Vegan Burgers with Pinto Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Corn, and Polenta

The inspiration for this burger came from the Whole Foods recipe for their Southwestern Veggie Burger. These take some time to put together; I cook a big batch of pinto beans the day before in the crockpot while steaming the sweet potatoes and roasting the corn. I used prepared polenta (comes in a roll at the store), but you could whip up some fresh.

Even though they are labor-intensive, you will end up with a lot of really delicious vegan lunches prepared and in the freezer.

Note: You will often see veggie burgers served on a whole wheat bun. That seems kind of redundant to me, so I leave out the bun. Your choice.



2 cups pinto beans, cooked, drained, and mashed (reserve cooking liquid)

2 cooked sweet potatoes, cooled and mashed

2/3 cup roasted corn (use fresh or frozen and thawed kernels, slowly roast over low heat in an iron frying pan, stirring frequently)

1 cup of polenta, mashed and smooth

1 tbl. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

3 tbl. nutritional yeast

1/4 cup of salsa

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
Add some or all of the following, finely chopped: Bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, kale, tomatoes
I have also added leftover cauliflower puree; use up whatever you have!

Mix all together, adding some of the reserved bean juice if the mixture needs to be more moist. You can add in a few shakes of bread crumbs to help hold things together, if necessary. When all is thoroughly mixed, form into patties (my batch made 12 patties). Place on parchment-covered cookie sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn over carefully, then continue baking for another 15 minutes. The goal is to get them crispy, so you may want to bake them longer.

Cool and freeze. Reheat in the microwave, or in a pan on the stove, or on a parchment lined cookie sheet in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes.

Pizza!

This article was so mouth-watering and has so many good pizza tips and ideas that I am putting the link right here, so we'll always have it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/dining/a-little-pizza-homework.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

And one more pizza dough that is everything they say it is:

http://www.foodgal.com/2011/09/pure-pizza-dough-heaven-the-recipe-from-pizzeria-mozza/

For links to a whole lot of unusual pizzas, see my Pinterest page for Pizza and Flatbreads.

Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Muffins

Fall is the perfect time for pumpkin recipes. When I looked around online for pumpkin muffin recipes, the ones I found called for tons of sugar; some even started with a cake mix. However, I wanted some nice substantial muffins that were not too sweet or filled with preservatives from a mix.

I found my recipe the old-fashioned way--in a book that was sitting on my shelf! This is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1989), [with my changes in brackets].

I've tried this now with pumpkin, and with sweet potato. Both ways make a delicious muffin.

1-3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
[1/2 tsp. salt]
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup [you can use as much as a cup] canned pumpkin [or cooked, mashed sweet potato]

1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil

1/4 cup chopped nuts [toasted pecans]

Mix in a large bowl the egg, milk, oil, and pumpkin. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients and the chopped nuts, just until mixed. Lightly grease muffin cups, fill 2/3 full. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Marj's Salad Dressing

Our friend Marj drove down from the Netherlands to visit us when we stayed in Monts-sur-Guesnes (See Vacationing in French Country House, Was it all a Dream?). As you can see from the photo above, we had a wonderful kitchen and lovely food available from all the local outdoor markets. 

Marj made a salad dressing for us one night, the sort of thing a good cook just throws together, adding a bit of this, tasting a bit, and adding a bit of that. When I asked for the "recipe" she gave me the list of ingredients:

Equal parts of:

Olive oil

Apple cider vinegar

Add to taste and whisk all together:

Sautéed pine nuts

Chopped garlic

Mustard

Honey

Salt and pepper

The salad was delicious. We ate it on this veranda. What a wonderful evening!

Pinterest: Where You'll Find My New Favorite Recipes

Times change and social media seems to make time change even faster. Back when I started this blog in 2007, it was a good place for my son and me to post recipes for each other and for anyone else interested. It was easy to search by keyword, and we used it a lot--557 posts and recipes worth, to be exact.

Nowadays, I've been keeping my new favorite recipes over at Pinterest. You can find me there under Clair Zarges. I have pinned recipes to a whole bunch of my boards under Cook/Bake, then divided them up by Breads, Soups, Sandwiches, Pork, Beef, and so on.

