Good evening! I hope you are having a great Thursday. :)
I finished the Healthy Living Summit Glo Bars just in the nick of time today! They are currently on their merry way to Chicago!
This is what 230 Glo Bars looks like in a HUGE box! Luckily my strong baking arms had no problem carrying it.
Actually when I was packing up the box, I put too much crinkle paper in the bottom and the Glo Bars wouldn’t fit in the box. I had to empty it all out and start over. I was a bit flustered as I was just minutes away from the deadline.
I felt like I just dumped my Halloween Trick or treat loot. Too bad none of it was mine! ;)
Last night, I made Emily’s Vegan Black Bean Burgers that I have been eying for weeks now. They were really easy to throw together too…just the way I like it.
Emily’s Black Bean Burgers
Recipe from The Front Burner. The only changes I made were adding 1 chia egg and 1 minced garlic clove.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
- 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia + 3 tbsp warm water, mixed well)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions: Preheat oven to 325F*. Add carrots to food processor and process until finely grated. Next, add the oats and pepitas to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky). Let it run for roughly 10 seconds. Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil. Process until lightly mixed. Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then mix in the rest of the beans. Form into 6 medium sized patties. Place patties on a lined baking pan, and bake at 325F for 40 minutes, turning once very carefully after 20 minutes (note: The patties are fragile!). Note: If you want to grill these, pre-bake them for 30 minutes at 300F, and then throw them on the grill to reheat and get a little extra browning.
*Note: I baked my burgers at 325F and not 300F as in the original recipe.
Meet the newest carrot from this week’s CSA…a little something I would like to call the TRIPOD CARROT:
I wasn’t sure if this was equal to 1 carrot, 2 carrots, or 3….so I went with 2. =)
When I flipped the burgers after 20 minutes, a couple of them broke apart. I would suggest flipping them very carefully! However, once they were done cooking they held together pretty good.
When Eric got home from work, I had the cooked burgers sitting on the baking sheet. Shortly after, I asked Eric if he was ready to eat dinner, and he said:
“Oh is that what you made? I thought those were COOKIES!”
I laughed, “Really? Didn’t you think they smelled unusual for cookies?”
“I don’t know, but I didn’t think they looked like GOOD cookies.”
If I ever write a cookbook, I shall title it ‘Delicious Vegan Recipes…and $hit My Husband Says About Them’ ;)
He’s right, they do look like cookies though…!
Dinner tonight was a Black Bean Burger Ezekiel wrap…
Inside the wrap: 1 black bean burger, 1/2 avocado, 2 tomato slices, carrot slices, curly lettuce, spicy hummus, and freshly ground black pepper.
It was major.
We had our wraps with a delicious and colourful salad:
In the salad: Romaine, Tomato, Carrot, Avocado, Sesame seeds, and Better than bottled balsamic vinaigrette!
My sweet tooth is looking for a little something, so I might go raid my chocolate stash in a bit!
Ladies and gents- I finally found a salad spinner that works…
I have gone through SO many salad spinners over the years and all of them break. Well (*knock on wood) I found one that I love. The pump is so effortless to use! Finally a salad spinner I don’t feel like I am trying to start a lawnmower to use.
Meet the OXO 2 in 1 Salad Spinner:
It functions not only as a salad spinner, but as a beautiful steel serving bowl as well. I purchased it at William Sonoma with my gift card. Score.
Well my friends, I must say I am feeling really good tonight. Three big work items checked off my list and tomorrow is Friday! Eric and I are really excited about having our first Saturday free since June. It should be a great weekend.
Tonight’s question: Do you have an appliance or kitchen tool that you constantly battle with? What is it?
For me, aside from salad spinners (and previously, blenders!), my kitchen tool demise has always been CAN OPENERS. I don’t know what it is but I cannot find a good can opener for the life of me. We buy a new one and within a month it is on the fritz. We try different brands to no avail. Yesterday, Eric purchased this OXO brand so here’s hoping it works good! So far it works well…(famous last words in my kitchen!)
Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow morning for a very special discussion on Happy Weights and an Operation Beautiful book giveaway!
Just wanted to say thank you! This is the first time I have posted, but I have been reading your site for a few weeks now. I have made a couple recipes and am enjoying all your positive energy and inspiration!
