overnight (optional) in a large pot of water, then rinse and drain. Pour 4 cups of vegetable broth into pot with the beans. In a separate pan, cook onion, celery, carrot, pepper, basil and garlic in olive oil until soft. Combine this mixture and remaining ingredients into the bean pot and cover with more broth. Simmer covered for about 1 hour to desired tenderness. Be sure to occasionally check liquid level and add more broth if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 8 hearty servings.
Honestly this made more then 8 servings because my mom kept adding more broth and/or water as it would cook. The beans took longer than usual, but by the next day they were perfectly cooked. The soup is delicious and to top it off I paired it with my vegan cornbread! YUM!
   

Buon Appetito,
Fallon

PS: Check out Fannetasic Food for a Mighty Leaf Tea & Mug giveaway!

Vegan Skillet Cornbread

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to make cornbread. I just want it to be simple and quick. Lazy me didn’t want to go into the garage to fetch some eggs from the other fridge, so this became a vegan recipe. I subbed in 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons of water. I had inspiration from several cookbooks and ended up adding my own mixture/amounts of ingredients instead. I didn’t want it too greasy and I didn’t want it to be too heavy. Light and fluffy is what I wanted. This is best served warm with jam and/or a buttery spread!

Vegan Skillet Cornbread By Fallon
Serves 14 Approx. 100 calories per serving
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups organic yellow cornmeal
3/4 cups organic spelt flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp stevia (agave or molasses could be substituted)
Dash of sea salt
2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 cup almond milk
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you want a crispier crust, put your pre-seasoned 10 inch skillet into the oven coated with coconut oil. Otherwise just coat with coconut oil and set aside.

Next take your flaxseed and mix with water. Let sit while you put together the other ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then add in the flaxseeds, coconut oil and almond milk.


Mix until everything is incorporated but still lumpy. Pour into your prepared 10 inch skillet. Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes or until done.
You can easily add in other ingredients like frozen corn, jalapeno peppers or sun-dried tomatoes. I would add in some cheese like cheddar or goat cheese but then it wouldn’t be vegan.
After I let it rest for a few minutes I covered my slices with seedless blackberry jam. HOLY YUM! If 1 tbsp of sweetener is not enough, add more. I knew I’d be adding jam to my cornbread, so I didn’t want it so sweet. The bread is moist, airy, light and everything else I’d want my cornbread to be. Next time I would add almost 1 tsp of salt since it was rather bland but still good regardless.

 
What goes good with cornbread? How about bean and barley soup?

Stay tune, recipe coming soon!
Enjoy,
Fallon

ALSO check out this great giveaway going on at Run, Eat, Repeat. It involves Lululemon!