I hope that you will check out my boards and everyone else's recipes as well. I hope to see you there.

Pineapple Pecan Quick Bread

• This is a Pillsbury recipe. I made a couple of adjustments to the measurements, reflected in the amounts below. The glaze was the perfect finishing touch. Makes 2 loaves. 
• 
  
• 2  cups sugar
• 1  cup margarine or butter, softened
• 4  eggs
• 3  cups All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon soda
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1  cup buttermilk
• 1  to 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel (or 1 tablespoon dried lemon peel)
• 1/2  teaspoon lemon or pineapple extract (vanilla works, too)
• 1/2  cup chopped pecans
• 1  (20-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, reserving 3 tablespoons liquid
• 
  
• GLAZE
• 1/2  cup grantulated sugar
• 3  tablespoons reserved pineapple liquid
• 1/2  teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pans. In large bowl, cream sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, baking powder, soda, salt, buttermilk, lemon peel and lemon extract; mix until smooth. Stir in pecans and pineapple. Pour into prepared pans.
2. 
   Bake at 350°F. for 50 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. In small bowl, blend all glaze ingredients; spoon over hot breads. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely. Store in refrigerator.

*****

Check out some other great pineapple recipes on Food on Friday: Pineapple.

Pat and Mary's Buttermilk Poppyseed Cake

We had our first taste of this cake at our first annual Easter Campfire Breakfast and hope that Pat and Mary bring it to all the future ones. Here is what Pat has to say about the recipe: 

A little back story - we cut it out originally from some women's magazine and made it for maybe the last 20+ years for holidays, when raising kids became a daunting task, we modified it using box mixes. Unfortunately it did not make the trip to New Mexico [when they moved here from Massachusetts] so we adapted a similar recipe from myrecipe.com. 

Ingredients

• 
  

• About 1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter or margarine, at room temperature
• About 2 1/2cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (about 2 1/2 oz.) poppy seed
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. 1. Butter and flour-dust a 10-inch decorative tube pan.
2. 2. In a small bowl, mix poppy seed, buttermilk, and almond extract.
3. 3. In a deep bowl, beat egg whites with a mixer on high until foamy. Continue beating and gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until whites hold stiff, shiny peaks.
4. 4. In another bowl, using unwashed beaters, beat 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat until well blended. Stir in poppy seed mixture.
5. 5. Mix 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
6. 6. Add dry ingredients to batter; beat slowly to blend. Mix at medium speed.
7. 7. Fold in beaten whites until blended.
8. 8. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Pour half the batter into pan. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon mixture. Add remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture. Holding a knife vertically, draw blade through batter around tube.
9. 9. Bake in 350° oven just until cake springs back when lightly pressed in center, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
10. 10. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Invert cake onto a plate. Serve warm or cool.

Hunt Country Marinade

This has become a great favorite here. Beez found it on Epicurious.

3/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsulfured (light) molasses
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoon crushed juniper berries or 2 tablespoons gin
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 2x1-inch strips orange peel (orange part only)
3 2x1-inch strips lemon peel (yellow part only)
8 whole cloves
8 whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves, broken in half
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.)

Marinate poultry 2 to 4 hours and meat 6 to 12 hours in refrigerator. Drain marinade into saucepan. Boil 1 minute. Pat meat or poultry dry. Grill, basting occasionally with marinade.

Elva's Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients:
2 cups scalded milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbl. butter
1 tsp. salt

1 pkg. dry yeast (1 tbl.)
1/2 cup lukewarm water

1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup cut-up raisins
1/2 cup currants

Lemon filling prepared from pie filling mix, cooled. You'll need about 2 cups, which is what one box makes.

Directions:
Add the sugar, butter, and salt to the milk, stir and cool to lukewarm. Add yeast that has been dissolved in the water, stir well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Knead 5 minutes. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Pinch off small balls, about half the size you want the buns to be. Slit tops with the sign of the cross. Let rise until light on a greased cookie sheet.

Brush tops with beaten egg yolk mixed with a bit of water. With two teaspoons, pull top of each bun apart and add a heaping tsp. of lemon filling. Bake in a preheated 350 F. oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

When cool, spoon a cross of white icing on each bun. (Icing: powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla).