Zucchini Burgers // Vegan + Gluten-Free

See a trend? I can't promise I'll be able to swing it every week -- but I'm trying to offer up some tasty recipes that make use of the same ingredients in different ways. And I also like if I can make meals and treats using ingredients primarily purchased at Aldi.

Yesterday was delightfully vegan Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.

Today:

ZUCCHINI BURGERS
Makes 6-8. Vegan. Gluten-Free. Delicious.

What you'll need . . .

• 1-1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 1/2 white onion, diced or grated
• 1 can beans (I used white beans) -- drained + rinsed
• 2 tablespoons flaxmeal
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons sunflower kernels
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika + chipotle seasoning (or other spices)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method . . .

1. Pulse the beans in your food processor a few times. Alternatively, you can roughly mash with a fork. You want them mushy, but not pureed like hummus.
2. Then combine all ingredients in a large bowl. You can use a big spoon or even your hands. Just mix until everything is well incorporated.
3. Then take palmfuls of the "dough" and form 6-8 patties. 
4. Place patties on a plate (wax paper is optional) and refrigerate for an hour or more to help firm up. I actually found the burgers we left in the fridge overnight did better.*
5. Then heat some olive oil in a fry pan on your stove top and cook on both sides until browned.

* Since this recipe doesn't have flour or oats or any other type of grain, it is a bit mushier when cooked. However, if you don't press the burgers down flat while cooking, they keep their shape nicely. Worth it for a true veggie burger sans fillers -- IMO.

Slap between slices toasty bread.

Top with salsa, avocado, or whatever else you desire!

Maybe some Baby Kale Pesto?


Much to my surprise, salsa and mustard make a winning combination! I love these burgers because they are light and seedy. I don't know what it is, but I have a thing with seeds lately. So, feel free to substitute any ingredients you have on hand.

// MORE SANDWICHES + BURGERS:

• Lentil + Quinoa Burgers*
• Black Bean-Tempeh Burgers*
• Vegan Churchkey New Luther MEGA Sandwich*
• Black Bean-Spinach Burgers*
• Caprese Sandwich
• Moosewood Asparagus Melt
• The Ultimate Vegetarian Sandwich
• The Ultimate Stuffed Veggie Burger
• Open-Face Portabella Sandwich
• Vegan Sloppy Joes*
• Green Hummus Sandwich
• Apple-Cheese Bagel Sandwich
• Chickpea Burgers*
• Vegetarian Juicy Lucy
• Veggie Behemoth: The Lover Sandwich
• High Maintenance Melt
• Mayo-Less Egg Salad
• Black Bean Burgers*
• Fire-Grilled Camp Sandwich
• Gourmet Grilled Pizza
• Hummus Melts
• Seitan Dogs, Part I: The Dogs*
• Seitan Dogs, Part II: Toppings

* means VEGAN

Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Spicy Basil Stir-Fry

We got another load of basil in this week's CSA basket. Last week, we made a nice batch of Vegan Walnut Basil Pesto. This week, I wanted to do something different. One of Stephen's favorite Thai dishes is Spicy Basil with tofu.

Recreating this restaurant favorite was fun -- and perfect for what we had in the fridge. Don't be alarmed with all the ingredients you see listed. Many of them are just a dash of this and that required to make the sauce. If you don't have something, don't fret.

SPICY BASIL STIR-FRY WITH TOFU

What you'll need . . . for the stir-fry

• 1 cake of tofu, extra firm -- drained well
• 4 cups (loose) napa cabbage, sliced 
• 1 white onion, sliced 
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 
• 1 large yellow squash, sliced thickly 
• 1 cup red and green peppers, chopped 
• Scant tablespoon chili oil 
• Scant tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

. . . for the basil sauce

• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced 
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar 
• 1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Method . . . 

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
2. When your tofu is well drained (here's how), cut into triangles or squares and then fry on all sides until golden. Set aside.
3. Place all veggies on a rimmed baking sheet and top with the oils, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Roast for 15 minutes. Then stir. Repeat twice, until golden and caramelized.
4. Heat a large, deep pan over medium-high heat on your stove-top. Heat all the basil sauce ingredients together -- EXCEPT the basil. Then toss in your veggies and tofu. Stir a few times, cooking maybe five minutes total.
5. Then turn off the heat and sprinkle in the basil. Let sit for a few minutes until basil wilts.
6. Serve immediately with brown rice.

Stephen always eats his stir-fries with chopsticks. Actually, he uses chopsticks for most any meal you can think of. I shovel mine in with a fork. (What do you do?) However you eat it, though. This is a dish you'll want to make over and over again.

A couple notes: If you don't have sesame oil, use another Asian-y flavored oil, like peanut, perhaps. If you don't have chili oil, use a teaspoon or so more red pepper flakes. No white vinegar? Apple cider vinegar will do the trick. Or maybe more lemon juice instead. And feel free to play around with which veggies you use.

Basically, this recipe isn't pretending to be authentic. At all. I tweaked it as we were making it to see what tasted most like what we've had out.


