GF Veggie Burgers

So, as I said in my last post I had friends over for the Silva UFC fight the day before the Super Bowl. When I was putting everything together I thought briefly of a post that I saw on Photograzing a few days earlier. It was an Oreo cooked inside a chocolate chip cookie. Even though I couldn't eat it (yes, I cheated by trying one...and paid for it) and didn't actually read the recipe, I called up my husband who was in the grocery store and asked him to bring home a bag of Oreos (please someone, take them from my house! They are torturing me in the cabinet) and two rolls of chocolate chip cookies. Here are the results:

Moral of the story is, read the recipe first. However, one of my friends did call me a day or two later and said that I ruined his life, because these cookies were so wonderful and he was trying to not to eat sweets! I wasn't going to post this, but I saw the cookies on SeriousEats today and laughed when I actually read the recipe and found out why my short cut didn't work.

I wish I could say this next recipe was a total hit. I have been looking for a gluten free veggie burger recipe for summer and this was my first attempt. The burger itself tastes good. However, they fall apart easily. I do not know where this recipe is from, I have had it on my to do list for a while-sorry!

Do you have a good gluten free recipe for veggie burgers? Please, let me know. (Oh, by the way the bun is not gluten free... this was my husband's burger)

GF Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil

1 cup of thinly chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup of grated carrots

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp of ground smoked cumin

2 15oz cans of kidney beans

2 Tbs of Dijon mustard

2 Tbs of soy sauce

2 Tbs of ketchup

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

salt and ground pepper

Saute the onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add the carrots, chili powder, and cumin and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mash the beans with a potato masher. Add mustard, soy sauce, ketchup and onion-carrot mixture. Mix in the oats and add salt and pepper to taste.

Moisten your hands and mold the mixture into 3 -4 inch patties. Use a non-stick skillet or lightly oil one and cookie the patties on medium-low heat for 5 to 8 minutes on each side.

Vegan Tamale Pie

This is the first year that I have hated winter. Previously I always liked the first two months of cold, November and December--the smell of turning on the heat for the first time, the first snow, the holidays. This year, I was tired of it from the first day of freezing weather that killed the last of my plants who were holding out. No going outside, no botanical gardens, no green... I am over it already. I need it to be March so I can look forward to my daffodils, crocuses, and irises coming out.

Here is a colorful and filling dish to make your winter a little more tolerable. I ran out of cumin and used some of the Jamaican Jerk seasoning that we brought back from our honeymoon instead. I'm not a big fan of cumin so I think Ill use jerk seasoning again when I make this next time but I'll let you know how much cumin to use if you want the traditional taste. I made this for my parent's christmas and it was a big hit as a side dish but could also be a filling main dish. My non vegan family members added sharp cheddar cheese as a topping.

Vegan Tamale Pie

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 15 oz can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups of frozen corn, thawed

4 tablespoons of jerk seasoning (or 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tsp of ground cumin and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper)

2 tsp of crushed red pepper

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 cup of coarse cornmeal

3 1/2 cups of water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute the onion, bell peppers, and garlic until soft. Stir in 1/2 cup of water tomatoes, beans, corn, jerk seasoning and salt to taste. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables soften. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a saucepan bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the cornmeal and 1/2 tsp of salt and whisk to combine. Return to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened. Add black pepper and more salt to taste and take off of heat.

Spread the cornmeal mixture over the bean mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.