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.

Spicy Pinto Beans

3 cups dry pinto beans
Fresh cold water*

1/2 chopped onion (I like the sweet Vidalia-type)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
A tsp. of cumin
Salt

1 cup of green chile meat (yesterday's recipe)

Pick through the beans carefully, removing any little rocks. Rinse well, and cover with cold water. Soak overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse. Cover with more cold water, add chopped onion, garlic, cumin, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, cover the pan and simmer on low heat until almost tender.

Add the green chile meat, stir well, and continue to cook on low heat with the pan partially covered until the beans are tender. Add additional water as necessary.

Note: Cooking time will vary with altitude. I've seen recipes for pre-soaked beans where the cooking time is supposedly 20 minutes. Ha! Here at 4000 feet, I've found that I can cook beans for a long time before they are done--maybe a couple of hours. This just gives a chance for the flavors to soak into the beans.

Depending on the heat of your green chile meat, these beans can pack a real wallop, so you might want to serve them with some sour cream on the side to cool things down a bit.

*****

*That's what we like to call it, here in the thirsty desert.

Georgia's Pinto Beans: Our 500th Recipe!

These beans are very simple but absolutely delicious. Georgia made them for our knitter's group and all of those very experienced cooks were impressed and asking for her recipe.

Georgia served the beans with the following side dishes: Cornbread (I'll post her recipe tomorrow); chopped sweet onions; a plateful of whole green chiles, peeled and seeded; grated cheese; and salsa.

4 cups of pinto beans

Water

Hickory smoked bacon

Salt

Pick over the beans, rinse them well, cover with cold water and soak for 8 hours or overnight. Or, you may clean them, bring them to a boil with water to cover, boil rapidly for one minute, remove from heat, cover and let stand for an hour. Then drain.

Cut up 4 to 6 slices of bacon and place it in the bottom of a crock pot. Add soaked and drained beans. Cover all with cold water and cook in a covered crockpot on medium heat overnight or for 8 hours. Taste the beans and add salt if needed.

Black Beans

I made something like these beans a while back but couldn't find the recipe again. So we mixed, and tasted, and added, and tasted again, until we ended up with a very simple and delicious way to prepare black beans.

1 can of black beans, rinsed well and drained (or--cook dried black beans to make 2 cups)

Orange juice to cover

1 rounded tsp. finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tbl. orange juice concentrate

1 tbl. limeade concentrate

1 tsp. lime juice

Put everything into a medium saucepan and simmer uncovered on low heat until the juices are reduced somewhat. We cooked them for about 45 minutes while preparing the rest of this delicious menu: Indian Fry Bread (Low-Fat Version) and Chicken Fajitas. We folded the fajita chicken into the "fry" bread, spooned over some black beans, added fresh tomatoes from Bucksnort's garden, sprinkled them with grated cheese, and topped the whole thing with some fresh peeled and seeded green chiles. It was one of the best meals ever served in the Zees kitchen!

Foul Madamas

Foul Madamas (or Ful Madamas -- Pronounced "fool" like the court jester) was another of my wonderful street food discoveries from King Shwarma. It's kind of a fava bean salad type of dish. According to many sources on the internet, it's an Egyptian breakfast side-dish to be served with a fried egg, but I always liked it spooned into a pita along with some lettuce and tomato and served as a sandwich. You can do whatever you want to do with it. It will remain delicious. I made up a hybrid recipe based on several recipes from the internet and my memory of King Schwarma's version.

--1 lb of dried Fava Beans
--4 cloves crushed Garlic
--Half a Red Onion, chopped
--Handful of Fresh Mint, chopped fine
--Handful of Fresh Parsley, chopped fine
--Juice of 2 or 3 Lemons
--1/4 cup Olive Oil
--1 tsp Ground Cumin

Soak beans overnight in water. Drain, and cover with fresh water in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until beans are tender. Drain and place in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients. In my opinion, it should be GENTLY mixed together, leaving beans whole, though it is more commonly served mashed together. Refrigerate and serve cool.

Aimée's Lazy Man's Chili

Like everything else that Aimée has made for us, this dish is absolutely delicious. She serves it with corn chips or cornbread.

2 lbs. ground beef

1 pkg. ranch dip mix (1 oz.)

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix (1.25 oz.)

1 - 10 oz. can tomatoes and green chiles, drained

2 - 14.5 oz. cans tomatoes with onions

2 - 12 oz. cans chili beans

1 - 11 oz. can corn, drained

1 tbl. Tabasco sauce

Brown the beef in a large pan and add the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium heat for 35 minutes.

Serve topped with grated cheese and/or sour cream.

Chili con Carne

This is really just a big old vegetable stew with a little meat for flavoring--especially if you add all the optional vegetables. 

1/2  lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 15 can tomato sauce

1 tbl. chile powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup red wine

2 cups kidney beans, cooked and drained. I suppose you could use canned beans, rinsed and drained) but the kind you cook from scratch are better for you.

Brown the onion with the garlic, add the meat and cook until all the red is gone. Add the celery, green pepper, and tomato. Stir well. Add the tomato sauce and seasonings. 

Add the water, red wine, and kidney beans and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down heat and cover pan. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring every once in a while and adding water, if necessary. OR in Instant Pot, 20 minutes on chili/beans setting.

Optional additions: Chopped green chiles that have been roasted, peeled, and seeded; chopped carrots; additional chunked up fresh tomatoes.

