Our Veggie Kitchen

The weather had finally turned, here in Eugene. The sun was warm and there was no rain/hail/locusts. It was perfect weather to kick back on the deck and nurse a couple of beers. So that's what I did. I had made these wonderful black eyed pea burgers earlier in the day, so i pulled them from the fridge, slapped them on the barbeque with some potatoes and enjoyed my beer.



BBQ Black Eyed Pea Burgers
3 cups black eyed peas, 2 cans or 1/2 pound dried
1 onion, grated
1/2 small sweet potato, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp browning sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 cup barbecue sauce
1.2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup vital wheat gluten
oil for frying

Roughly mash the black eyed peas, so that there are just a few whole beans. Do not mash the beans to a paste. Add all other ingredients and need dough until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. If you've made burgers before, the dough will be wetter than is typical. You may cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Split into 8 evenly sized balls and flatten the balls into thin patties.

When you are ready to make the burgers, pour some vegetable oil onto a cookie sheet, put in the oven and set it to preheat to 425 degrees. When the oven is heated, put the patties on the hot baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

These are best cooled and reheated. By intention, they are soft coming out of the oven, but they won't dry out too much if you fry or BBQ them after they've been chilled.

To Finish,

Fry Option: Pour a little barbeque sauce in a fry pan and fry the patties over medium heat until warmed.

BBQ: Put the patties on the outer (cooler) edges of an outdoor, baste with BBQ sauce and turn a couple times. Cook until heated through.

Microwave: Microwave either chilled or frozen patties until cooked though. Feel free to add more bbq sauce at any point.

12 Servings: 143 cal (3g fat, 16g carbs, 13g protein)

I knew I wanted to make veggie enchiladas. I knew I wanted a citrus flavor and I knew I didn't want beans. I also knew that I was trying out a new sauce. What I didn't know is how amazingly good these enchiladas would turn out!

I simmered some sweet potatoes and zucchini in a sweet and tangy citrus sauce, added in some brown rice and mango. The filling was good on its own was good and much of it didn't make it to the enchiladas. Luckily, I made more than I'd need. Then I rolled the filling up in tortillas and poured my SIL's California Chili Pepper Enchilada Sauce, which turned out to be a perfect complement to the filling. So Good.



Sweet & Citrus Veggie Enchiladas
10 flour tortillas or 20 small corn tortillas
1 recipe California Chili Enchilada Sauce
1 mango, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 red onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chunked
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cups brown rice, cooked
Citrus Sauce:
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 zest of one orange
2 oranges, juiced
2 limes, juiced
1 tbs tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced

For the filling, combine all of the sauce ingredients and set aside. Saute the onion in vegetable oil. Add the sweet potato and saute for a couple minutes, then pour the citrus sauce into the pan with the zucchini. Cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in the cilantro, mango and brown rice and prepare to spoon the filling into the tortillas.

Add a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce into a 9x13 casserole, just enough to cover. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce into a pie dish For each tortilla, dip into the sauce and flip, so both sides are coated. Add 3-4 heaping tablespoons of filling. Wrap each tortilla and place tightly into the casserole. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until bubbling.

5 Servings: 569 Cal (12g fat, 105g carbs, 14g protein)

Yesterday was a confluence of ideas and requests. My wife was working out with a friend, so I was to make two dinners, one early for the kids, and alter for the adults.

My girls were introduced to hush puppies a couple weeks ago and have been begging for them ever since. I made them hush puppies and sammiches. I rarely deep fry anything, so, while I had the oil out, I decided to whip up some pakora batter and fry up some zucchini and mushrooms to go with the baked sweet potato fries, a perfect complement to the lady's health conscious efforts. I also make tofu Rueben sandwiches piled high with tofu, cabbage and thousand island dressing.



German Style Seed Bread
Alisa posted this bread on her blog: One Frugal Foodie. Her blog is dairy free and usually include vegan alternatives. She's got some yummy bread and baking recipes.

The German Bread is a no knead and looked pretty good. I ended up swapping some of flour (1 1/2 cups rye, 1 1/2 cups white and 2 1/2 cups whole wheat) and used 1/2 cup crushed flax and 1/4 cup sunflower seeds. This recipe made a dense, heavy and very filling bread. But in a good way. It was delicious and hearty and easy.



Tofu Reuben Sandwich
I've seen a couple of tofu Reuben sandwiches pop around the ether, and I wanted to try something a bit different. Corned beef is a brined meat, and tofu is naturally absorptive, so I decided to brine the tofu in corned beef spices for a couple of days. The brine was perfect, but didnt' soak into the tofu as much as I wanted. The sandwiches were good, especially on the fresh bread, but the tofu needs some tinkering. Maybe next time, I'll have a winner.



Sweet Potato Fries
These were another work in progress. I baked them in oil, brown sugar, cumin, cilantro and lime juice, but they came out soggy. I think I've got to find a way to introduce the lime juice without turning them to mush. The taste was great though, so they're worth some additional effort.

For me, this is the Phoenix of soups. Originally, this became a soup because I didn't want to throw away a disastrous Thai curry. As a curry, it was watery and cool. With a doctoring, it became a sweet & hearty stew with the Thai flavors of lemon grass and kafir lime leaves. With a lots of veggies and nuts, a bowlful can be meal by itself.



Thai Cashew Stew
1 tbs vegetable oil
4 shallots
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup jasmine rice
1 tsp red curry paste
3/4 lb sweet potato, diced
1 stalk lemon grass, minced
1 cup frozen corn
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 kafir lime leaves (2 sets of 2)
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbs ketchup
4 tsp golden mountain sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tsp brown sugar
3 cups water
1 tsp corn starch, mixed with 1/4 cup cold water
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the shallots and cashews in oil until the shallots are soft. Add the rice and curry paste and fry for just a minute or two. Add the sweet potato, lemon grass, celery and corn and saute for a couple minutes more. Then add the remaining ingredients (except corn starch) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potato is soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch 5 minutes before the soup is finished. Salt and pepper to taste.

5 Servings: 345 cal (16g fat, 46g carbs, 9g protein)