quinoa

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers with Lime Crema

February 25, 2016 by Asharae Leave a Comment

I’m not a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes I feel it wouldn’t be too difficult for me. (Until I remember bacon is a thing.) I don’t typically think to include meat in every meal, and I naturally get a lot more joy from chopping up a bunch of colorful vegetables than cutting up raw meat.

I realized my vegetarian tendencies one night a few years ago when chatting dinner options with my husband and he began lamenting how long it had been since we’d included meat in our dinner rotation. I hadn’t even realized it. Oops.

Now, there’s really nothing that can replace a juicy burger made with real ground beef, although I do remember a brief and terrible phase of my childhood where my parents took to buying Boca Burgers in an attempt to reign in their diet. They were surprisingly not-that-bad at first, but after a few too many of these dry flavorless veggie burgers, the fourth or fifth box sifted its way to the bottom of our freezer never to be seen again.

I’ve decided that veggie burgers deserve their own category entirely. If you think a veggie burger is supposed to taste like and have the texture of a real beef burger, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Veggie burgers are another beast entirely, and they can be absolutely delicious when done right. We have been trying lots of different recipes using black beans, garbanzo beans, quinoa, and corn, but this is our favorite recipe we’ve made so far!

I ended up with some leftover quinoa one night and stored it away thinking we’d just stir fry some veggies with it the next day. Upon suggesting this option to Tim for lunch he crinkled his nose a little and asked if there was anything else we could do with the quinoa. (I’d been making veggies-over-rice, veggies-over-couscous, and veggies-over-quinoa a little too often lately.) Thus these quinoa black bean burgers were born. I knew I wanted to include Panko bread crumbs and egg, along with cumin, chili powder, and garlic for flavor, so we researched a bit and combined a few different recipes to create what we ended up with here. I really have to give Tim credit for this recipe – without his input we would have ended up with veggies over quinoa. Again.

Toasted ciabatta buns work wonderfully for this recipe – it’s pretty difficult to get the texture right for veggie burgers, so the crunch of the ciabatta buns helps add a different layer of texture. The lime crema is a must for these burgers as well – you could swap out the other toppings for whatever you like, but the crema offsets the spices in the burger really well, adding a fresh zippy flavor to it.

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers with Lime Crema

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Ingredients

For the Burgers

2 c cooked red/mixed quinoa cooled (day-old quinoa works great!)
1 c drained rinsed black beans, mashed
1/2 c Panko bread crumbs
1 large egg slightly beaten
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Optional 1 Tbs ground flax seed

For the Lime Crema

3 Tbs plain Greek yogurt
3 Tbs sour cream
Juice of one lime
1/4 tsp Kosher salt

Extras

Ciabatta buns toasted
Cheese we like colby or pepper jack
Avocado sliced
Red onions

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the burgers and mix well.
Form five or six 1/3 inch thick patties, place on wax paper on a plate and let rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
While the burgers are resting, combine all ingredients for the lime crema in a small bowl. Place in fridge till ready to serve.
Heat a large pan between Medium and Medium-High (you may have to experiment to find the right temperature that works with your stovetop.)
Oil your pan with Pam or olive oil spray. Cook the burger patties, 2 or 3 at a time, for 5 minutes on each side. Once you place a burger patty on the pan, try not to move it around much till you're ready to flip it. This will help your burger get a crispier texture on the outside - something that's difficult to achieve with veggie burgers.
During the last 3 minutes of cooking the second side of your burger patties, add cheese to each patty, cover pan with a lid, and finish your 5 minutes or wait to remove the patties once the cheese has melted to your liking.
Toast ciabatta buns, serve burgers topped with avocado, red onions, and lime crema.

Notes

You can freeze extra patties if you're not cooking them to eat all at once. After forming the patties (and before cooking them), place on wax paper on a plate in the fridge. Once frozen, remove from plate and place in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Thaw burger patties part of the way before cooking. You'll need to adjust your cooking time a bit (longer or shorter) depending on how much you thaw them.

Spicy Cauliflower Chickpea Quinoa Bowl

May 29, 2014 by Asharae 2 Comments

Remember that yummy cilantro lime dressing I shared last week? Well, here’s another use for it!

This combination of spicy cauliflower and chickpeas with crunchy bell peppers, red onions, and jalapeños is a fabulously colorful and delicious meal that’s perfect for a meatless dinner night! This recipe (like all of my favorites) is adaptable to suit your preferences and tastes – please take it and make it your own!

The original idea for this dish stemmed from a delicious veggie taco recipe over on Two Peas and Their Pod – you may have seen their photos floating around Pinterest. Just look at those pictures and tell me you don’t want to try those tacos! I made them for Tim and my brother – and although they both enjoyed them, I distinctly remember my brother telling me that meat was a necessary ingredient in tacos. Guess you can’t please everyone! Anyway, I loved the veggie tacos so much that I decided to use the idea of roasting the veggies but exchange tortillas for quinoa instead. The addition of the cilantro lime dressing cools this dish down a bit and adds some more fun color.