Last night I made my first VOO with carob powder. I layered it with strawberries, crispy brown rice cereal and banana soft serve which I mixed with a blueberry coconut cream. It was so good! Thanks again!
Amy
I JUST got myself an OXO salad spinner this weekend! I absolutely love that thing – and it keeps lettuce really fresh in the fridge too! I tore up three heads of romaine on Sunday and it’s STILL totally crisp and edible four days later. Best $35 I ever spent (I got the clear bowl cuz the stainless steel one was $80 at Home Outfitters). Happy salad spinning!
IF you ever right a cookbook? (ahem) When you write a cookbook!! :)
We’re also having burgers tonight – but turkey, with a very similar salad and I am going to have a go at making your salt and vinegar chips. Hopefully they’ll be good – I might have to skip the sit for 30 minutes as it will be getting later. Excited to make them!
I want to make those black bean burgers..they look so good!
i need a salad spinner like crazy…i could use the heck out of that thing! alas i’ve resorted to making my own salad spinner with a towel and standing in the garage so i don’t splatter water everywhere…
That carrot reminds me of Edward Scissor Hands or something!
I love my OXO salad spinner too! I don’t have the stainless steel bowl, but the spinner mechanism is the same. I like to spin all of my lettuce when I get it home from the market and then I just store it in the bowl during the week!
I’ll have to try those black bean burgers out – they look great. Do you think they’d freeze well? Maybe I’d mix them, mold them, the freeze and thaw and cook up later… hmmm…
Also, I LOVE oxo products. I’ve always had a good experience with any product I’ve gotten from them. They are high-quality and durable. :)
oh yummo! But yes – they do kinda look like cookies hehe
In my experience, OXO products are the way to go – easy to use, durable, and well-priced. I hope the can opener does the trick for you! My fiance has one of the can openers that makes a clean edge (takes the whole top of the can off) and I cannot for the life of me figure it out. I stick to my good old ragged edge-producing one, because I can work it.
Quick question – what’s a chia egg? I’m guessing it’s just a mixture of chia seeds and water?
Yeeeeep 1 tbsp chia + 3 tbsp water mixed together
Your CSA sure have some hybrid veggies. Each have their own personalities.
Whenever I cooked vegan dishes for my fiance and I, he would say….while actually eating the dish, “Hmm, yummy, I can see myself eating that”. Then I think to myself, “and what exactly are you doing now?”
REALLY? No one is going to go there with THAT CARROT?
Don’t make me.
i thought it but was too shy to have it be my first comment on this blog. :p
in the meantime, i’ll mention my problems with finding a mandolin that won’t take my thumbs off.
mm, looks so good!
hahaha. i love that title!
they do kinda look like cookies. and i think i’m gonna look into that oxo salad spinner!
Just made black bean burgers last night! And froze a bunch for easy meals. :) YUMMY!!!
I could not agree with you any more about salad spinners and can openers! I hate it when I’m trying to open a can, but the opener doesn’t want to go fully around or attach onto the rim….urgh!!! Tis’ a real pain in the butt.
That is the cutest little carrot :) I love it when I come across quirky produce. So much more fun to eat that way!
Thanks for the recipe. I really want to try these.
The can opener is also the bane of my existence, doesn’t matter what type it is I always struggle to use it
I would buy your cookbook in a heartbeat!
I agree with Eric, the burgers totally look like cookies! Good job getting your bars done, I only wish I was going to the summit to get one in my swag bag!
I’m enjoying a piece of your Mexican Tortilla Pie right now — what a great recipe! Thank you!
Stopping by your blog always makes me happy! : )
Love the “$hit my husband says”, so cute.
I’m always wrestling with my food processor. My first one was an ancient hand-me-down, & so loud I needed earplugs. The new one is too small, and not powerful enough. And just like the old one, I’m constantly having to stop it to manipulate the contents to get it to mix. Is that normal? Such a pain! I would love a large, powerful one that whips up my creations with ease. *sigh* Some day.
I have to keep stopping and manipulating the contents in my brand new kitchen aid (12 cup!!!) so I assume its normal. Or maybe I just have bad luck with KA.