Veggie Delights: Chickpea Veggie Burgers!

April 21, 2011 By Meg

What Veggie Delights is all about: I’m convinced that I can share with you some really amazing meatless dishes that you will love, even if you’re not a Vegetarian!

I’ve tried quite a few different varieties of homemade Veggie Burgers.  What have I learned?  You have to get it JUST RIGHT…after quite a bit of experimentation.

I had pretty much given up on any type of veggie burger that wasn’t made from black beans. I always had success with black bean burgers, and so I abandoned mission on all other types.  Then my buddy Anna got me pretty darn curious about some supposedly delicious chickpea  burgers. . .

That was it – I gave in.  I had to try them.  :)   I am SO glad I did.

I used quite a variety of spices in mine, and I think it turned out perfectly as far as taste.  I will forewarn you that you want to make these burgers as thin as possible.  They tend to be just a tad mushy on the inside, since they’re baked in the oven rather than fried.  It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in order to keep the calories lower.

Besides the slight mushy-ness, they are seriously the most DELICIOUS veggie burgers I’ve ever tried.  My husband loved them, too.   We served them up with some corn on the cob and a mixed side salad.  Oven-roasted potatoes go great with it, too!

Chickpea Veggie Burgers:

Ingredients:

  • 1 can chickpeas (I think mine was 18 oz)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup onion
  • 1/2 cup carrots
  • 1/2 cup zucchini
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • sprinkle of ground red cayenne pepper
  • desired amount of salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Finely chop onions, carrots, and zucchini.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Drain and rinse chickpeas.  Dump them into a bowl and mash them.  (I like to use my hands.  When I use a fork or spoon, the individual chickpeas go flying off across the kitchen!)
  4. Add the 2 eggs and all seasonings.  Mix well.
  5. Add in the veggies and breadcrumbs.  Mix well again.
  6. Form little burger patties.  It’s easiest by rolling them into balls and then squashing them down.  Remember – don’t make them too thick!
  7. Place patties on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  8. Serve on buns.  Goes great with your typical burger condiments: ketchup, mayo, dressings, onion, lettuce, pickle, tomato, etc.  We ate ours with lettuce, onion, and ketchup.  We also melted cheese on top.  DELISH.

A Couple Notes:

  • This recipe lends itself to LOTS of creativity and experimentation.  Feel free to try out different spices, as well as different types of vegetables!
  • We froze the extra patties and ate them the following week.  They held up really well, and the texture was BETTER than they were straight from the oven.  However, way too much of the flavor was lost in the freezing process.  For this reason, I don’t really recommend freezing these.  Which is fine and dandy in my opinion, because this is a QUICK meal to throw together!

Enjoy!

Thanks for the inspiration, Anna!

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Veggie Delights: Mushroom Marsala Creamy Pasta

April 14, 2011 By Meg

What Veggie Delights is all about: I’m convinced that I can share with you some really amazing meatless dishes that you will love, even if you’re not a Vegetarian!

Sometimes you just need a big dish of comfort food to warm your heart. This recipe definitely does the trick.  Yep, I know – it’s full of fat, CREAM included.  I usually avoid whipping cream at all costs, but for some reason I just chose not to care this week.  Sometimes you really just have to live a little and splurge on something.  So I made this pasta dish, and made a decision NOT to feel guilty about it.

It was so delicious, and of course my husband said it was “a keeper.”  I told him I’ve learned that the only dishes he thinks are keepers are the ones that instantly add 20 pounds to my hips.  Oh well, what can you do?

I am a recipe-follower.  I may tweak recipes or find a recipe and switch it up a bit.  I’m not very good without a cookbook-in-hand.  For this meal, though, I just kind of made it on a whim.  I knew I wanted a comfort dish full of cream, marsala wine, and pasta.  I thought of a couple pasta dishes I’ve made in the past and kind of threw them all together.