Enjoy!!

Spicy Cauliflower Chickpea Quinoa Bowl

Heavily adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 c uncooked quinoa
1 head cauliflower rinsed, chopped into medium sized pieces, and patted dry
1 15 oz can chickpeas drained, rinsed, and patted dry
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs water
Bell pepper red onion, jalapeño (I used the kind from a jar for the vinegary taste), cilantro, etc to taste. I like to add the colorful fresh vegetables to give this dish some crunch and to make it pretty! Add as many as you like or have on hand!
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro lime dressing find that recipe here!

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F
Place cauliflower and chickpeas in a large bowl.
Combine chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, juice of one lime, olive oil, and water. Pour over cauliflower and chickpeas and stir gently to combine.
Place veggies on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 400 for 30-45 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes.
While roasting veggies, cook quinoa according to package directions, and then set aside.
Combine roasted vegetables with quinoa in a large bowl. Add as many colorful vegetables as you like and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cilantro lime dressing drizzled over the top.

Carrot Soup with Quinoa and Feta

April 23, 2014 by Asharae Leave a Comment

In honor of the fact that we’re still teetering on the edge of winter one day and spring/summer the next, I thought I’d share a spring-timey (but still comforting) soup recipe with you! I came across this one on Gourmet Traveller and adjusted it slightly for what we had in the kitchen and how many people I was feeding. My younger brother joined Tim and I for dinner and he couldn’t stop raving about how good the soup was – my brother is a man of few words, so I take all his compliments to heart. We enjoyed topping our soup with quinoa, feta (a good addition to pretty much any meal, in my opinion), chopped parsley, mint, and a drizzle of olive oil. To go with this I also made focaccia in our bread machine and baked it in the oven, drizzled with olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, and parmesan cheese. I’ll have to share that recipe with you soon! Until then, it would be great served with this bread!

Carrot Soup with Quinoa and Feta

Adapted from Gourmet Traveller

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Servings 4

Ingredients

1 lb carrots grated
1/2 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2-3 c vegetable or chicken stock
1 c quinoa
1 tsp sherry vinegar or to taste
Feta
Chopped parsley and mint
Olive oil

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan or stock pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until tender.
Add carrot, spices, and lemon zest, and stir occasionally, 4-5 minutes, or until carrot softens.
Add 2 c stock and 1 c water, season to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until flavors have combined, 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Set aside when finished.
Remove soup from heat, add lemon juice and a handful of feta. Using a hand-held blender, process the soup until smooth. At this point you can add the additional cup of chicken or vegetable stock if your soup is too thick. (Instead of using a hand-held blender, you can also use a regular blender. Carefully ladle the soup into the blender, leaving plenty of room at the top so the hot soup doesn't spill over while blending. Process the soup in two or three batches until it's all smooth.) Add vinegar and stir.
Serve topped with quinoa, feta, herbs, and drizzled with olive oil.
This is delicious served with focaccia or some other crusty bread as well - I'll give you a good recipe for that soon!

Thai Quinoa Bowl with Tofu

April 9, 2014 by Asharae 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been ruminating a lot on hospitality – what it means, who we choose to share it with, and how Tim and I are usually on the receiving end of it. When I think back, there are a few specific families who have been overwhelmingly warm, gracious, and inviting to us. Each one has had a profound impact on me. The unmerited generosity that others have shared with us has changed the ways I think about hospitality, the ideas and fears I carry about opening my home to others, and the thoughts I have about food and faith and the ways these two are intertwined.

In college, my friend Brandon’s family would have us down to his house every Thanksgiving, Easter, and Superbowl weekend. They extended the invitation to everyone who was willing to hop in a car and drive a few hours to their home in Indiana. Sometimes this meant their downstairs guest room had just a couple girls sharing the queen sized bed for the weekend. Other times their house was packed to the gills with 20-something 20-somethings ready to cheer on their favorite team for the big game. Lots of my favorite college memories took place at their home, cuddled on a couch with my roommates, playing ridiculous games and laughing till our sides were sore, sharing conversation over Thanksgiving dinner or Easter brunch with all the leaves in the table – every card table and spare chair wrangled up from the basement or a closet somewhere, to make room for everyone to squeeze in.

