Wednesday, April 9, 2008

What's Cooking



This was the entree we made last week for dinners and it was awesome! I know I said "delicious" many times every time we ate it. Plus it was fun to have a "burger" of sorts and fries here in our vegetarian nest! We did a cilantro pesto on the whole-wheat burgers, some mustard, and some arugula greens...we ran out of buns one night and had them by themselves as well and still were great!

Black Bean & Walnut Burgers - Serves 8

(2) 15 oz. cans Black Beans, rinsed and drained
(2) tsp Ground Cumin
(3) tsp Chili Powder
(1/8 to 1/4) tsp Cayenne Pepper
(1/2) cup cooked Brown Rice
(1/2) cup chopped Walnuts
(1/3) cup chopped Red Onion
(3) T canned Corn
(1/3) cup Cornmeal

1.) Puree 2.5 cups beans w/ cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper until smooth. Add rice, walnuts, onion, corn, and remaining beans, and pulse 2 to 3 times to mix (mixture should be stiff but not dry). Add 2 to 3 T water to moisten, if necessary. Season to taste w/ s & p.
2.) Divide mixture into 8 burgers. Dredge burgers in cornmeal. Chill 30 mins.
3.) Coat nonstick pan or grill w/ cooking spray. Cook burgers over medium heat 4 mins. Flip, and cook 4 mins more, or until heated through. Serve.

Chili-Roasted Sweet-Potoato Wedges/Fries - Serves 4

(1.5) pds Sweet Potatoes
(2) T Olive oil
(1) T Sugar or we use Sucanat
(1) tsp Chili Powder
Salt & Pepper

1.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut each pototo lengthwise into 8 wedges; halve long wedges crosswise.
2.)On a lge rimmed baking sheet lined w/ parchment paper, toss potatoes w/ oil, sugar, chili powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp ground pepper, until coated. Arrange wedges, cut sides down.
3.) Roast potatoes until browned and tender, 15-20 mins. Season with additional salt, if desired, before serving.

For the cilantro pesto, we just substituted cilantro for basil and omitted the parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!!

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