This is what I came up with…

Mushroom Marsala Creamy Pasta:

Ingredients:

  • One box of pasta (I used corkscrew, because the shape is fun!)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Shallot, peeled and diced
  • 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup marsala wine
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 1 & 1/2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
  • One large handful of fresh, chopped basil
  • salt and pepper
  • Italian shredded cheese

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta.  While pasta is cooking, make the sauce (below)…
  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add chopped shallot and cook for a couple of minutes.
  3. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 to 10 minutes until tender.
  4. Stir in the 1/4 cup wine and boil for about a minute.  Then add vegetable broth and cream.  Heat to boiling then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for a couple minutes, stirring the whole time.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add more marsala and/or cream to your liking.  If you add more marsala or cream, continue heating for a couple more minutes.
  6. Chop up sun-dried tomatoes and basil.
  7. Add sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil to the drained pasta.  Mix up well.  Cook over medium-low heat for about a minute.
  8. Serve with a bit of Italian shredded cheese sprinkled on top.  Goes great with some bread and a side salad.  YUM.  Hope you enjoy!!

What About You: In need of a comfort dish this week?

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Veggie Delights: White Pizza With Broccoli & Mushrooms!

March 10, 2011 By Meg


Earlier last week, I tweeted the following on Twitter: “Making White Pizza w/ Mushrooms & Broccoli for dinner. If it TASTES as good as it looks, it will be next week’s Veggie Delights!”  And boy did it ever live up to my expectations!  So here we are…

This pizza is quick, easy, and DELICIOUS.  And it’s really not too bad on calories and fat.  I used skim milk and low fat cheeses.  The only other thing to really think about is the bread.  I think for a splurge, though, it’s a very tasty indulgence.  My husband said, “This beats Papa John’s any day!”  He LOVES carry-out pizza, so that is a huge compliment coming from him.

Needless to say, this is one recipe that will be added to the regular rotations.  I usually make my own pizza dough in my bread machine, but to save on time, I opted for the pre-packaged refrigerated dough at the Publix bakery last week.  Either way is fine – whichever you prefer.

This original recipe is from the April 2010 edition of Vegetarian Times magazine.  I kept to the recipe for the most part, but used the fat-free milk and added a little bit more cheese.  We love our cheese.

White Pizza With Broccoli & Mushrooms:

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp butter or margarine (I used Vegan Smart Balance Butter)
  • 8 oz package mushrooms (I used whole white mushrooms and sliced them myself)
  • 3 cups of fresh broccoli florets
  • 1 Tbsp flour
  • 1 cup milk (I used skim)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used about 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder instead)
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
  • 1 package refrigerated pizza dough (or make your own)

Directions:

  1. Melt 1 1/2 Tbsp butter in a pan on stove-top (medium-high heat).  Add mushrooms and cook, while stirring, until beginning to brown.
  2. Add the broccoli and 1/3 cup of water.  Cover the pan and steam broccoli for about 4 minutes, until tender.  Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Melt 1 1/2 Tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the 1 Tbsp flour.  Stir about 2 minutes, until flour mixture is a light golden color.
  4. Stir in the milk, garlic, and salt.  Cook until the mixture begins to boil, stirring constantly.  It should thicken up in about 3 to 5 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat.  Add 1/4 cup mozzarella and 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese.  Stir until smooth.  I would taste test the sauce.  It might need a little more garlic powder or salt, depending on your preference.
  6. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 425 degrees.
  7. While the oven is preheating, shape the pizza dough.
  8. Put the pizza dough on the pizza stone and let the dough cook for about 2 minutes.
  9. Remove the dough from the oven.  Spread the sauce all over the pizza, leaving about an inch on the edge.  Add the broccoli and mushroom mixture.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.  Add more if you’d like.  ;)
  10. Bake pizza in the oven for about 15 to 18 minutes.  Edges will be golden brown, and center will be hot and bubbly.
  11. Remove from oven, cool slightly, slice it into pieces, and ENJOY!

What About You: Think you might give this pizza a try?  I hope so!

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