While we ate our dinner, Ada noshed on some pureed green beans and soft brown rice. She laughed as she ate it, too! PS: If you'd like to check out photos from our 4-day music festival camping adventure, I just posted 'em on Writing Chapter Three!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!.

Read more...

Healthy Lunch . . . In Bulk

Stephen's back at work today. To start his week off right, I spent some time in the kitchen creating a delicious lunch for the both of us. Not only is this recipe healthy, but it also makes enough good stuff for two adults to have lunch for three days (or two, depending on your appetite, cough, STEPHEN, cough...).

I also made some low-fat, low-sugar pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that tasted great but TURNED GREEN (GREEN!!!) overnight in the refrigerator. But more on that fiasco another day.

SESAME COUSCOUS SALAD

What you'll need . . .

• 10 ounces (1-1/4 cup) Israeli couscous
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 small yellow squash, chopped
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Spritz olive oil and capful of lemon juice to cook
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tangerines, juiced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

Method . . .

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the couscous with 2-1/2 cups water and a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil and then lower heat slightly and mix every now and again until all the moisture is absorbed.
2. While that's cooking, heat a spritz or two of oil into a frying pan (my mind is blanking, but the kind with tall sides -- or even a wok). Toss in the sweet potatoes, lemon juice, some salt and pepper and cook until almost softened.
3. Toss the squash into the pan and cook for a few minutes. Season with some salt.
4. Turn off the heat and toss in the couscous and kidney beans. Add the sesame oil, tangerine juice, sesame seeds, and soy sauce.
5. Divide into containers for a quick grab-and-go lunch.

Thanks for all of your easy healthy food ideas from yesterday's post. It's already difficult to stop eating so much sugar, but I know it'll be worth the struggle.

And if you'd like to see what Ada was up to in her sixth week of life, check out (never home)maker, baby!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Adventures in Cereal-Making

A couple weeks ago, I was downing one of my fifty nightly bowls of cereal when it hit me: Why not try to make my own cereal? I had an idea of where to start, but decided to consult more expert sources for this first go-around.

After a quick Google search, I found instructions on Willow Bird Baking. I followed the process exactly, but came up with my own mix of ingredients, including . . .

• 1/2 cup bran
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water

And here's the fun process . . . in photos!


I can hear my mother yelling at me to get off my perch on that chair and keep Baby A safe. I assure you, I had steady balance.


First you just mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the wet. Pretty basic.


The dough will be very wet -- it's almost hard to believe that it turns into crispy flakes. Well, hard to believe before you're done with the recipe. It doesn't morph without a somewhat major investment in time.


There's the initial process of rolling half the dough out as flat as you can get it onto parchment. A little plastic wrap and a rolling pin is useful.

Be careful when transferring to a cookie sheet -- my dough was so wet, I nearly tore the parchment!


Admittedly, I didn't roll out my bran cracker as thinly as I could have. So, I didn't have much of a problem with burning. However, it's important to keep an eye on everything while it's in the oven. Things can turn ugly -- and fast -- if you don't.


While the other half of the dough bakes, tear the cooled bran cracker into flakes. Not difficult, but it was at this point in the process when I started to wonder if making my own cereal was even worth it.


Why? Well, I began to see that half the dough made MAYBE two small bowls of cereal. All of the time and energy . . . and I could devour it entirely in 1 minute or less.

Hmmm.

You then take the second large cracker out of the oven and replace it with the torn flakes. Back into the oven they go for another 20 minutes (as you'll see in the instructions, you must turn them every five minutes to bake evenly). You repeat the tearing process with the large cracker and then repeat the second-bake process with the flakes.

You end up with this:


Which is pretty awesome. Here's a closer look:


It tastes incredible, too. But the whole thing took me at least an hour . . . it messes up the kitchen . . . and there's so little yield.


IDEAS FOR NEXT TIME

• Do a cost-analysis to see if it's worth it to make our own cereal to begin with. I get the sense it is -- plus, the stuff seriously is delicious and entirely customizable. The end-result is similar to Heritage Flakes, which are quite costly.
• Make a quadruple batch. Or more. It would be super easy to double, triple, etc. the recipe. I could also spread it out to get more bang for my time-buck.
• Use two large cookie sheets to bake everything simultaneously. Not exactly sure how this would work with top rack versus bottom, but it's worth a try.

Expect to see that photo of me in the messy kitchen again later this week. It occurred to both of us as we were cooking up a storm yesterday that you don't need tons of space to be an avid cook/baker. There are, however, some tricks to making it work. Before we share ours, do you have any?

Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!!

Read more...

Buckwheat Mustard Loaf

Not enough food posts this week. That's because I've been too busy frolicking in this lovely weather we're having. I promise I'll get myself back into the kitchen (where we women belong, right?) ASAP. Hah. For those of you unfamiliar with sarcasm, please don't post about my snide anti-feminist comment. I'm only kidding! However, I'm a woman . . . I love my kitchen time . . . and among my many flours, sugars, and pretty appliances, I really do feel that I belong.

Deep.