And then there’s my dear friend and college roommate Lauren’s parents. Her family bought us all Megabus tickets to visit them in St Louis for Passover one year – what a joy to share in so much tradition with them. One afternoon when they were in Wheaton to visit Lauren, I remember them taking us to Target. Lauren’s dad gave me strict orders, “THIS is a magical shopping cart!” he exclaimed, pointing at the red cart rolling along in front of him, “Anything you place in the magical shopping cart will get purchased!” I remember laughing at the ridiculousness of it and I tried to brush off his offer, insisting that I didn’t need anything. He gave me a serious look and added, “And you WILL put things in the magical shopping cart!” What a gift for a poor college student (who wouldn’t admit how poor she was) to receive! But that wasn’t the last of it. They also flew me home so I could surprise my parents during my first Thanksgiving away at college. And again when my dad was seriously ill in the hospital, just having been diagnosed with leukemia. My parents couldn’t afford to fly me home, and I don’t even really remember how it came about, but somehow I was on a plane to Raleigh to visit my dad at Duke – Lauren’s parents had paid the way.

There’s also the Pratt family who Tim and I love so dearly! Adam and I photographed our first wedding together several years ago and he photographed our own wedding the following summer. Cindy and Adam invited me to live with them and their four sweet kiddos the summer after graduation, before I headed back to North Carolina for our wedding. They taught me so much about using what you have to bless others, inviting people into your space no matter what, sharing meals and conversation and many late night snacks and chats in the kitchen before bed. They taught me to like figs and lamb burgers and fish sauce (and to NEVER under any circumstance sniff fish sauce straight out of the bottle). They showed me that kids will usually eat “weird” food if that’s what’s placed in front of them. They taught me that it’s okay to try new things. They showed me that living on one income, having a simple but beautiful home, homeschooling your kids, and feeding them well are all possible with great planning. Most of all though, I love that Adam and Cindy are great question-askers and great listeners. I remember so many late nights, sitting at their kitchen table and chatting through what I was learning about life and the Lord, about photography, about marriage, and sharing my dreams with them. They’re the kind of people that aren’t afraid to dig deep and ask the thoughtful and sometimes hard questions. What a gift.

These are just a few of the instances where we’ve been shown overwhelming and undeserved hospitality. I could share about the Haases who mentored us and walked alongside Tim and I as our friendship grew into dating grew into engagement and marriage, or the Wilcox family who opened their vacation home on Whidbey Island for us to live in for six weeks while we searched for jobs in Seattle, or even the Cockle family we just met this past weekend while shooting a wedding in Wisconsin – they welcomed us into their home like we were their own children, they were passionately curious about our lives and our dreams, and they encouraged us in more ways than I can even explain or comprehend right now.

Now I wonder what to do with this? I’ve been shown the ways of warmth and welcoming others in, now how can I do that for those around me?

I believe it’s immensely important to invite others into our stories, to walk alongside us, to support and encourage us, so that we might learn from one another and spur each other on to better things. This is easier said than done, but it’s something I want to strive toward. I’d love to hear what you’re learning along these lines as well. How have you been shown overwhelming hospitality? How do you try to share it with others?

Remember how we talked about tofu a couple weeks ago? Here’s an opportunity to use your new-found tofu-pressing knowledge. You don’t have to put tofu in this recipe by any means – feel free to leave it out if you’d rather! But if you’re up for trying something new, I definitely recommend it in this protein-packed meal!

Feel free to mix up your veggies as well! Try adding some yellow bell pepper for extra color, leave out the edamame if you don’t have any on hand – do what you like! This recipe is by no means authentically Thai – I’m just currently obsessed with the Thai-inspired combination of green onions, cilantro, peanuts, and lime juice. Mmm. I could eat it all day long. Enjoy you guys!

Thai Quinoa Bowl with Tofu

Inspired by How Sweet Eats

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Servings 6

Ingredients

For the Dressing

3 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp canned coconut milk
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and minced
Dash of red pepper flakes
Juice of 1-2 limes

For the Quinoa

1 package extra firm tofu
1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa rinsed
1 cup chopped carrots
1 jalapeño seeded and diced
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup chopped peanuts
3/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions

For the Dressing

Place peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave 10 seconds at a time until melted.
Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and whisk together. Place in fridge till ready.

For the Quinoa

Press the tofu for 20-30 minutes. I like to build my tofu-pressing station in this order - cutting board, clean towel, tofu, towel, cutting board, cookbooks. Make sure the books are evenly weighted. I use the extra cutting board on top to keep my books from getting soggy. Once the tofu has been pressed, cut into bite-size pieces.
While pressing the tofu, rinse and drain the quinoa and cook according to the package directions. Usually 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water (1.5 c quinoa, 3 c water in this case) Set aside when finished.
While quinoa is cooking, chop carrots, jalapeño, green onions, and cilantro. Heat edamame in a pan of water, according to package directions, and drain. (You can cover with cold water and drain again to keep them from overcooking while you assemble the rest of the meal.)
Lightly oil pan and sauté tofu, turning occasionally until browned and heated through.
In a large bowl, toss veggies, peanuts, cilantro, and tofu in with the quinoa and pour the dressing over the top. Stir to combine.
Serve topped with additional green onions, peanuts, and cilantro, as well as lime juice and Sriracha (if you like it spicy.)