We Heart Beet Burgers

I have a couple recipes for you this that feature a special ingredient: B-E-E-T-S. I figure since it's Valentine's Day and all, why not make everything bleed red to add color to the festivities? Well, there's that. AND we often roast large batches of beets and -- besides eating them plain/whole -- don't know what to do with them.

Problem solved.

Now, if you need instructions for how to roast beets, check out this post. They taste much better than the canned variety. 

BEET BURGERS

What you'll need . . .

• 1/2 onion
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic
• 1 can canelli or kidney beans, drained + rinsed
• 1 large beet (roasted, skinned, chopped -- a solid half cup or more)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped red peppers
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• Spices of choice. I used 1 teaspoon curry powder, thyme, paprika, salt + pepper
• 1/3+ cup cornmeal

Method . . . 

1. In a food processor, chop the onion and garlic until minced.
2. Then add the beans, beets, oats, and spices. Pulse 5 to 6 times, scrape down sides, and pulse another few times until chunky, but better incorporated. Season more as necessary.
3. Place container in the fridge for a half hour or so. Then when you're ready to cook, take out of the fridge and mix with 1/3 cup (or more -- add 1 tablespoon at a time) or cornmeal. You want the mixture to be soft, but not wet. It will firm while cooking.
4. Place a pan over medium heat with some olive oil inside of it. Shape the mixture into patties.
5. You can make two gigantic burgers, 4 sensibly sized ones, or 8 sliders. Depending on how many Valentines you have in your life this year, I guess.
6. Cook on both sides until golden brown.
7. Serve on buns or between two mini rounds of our new favorite naan.

Not only do these beet burgers look gorgeous (and perhaps freaky to meat-eaters who might think you're chewing on a very rare meal), they taste great, too. The earthy sweetness of the beets really shines through. We've made these three times already with different variations on beans and spices -- so feel free to play around.

Stay tuned for a beet muffin (vegan + gluten free) recipe later in the week as we continue to celebrate Valentine's Day. And tomorrow I'll post more grocery savings tips!

xoxo

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Smoked Chipotle Bean Burgers

Bean burgers are an easy way to get in a solid vegetarian meal. But how you season them can make or break their tastiness. Stephen's brother gifted us some Smoked Paprika-Chipotle seasoning for Christmas . . . and I knew the minute we opened it that it'd be perfect in tons of recipes, but especially burgers.

You can spice these patties anyway you like. But if you're going for a semi-authentic taste (but let's be real -- I'm not trying to replicate meaty burgers), try a smoked variety. I've noticed more and more smoked spices popping up on grocery shelves. They're great for soups and stews, too!

CHIPOTLE BEAN BURGERS

What you'll need . . .

• 1/4 cup red quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce (Frank's RedHot Kickin' BBQ)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon smoky paprika chipotle seasoning (or whatever seasoning you want)
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup (we used a habanero-infused variety!)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can canelli beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional, but fun!)

Method . . .

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of water with the red quinoa until boiling.
2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Set aside.
3. Continue cooking and stirring until all the liquid is absorbed and quinoa is cooked through.
4. In a food processor, combine the garlic, BBQ sauce, olive oil, chipotle seasoning, and maple syrup.
5. Then add in the black beans canelli beans, breadcrumbs, chocolate chips, and quinoa. Mix until incorporated, but still a bit chunky.
6. Form into 12 patties and place on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes on each side. The outsides of the burger will be crisp while the insides remain somewhat smushy (but tasty).

NAAN

I used this quick and easy naan recipe, but modified it in the following ways:

• I made only a half batch, as I froze half of the burgers this recipe makes.
• I used half white bread flour, half whole wheat flour.
• I omitted the sugar.
• I let the dough rise for 30 minutes, but skipped the second 1-hour rise with wonderful results.
• I portioned out the pieces so it made 8 small naan versus only 5 as the recipe specifies.
• I used olive oil in place of the Ghee.
• I imagine if you'd like to make the recipe vegan, you could use a flax egg (see our handy conversion chart) in place of the egg.

If you'd like to check out some of our other burger recipes, try these:

Chickpea Burgers
Vegetarian Juicy Lucy
Black Bean-Tempeh Burgers
Black Bean-Spinach Burgers

And if you follow (never home)maker, baby! -- today I wrote about why breastfeeding SUCKS. No, it isn't another rant.

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Roasted Sweet Potato Stew

You're in luck. Today, you get TWO recipes all for reading ONE post. These days, I don't often get time to roast veggies. Taking the time was totally worth it in this case. The oven temperature made our kitchen warm and cozy. The time those sweet potatoes, onions, and peppers spent in the oven gave them tons of flavor.

This hearty winter stew lasted two nights in our household. That's a lot of delicious dinner.

ROASTED SWEET POTATO STEW

What you'll need . . .

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 1 green/yellow/orange/OR red pepper, chopped (I used a frozen bag mix of all -- about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 large white onion, sliced
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Fenugreek
• 1 can (15 ounces) Canelli beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 ounces) low sodium veggie broth
• 1 large can (32 ounces) whole tomatoes, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon cilantro (I only had dried on hand, I would have preferred fresh)

Method . . .

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, pour in your olive oil, salt, pepper, and Fenugreek.
3. Once you have your sweet potatoes and peppers chopped, your onions sliced, and your garlic minced, toss all these ingredients into the bowl with the oil mixture. Toss to coat well.
4. Pour veggies onto your prepared baking sheet. Put in your preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Then take out, stir around a bit, and return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. Until well roasted.
5. In a food processor or blender, blend together the tomatoes, vegetable broth, and cilantro. Make sure to drain and rinse the tomatoes first. If you use the juice, the dish will be too tomato-y.
6. Place the broth in a large, oven-safe stock pot. When the veggies are done roasting, turn off the oven heat. Mix them -- AND the Canelli beans -- into the broth and place in the oven for 15 minutes. (This allows the flavors to mix without making the roasted stuff bloated and soggy.)
7. Serve with buttermilk biscuits (recipe below).

VEGAN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

What you'll need . . .

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance
• 1 tablespoon golden flax meal
• 1/2 cup almond milk

Method . . .

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside. (I made the stew and biscuits at different times of the day -- but you could easily make these first and have the oven all preheated for the stew!).
2. Toss all your ingredients -- EXCEPT the almond milk -- into a food processor. Pulse until well incorporated and mealy.
3. Pour into a medium bowl and then add the almond milk. Fold with a spatula a few times. Don't over-mix. Just fold until everything is moistened.
4. Scoop 1/4 cup amounts of the mix onto your baking sheet. Should make 6 biscuits.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Then let cool before serving.

Read all about Ada's 8th week of life today on (never home)maker, baby! We're amazed at how she's grown in just two short months. Very much looking forward to her well baby checkup next week!

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