Today I'm sharing an experimental bread recipe -- mostly made up by me -- that turned out wonderfully. It's served best with the hummus-esque dip Stephen made to accompany it. Now, I didn't get fantastic photos (I hate, hate, HATE when that happens!), but I assure you. It's golden. And it's good.


MUSTARD LOAF
(yields one delicious loaf that ultimately serves 16)

What you'll need . . .

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup beer (I used a lager, stick to darker brews)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped red onions
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground pepper

Method . . .

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk yeast into warm water until dissolved.
2. Add beer, honey, mustard, salt, and bread flour (2 cups). Beat until smooth.
3. Slowly stir in remaining flour until a soft dough forms (not too sticky, but not too dry).
4. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic for about 6-8 minutes.
5. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (45 minutes).
6. Punch down and fold chopped red onions and zucchini into the dough; shape into a loaf. Place in a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
7. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
9. Mix together the oil and pepper. Brush top of loaf to generously coat.
10. Bake for 20 minutes.
11. Rotate pan and cover loosely with foil -- bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes (until golden brown).
12. Let cool in the pan and then move to cooling rack.
13. Enjoy with the following dip . . .

ROASTED RED PEPPER/SESAME DIP

Combine the following ingredients in a small foor processor until smooth.

• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup roasted red peppers (with some juice from the jar)
• 2 cap-fulls of lemon juice (so, 2 teaspoons?)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• Dash paprika
• Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Wheat-Sesame Hot Dog Buns

You just can't top those seitan dogs with all those crazy toppings unless you have a good, solid bun foundation. And this one is full of beer, so you just know it's got to be good. We made our own buns because we're not huge fans of the kind you get in grocery stores. And we wanted to do something fun with it. I definitely don't think this is the BEST EVER recipe -- it turned out slightly dry. But, it tastes good . . . and ended up being the perfect base for our purposes.

What made them better in the end was steaming them a bit before placing the dog inside. To do this, we just placed in our microwave, covered with some plastic wrap, and put on high for 20 seconds or so. It helped . . . and, well, you know the rest.


What you'll need . . .

• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup beer of choice (we used Ommegang Chocolate Stout)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup whole wheat bread flour
• 2 cups white unbleached bread flour
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Sesame seeds

Method . . .

1. Stir together agave, yeast, and water. Let sit for five minutes, until frothy.
2. Combine yeast mixture with beer and add 1 cup of the white flour. Mix well.
3. Add 1 cup of the whole wheat flour. Then add the next cup of flour 1 heaping tablespoon at a time. I did end up using almost all the flour, but not all.
4. Mix together and use your hands, if necessary. Dough is ready when it is elastic -- soft, but not sticky.
5. Transfer dough to flour surface and knead for two minutes. Shape like a ball and place into lightly oiled bowl covered with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let rise for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
6. Punch down dough and divide into six balls. Roll into hot dog bun shaped and flatten slightly.
7. Put on a prepared cookie sheet (I used some parchment paper), brush with the olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Let rise again for approx. 30 minutes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, until buns are golden brown.

If you missed parts 1 and 2 of this street food series, check out Street Food: Veggie-Style for the seitan dog recipe and Seitan Dogs, Part 2: Toppings for -- you guessed it -- topping ideas. And if you have anything to add, recipes or variations to share, be sure to leave us a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Three-Seed Crackers

Crackers. We've made 'em before, if you'll remember, the no-flour or yeast variety: Healthy Crackers full of couscous, oats, nuts, and spices. But these are healthy, too. And much more like what you traditionally think of when you crave the snack. Stephen ate most of them himself, so that should tell you just how good they really are!

This recipe is adapted from one that appears in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. We just kicked them up a notch -- took out the egg and parmesan -- and added flax meal, spelt, and sesame and poppy seeds (hence the three seed in the name). Delish!




What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups unbleached white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup flaxmeal
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons agave or honey
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• More salt for sprinkling

Method . . . 

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/4 cup of the warm water and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes (until foamy).
2. Add the olive oil, flours, flax meal, salt, agave or honey, the garlic powder, sesame and poppy seeds, and the rest of the warm water. Attach to a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 1 minute.
3. Switch to a dough hook, and mix on medium-low speed until dough is soft, but not tacky. 2 minutes. I found that I had to add another tablespoon of water because my dough was too dry. If you encounter this issue, too, add water slowly -- in 1 tablespoon amounts -- until you reach the soft, but not tacky consistency.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for five minutes (I actually just kept mine in the bowl mixing with the dough hook for that part). Form into a ball, put in a bowl and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Refrigerate until well chilled (at least 1 hour) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface again. Divide into 16 equal parts (for huge crackers) or 32 (for small crackers).
7. Use a rolling pin to roll out the pieces until they are thin and then transfer those pieces of dough to the baking sheets. Brush lightly with water and then sprinkle with the extra coarse salt you have.
8. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until crisp and golden. Cool on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
9. Crackers stay good in airtight container for up to 3 days.

If you like this recipe, you'll love the Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook. And you still have until tomorrow night to enter our giveaway for a chance to win! It's just our way to celebrating reaching 500 subscribers (that number is now closer to 630)!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...