The most delicious veggie burgers
Our cooking group meets once a month and we cook up a storm and swap meals. We each take home 4 different vegetarian entrees and this is what Gillian made for us this month. So good. So good.

Veggie Burgers

These veggie burgers get their rich, earthy flavor from mushrooms and nutty quinoa, and are topped with sharp radish sprouts and cool cucumbers. Greek yogurt is a zesty Mediterranean replacement for ketchup.

Ingredients

Serves 6.

* 2 portobello mushrooms (8 ounces), stems removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 small zucchini
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
* 1/4 cup minced shallot (1 large shallot)
* 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
* 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
* 3/4 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions (2 cups cooked)
* 2 teaspoons coarse salt
* Freshly ground pepper
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 1 1/2 cups fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs
* 6 whole-wheat buns, split
* Yogurt-Garlic Sauce
* 1 cup radish sprouts, or other fresh sprouts
* 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Directions
1. Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped, and transfer to a bowl. Shred zucchini, place on paper towels, and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Add to mushrooms.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add shallot and red-pepper flakes, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and zucchini, and cook until tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and add Parmesan, quinoa, and salt. Season with pepper. Let cool completely, then stir in egg and breadcrumbs. Cover, and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 1 hour.
3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Shape mixture into six 1/2-inch-thick patties, pressing firmly. Cook in batches until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
4. Wipe pan clean, and return to medium heat. Brush cut sides of buns with oil, and heat buns, cut sides down, until toasted, about 1 minute. Spread yogurt-garlic sauce on cut sides of bun halves. Divide burgers, sprouts, and cucumber among bottom halves. Sandwich with top halves.

Copyright 2009 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Kid Cobb Salad: Don't let the name fool you

I found this recipe at Atascocita Branch Library, where I worked in Texas, in an old parenting magazine. And we used to eat it a lot when we lived in Houston but it fell off the menu list when the kids came around (something about lettuce that kids don't, at first, understand). We had it on Saturday night and I remembered why we loved, loved, loved it. So, here you go:

1 head of romaine, chopped
1/2 cup of carrots, chopped
1 large avocado, chopped
1 cup roasted turkey breast, chopped (we used Tofurkey)
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese (any type)
4 strips of crumbled bacon (we usually leave this out)
Ranch dressing

And while it doesn't sound like much, it's surprisingly filling and yummy.

Not-my-mum's Shepherd's Pie
And that is because it's from the Joy of Cooking but I've modified it somewhat. It's really really nice and although I make it with soy grounds, would be good with any kind of ground meat, I'm sure.

1.5 lbs of potatoes (that's about 6-8 medium)
butter
salt
canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
1/2 zuccini, chopped
8 mushrooms, chopped
frozen peas and/or corn
2 cups of soy grounds (or 1 lb of cooked ground meat)
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup of stock
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh rosemary (I tend to use sage here)
s&p
butter

Peel, quarter, boil the potatoes. Drain but save some cooking liquid in the pot and mash potatoes in the pot with butter and some salt.
While potatoes are boiling, heat oil in a pan (i use the medium cast iron) and cook the veggies until soft (start with onions and add the rest once the onions are softened). Stir in the grounds, and then sprinkle the flour over the whole mixture. Cook, stirring for about 2-3 minutes, then pour in the stock. This will thicken very quickly. Stir in the herbs, and spoon mixture into a shallow baking dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes over top, smoothing down and dotting with bits of butter. Bake at 400 for about 30-35 minutes (will probably bubble over so put something underneath to catch the drips), turn oven to broil and broil until top is browned, about 2 minutes.

Jeannie's Zero Point Soup
A few nights ago, I decided to try this soup of Jeannie's. However, because I was feeding a 3 year-old, I added a couple of fattier items, didn't think it was so good to feed her zero points at night. Turns out she wasn't wild about the soup after all, but that could be because she ruined her appetite with crackers and cheese prior to dinner. Oh well. I really liked it though.

Nearly Zero Point Soup
Saute in olive oil 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 onion, chopped. When fragrant, add 2/3 c sliced carrot, 2/3 c chopped cabbage, 2 chopped parsnips, 1/2 c chopped turnip, 6 cups of broth, 1 tsp of tomato paste. Bring to a boil and season with dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 25 minutes then add 2 zucchinis, chopped and cook about 5 minutes longer. Cool soup slightly and stir in plain yogourt (if soup is too hot, the yogo will curdle). Serve with chunks of avocado in the soup and cornbread.

Making Rice-Nut Burgers

A good pal over at womantalk.org posted a recipe that I've wanted to try for a while now. And the impetus came when Ben and I finished some PC bison burgers and decided that they were on the scary side of the food chain because they were foamy tasting. You know, like McDonald's chicken nuggets. So, yesterday I jumped in and made the rice-nut burgers and we had some last night for dinner. The verdict from those of us who ate them (Pippa's still not having nuts, now the doc says wait until 18 months to introduce nuts) was a resounding YUM. Clara scarfed down her half and Ben and I ate ours with relish. Not literally, but figuratively. Anyway, I thought I'd document the process in case anyone is wanting to give them a go. It's not that much work and its nice to have 9 or so meals in the freezer.
Here's the original recipe and I'll include the minor notes/changes of mine.

You need a big pot to cook 4 cups of rice and 4 cups of onion with 7.5 cups of water.

Grinding up the nuts and seeds isn't too bad but make sure everything is toasted or roasted before you do, otherwise you'll have nut butter.

Yes, you need that much cheese (~800g) and substituting old cheddar didn't work for me because it was too moist and wouldn't grind/chop up.

I used tamari sauce and this bowl. It is the biggest one I had but was still only good for half the mixture. I ended up putting half of everything in this bowl, mixing it with a spoon and making it into burgers before starting on the second half (I used the pot the rice cooked in for the second half). Next time I might try using my huge stock pot to cook the rice in and then using it to mix everything up too.

Yummy cheese (makes a big difference in your burger)

I wasn't using a measure to make the first couple of batches (I made 3 burgers in one package) but switched to a generous 1/2 cup of mixture after my first ones were HUGE. I also used this nerdy burger maker/shaper that I got from family friends of Jane's way back when we were having a huge garage sale and they wanted to unload stuff. That and the work experience I gained one summer that I spent making burgers at a golf course ensured this part went quickly. Total burgers made: 27 (9 packages of 3).

And then, pan-fried with the merest amount of spray oil. Ben had his on a bun, I didn't. Clara had hers with ketchup. I didn't. They were great.

Carrot-tofu scrambler or The-Meal-That-Ben-Loves-to-Hate

2 tbsp oil
10 carrots, grated
1 pack extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil

1. In a large fry pan, heat the oil and cook the carrots about 15 minutes on med-low.
2. Add tofu, cook about 5 minutes
3. Add soy sauce and seeds, cook 1 minute
4. Drizzle with sesame oil, stir and serve over rice.

This recipe came from a fellow librarian, Karen, in Kingston, Ontario. She didn't eat meat, was a single mother of two, worked full-time, biked her kids to preschool and fed Ben and I every Sunday night that we lived there, so we could do our laundry at the place and play with her kids. She was (and still is) amazing. I consider this food comfort food. The women I worked with in Houston considered it freak food. Ben considers it sigh food. As in, (sigh) "is that what's for dinner?"