Sweet Love and Ginger

Vegan

Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers

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This is a great Copy Cat recipe for Morningstar Farms Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers that is full of flavor!

Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers

Remember way back when I did that whole Part Time Vegetarian thing? Well I’m still kind of doing it. I say kind of because I haven’t really kept track of what I eat in about 3 months, but while writing this post I decided to give my diet for the last little while a run down, and aside from a couple  weekends I’m still doing it with out even thinking about it. How awesome is that.

For those of you who don’t know Part Time Vegetarian, basically means that I only eat meat after 6 pm or with dinner. You can read more about why I started it in this post.

No when this whole thing started I was reliant on humus, bean burritos and MorningStar  products, but as time passes I have really expanded my horizons with hearty salads, tofu, and lots of veggie packed soups (I really love soup). I have also gotten a lot better about eating breakfast, and this Juice has become a staple snack in my life. I find myself craving vegetables like eggplant and zucchini, things that I was previously convinced that I didn’t like.

One of the things I started doing now that summer has hit is experiment with veggie burgers, which are incredibly satisfying and something I don’t know why I didn’t try more often before. I’m pretty sure that I perfected my own version of my all time favorite MorningStar Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers. These burgers from morning start are packed with flavor and great not only in burger form, but cut up in a wrap or on a salad. With this recipe I am able to make my own version in bulk for way cheaper, and then freeze them individually so that I can use them as needed. If you hadn’t noticed I’ve been into that lately.

The trick to keeping these from sticking together when frozen is to freeze them on a sheet tray first and then stack them with wax paper in between before sealing them up.

Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers

I know you are just going to love my copy cat recipe for these burgers. They are so flavorful, and have a dynamic texture that makes it hard to stop after just one!

Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 to 8 Servings
Ingredients
  • 2 (15 Ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 roma tomato, deseeded & chopped
  • 1 cup packed fresh baby spinach
  • 2 tablespoons rice flour + more if needed
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon tumeric
Instructions
  1. Place chickpeas, tomato, spinach, salt and lemon juice in a blender and pulse until the mixture is chunky. You may need to stop and scrap the sides to get it all even, however do not allow it to get smooth.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and with a fork gently fold in the rice flour, garlic, salt, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, and turmeric.
  3. With your hands form the mixture into patties. If it is too sticky fold in some more rice flour a teaspoon at a time. If it is too dry add a drop or two of water.
  4. Once 6 to 8 patties are formed place them on a flat surface to be placed in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes. This will help them hold together while cooking.
  5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the cold patties on a greased baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes per side.
  6. Serve immediately.

Mediterranean Chickepea Burger

What are your favorite vegetarian burger recipes?

 

Related Posts:

Moroccan Chickpea Chili

Moroccan Chickpea Chili

Chicken Caesar Burger

Chicken Caesar Burger

Loaded Greek Salad

Loaded Greek Salad

Red Lentil Stuffed Peppers

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Chuck and I have about a million favorite restaurants, but Boca is pretty high on the list. They are always coming out with more and more impressive items on their Spanish style menu, and they never disappoint.
This recipe is my own version of something off one of their tappas menus. They served piquadillo peppers stuffed with a wonderfully creamy red lentil stuffing that was pocked with texture building black beans. It was served on a super hot plate topped with an amazing salsa verde.
For my version I went with a larger bell pepper, mostly so I didn’t have to stuff 8 million peppers for one meal, and they were cheaper. I served a premade salsa on the side, because I’m a busy girl, and an added side of Spanish style rice to make it a little heftier.
It came out wonderfully, and I have now made it a bunch, it’s so filling that even Chuck doesn’t mind that it’s ‘gasp’ vegan. I mean woah. He does prefer to put the rice inside his pepper rather than on the side.
This is the kind of thing that would make a great dinner party or picky family meal. You could set up all the fillings, meat, rice, cheese, beans, or sautéed veggies and let each person stuff their own pepper before popping them in the oven together.
For someone who always thought they didn’t like stuffed peppers, I am now a convert.
Red Lentil Stuffed Peppers
Red Lentil Stuffed Peppers
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
Vegan Red Lentil and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers 1 cup red lentils 4 medium bell peppers ½ tbsp oil 1 small onion, diced 1 cup vegetable broth 1 tsp cumin ½ tsp chilli powder Salt & pepper to taste 1 (14 oz.) can black beans, drained & rinsed Add 2 cups of water to the lentils and let them sit overnight.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 4 medium bell peppers
  • ½ tbsp oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp chilli powder
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 (14 oz.) can black beans, drained & rinsed
Instructions
  1. Add 2 cups of water to the lentils and let them sit overnight.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Slice the tops off of the peppers and remove seeds, then set aside.
  4. In a thick bottomed skillet sauté onion over medium high heat, until it turns translucent.
  5. Add lentils, broth and spices, stirring well to combine. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.
  6. Return to pan and stir in black beans. Adjust seasonings, and cook until the mixture is thick and creamy (it should roughly hold its shape if you plop a spoonful on a plate).
  7. Stuff peppers with the filling and place in an oven safe pan.
  8. Cover the pan with tin foil and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the peppers begin to soften and brown.
  9. Serve immediately.