National Public Radio's "How Low Can You Go" Challenge

For NPR's "How Low Can You Go" family supper challenge, some of the nation's best cooks have each agreed to come up with a budget-conscious meal for a family of four that's healthy, easy and delicious. The hitch? The meal must cost less than $10 — and the cheaper the better. ~All Things Considered

When I first heard about this challenge, I was sure that most of the suppers we make here at the Zees are well within this price range--dividing the $10/per family of four in half, making $5 for our empty-nest family of two. Looking at Beez's lasagna this past weekend, I'm not so sure. The cost for that cheese sure adds up!

Here are some of the results from the NPR challenge:

The Neelys Get Playful with a $9 Mac 'N' Cheese (Cheesy Corkscrews with Crunchy Bacon Topping

Chef Ming Tsai Makes a $10 Dish His Kids Love (Chicken-and-Corn Fried Rice with Lemon Spinach)

From Chef Jose Andres, A Family Favorite for $10 (Moorish-Style Chick Pea and Spinach Stew

Navy Chef Gets Creative with a $10 Skate Meal (Cream of Asparagus Soup, Sauteed Skate Meuniere with Potato Gnocchi)

Marie's Good Beans

I guess it goes without saying that this is a recipe to be enjoyed occasionally, followed by a brisk walk or a little jog around the block. 

Marie didn't give amounts or measurements, but I'm sure you can work it all out.

Van Camp's Baked Beans

bacon fat

catsup

maple syrup

tabasco sauce

salt (I'll go out on a limb and call this optional)

brown sugar

Mix all and bake for a while in a covered casserole. 

Falafel

From:    catsmeow@aol.com

Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook (sans the oil and

frying).

 

 4 cups cooked chick peas (garbanzo beans) Canned okay (2 cans)

 4 medium cloves garlic, minced

 2 tsp cumin

 1 tsp turmeric

 1 tsp salt

 1/2 cup finely minced onion or 6 minced scallions

 1/4 cup (packed) minced parsley

 1/4 cup water

 1 Tbs lemon juice

 dashes of cayenne

 1/3 cup flour

 

 Rinse the garbanzos and drain them well.  If they were canned, just drain them.  

 

 Combine all ingredients (except flour) in a food processor or a medium sized bowl and process or mash until batter is uniform.

 

Add flour and stir/process until thoroughly combined.  The batter can be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container for days.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Get a baking pan, cookie sheet, pie tin--whatever. Spray it with non-stick spray and form the batter with a spoon into a flattened ball.  It should not be much bigger than your spoon.  For a felafel in a small pita bread, make 2-3 felafel patties.  For a larger one, 4-5 will do.

 

Bake them for about 20-25 minutes.  You might flip them over halfway through baking.  They're finished when they are golden brown.  The aroma will fill  your kitchen!  Serve these in pita bread with sliced bell peppers, onions,  tomatoes--whatever you'd like.

Refried Beans

1 lb. dried pinto beans (pick through, wash, soak overnight and drain; or bring cleaned beans to a boil in a little cold water to cover, boil one minute, turn off and cover, let soak for an hour, drain). Add one quart salted water, simmer covered for 20-45 minutes—only until just cooked but not mushy.

In the meantime, pan fry ½ lb. chorizo, or sausage, or ground beef, and set aside. Saute 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 large onion, 1 tsp. cumin seeds.

Drain the cooked beans, save the liquid.

Mash the beans, add them to the meat and the onion mixture.

Add ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, ¼ cup fresh lard (this is optional—you can add butter instead or skip it altogether), 1 cup grated jack cheese, fresh ground pepper to taste. Add a little of the reserved liquid until it’s the consistency you like, simmer while stirring for a few minutes.

For a healthy alternative, see the recipe for Pinto Beans.

Pinto Beans

2 cups dried pinto beans (pick through, wash, soak overnight and drain; or bring cleaned beans to a boil in a little cold water to cover, boil one minute, turn off and cover, let soak for an hour, drain).

Add one quart salted water, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, ½ tsp. black pepper, ½ tsp. cumin, simmer covered for 20-45 minutes—only until just cooked but not mushy.

Mom’s Hummus

1 cup dried garbanzo beans
2 tbl. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbl. olive oil
1 medium clove garlic
¼ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. cumin
1 tbl. tahini

Sort garbanzos, looking for anything odd. Rinse them well, then bring to a boil in cold water to cover (add a little salt). Simmer one minute, turn off burner and cover pan. Let beans soak for one hour.

Then drain well, and bring them to a boil in fresh cold water. Simmer, partially covered, until tender—this can take 45 minutes or so, but just keeping checking them. Drain and proceed with recipe. (Or just buy canned garbanzos and rinse them well, but they won’t be as good).

Mash beans, and add other ingredients. Serve at room temperature as a dip for vegetables or whatever else you want to use them for.

Baked Beans

I am from Maine and this is traditional New England fare. It is what you should be eating on a Saturday night. End of discussion.

1 pound dry navy beans (2 cups)
1 ½ quarts of water
1 tsp. salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
¼-1/2 cup molasses
¼ lb. salt pork
1 medium onion, sliced

Pick through beans, rinse in cold water. Add to 1 ½ qts. water, bring to a boil, simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, let stand 1 hour (or skip all this and just soak overnight).

Drain well. Add 1 tsp. salt to beans, add another quart and a half of water, cover pan, simmer until tender, about one hour. Drain, reserving liquid. Measure 1 ¾ bean liquid, adding water if necessary.

Combine with sugar, salt, mustard, and molasses.

Cut the salt pork in half; score one half and set aside. Grind or thin-slice the remainder.

In a 2-quart bean pot, alternate layers of beans, onion, ground salt pork, and sugar mixture. Repeat. Top with scored salt pork.

Cover, bake at 300 for 5 to 7 hours. Add more liquid if needed. Makes 8 servings.

Serve with Steamed Brown Bread.