Yellow Tomato Jam & Learning to Can

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I’ve mentioned before, rather recently in fact that my tomato
plants have gone a little nutty. A few of them are even taller than I am, and
they are producing a lot. I never realized how many tomatoes you could actually
get from one single plant let alone the 3 that I have.
I decided to try a canning experiment this year, since the
tomatoes are abundant and everyone knows how much better home grown tomatoes
are. I of course went to seek the oh so wise words of the internet for a good
recipe and method for canning these little babies, and settled on this recipe
from Food in Jars.
I made about 1/3 of the prescribed batch, and the recipe for that
is listed below. The sauce was amazing and the spare can I left out for tasting
was gone in minutes. I’m sure this would be a great pairing for scones at a tea
party, or mixed with cream cheese at a cocktail party. It’s pretty versatile and
totally delicious.
Yellow Tomato & Basil Jam
1 1/3 pounds Sungold tomatoes, halved
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 ½ tablespoons basil, chopped
Toss the tomatoes with sugar in a large bowl. Let them sit for an
hour or more and allow their juices to release. In a thick bottomed sauce pan add
tomatoes, their juices and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes
stirring continuously, until the sauce becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir
in lemon zest. Can immediately, or allow the sauce to cool and serve. The sauce
will store for up to one year in sealed jars.
I used the water bath method for canning, which I have seen Miss
Amy do about a million times, though she usually prefers large batches. I think
this method of just sticking leftovers into the water bath while I’m cleaning
up dinner is a method that will work for me. There are always leftovers with it
just being me and chuck around here, and this is a great way to get that
amazing flavor year round, and stay a bit greener, which is always a bonus.

Since I am not an expert yet, (yes, I plan to one day be) I don’t
think my experiences are enough to go by to tell you how to can things
properly. Besides I don’t want anyone to get botulism on my account. I suggest
using this website for the canning basics, it is a wealth of information.

Simple Burst Sun Gold Sauce

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So. Many. Sun Golds.

Aren’t they beautiful? They are so sweet and delicious. I’m
thinking of all kinds of ways to use them in all kinds of recipes. This one so
far is one of my favorites.
This is probably the simplest sauce I have ever made. I don’t
even know if you can call it a sauce, since it’s pretty chunky, but it lent
itself well to pasta so I guess it’s a sauce. I just had so many sun golds that
were supremely ripe and ready to be devoured so I decided to roast them, easily
with some flavor boosters and because I like them in their oozy burst state I
decided not to blend them. Again so easy.  

I’m sure this recipe would work with nearly any type of
tomato, but I like the bright color and super sweet taste in these babies.
For the ravioli I made those about as simple as possible. I
have been experimenting with varying pasta dough recipes to find my favorite. I
used this recipe this time around and found it to be difficult to work and
a bit dry, but that could have also simply been the heat in this tiny kitchen
in the summer. The filling was plain old ricotta, with nothing else, again because
we were going simple here. I also served it with a Pinot Grigio for good measure.
I’m thinking that this sauce at least may make itself into
rotation for our dinner parties, it’s just too easy. We might even have to try
it over some chicken, or with rice or something. Experiments are always fun.



Burst Sun Gold Sauce (Serves 4)

1 quart sun gold tomatoes
½ a medium red onion, sliced thin
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-5 sprigs of thyme
Chopped basil for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine tomatoes, onion, salt,
pepper and oil in a large baking dish. Toss well to combine and spread evenly. Bake
in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to burst, and release
juices. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Kchidhi – Easy, Clean, Vegan, and Delicious

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This is a easy and healthy recipe based on traditional Indian Kchidhi.

In my vegetarian adventures lately I have been stumbling across some really interesting new blogs that I will definitely be sharing with
you guys in the near future. This recipe is one that I adapted from one of these blogs, Holy Cow. It’s a super simple rice dish that I made for my lunch
at the beginning of the week. It was actually filling and satisfying enough to get me through the entire week without getting bored. That is something that never happens.

This recipe actually serves 4-6 people, but I’m sharing it here today because I think it’s a great vehicle for the single person to eat
all week. I just added whatever leftover veggies we had the night before, or steamed up some new ones and I had a complete meal that varied a little
throughout the week.
The version you see here is a simpler version, I guess you could say I “Americanized” it, but I wanted it to be an approachable recipe. The
original recipe isn’t difficult by any means, but I opted not to use a pressure cooker, and frozen veggies, to speed up the whole process.

 

Note: Garam Marsala was not available at my regular grocery store, however I did find it at whole foods.

 (Original Recipe)

Kchidhi – Easy, Clean, Vegan, and Delicious
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6 Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp cayenne
  • 1 tbsp coriander
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp dried ginger
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 ½ cups brown rice
  • 1 cup moong dal (lentils)
  • 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Place the moong dal in a bowl with 1 cup of water and let it sit for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile heat oil in a large thick bottomed sauce pan, saute the onion for 5 minutes or so, until it is translucent and begins to carmelize.
  3. Add turmeric, cayenne, coriander, and ginger stirring for an additional minute.
  4. Stir in tomato paste for one minute then add rice moong dal (with liquid) and then 4 cups more water. Stir well and bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the rice and lentils are soft.
  5. Stir in the frozen vegetables and garam masala. Then remove from heat. There should be some liquid left in the bottom of the pan so that the consistency is similar to a risotto. Serve warm.