Chipotle Salmon Burgers

Continuing along the line of making good burgers for summer, my roommate and I made salmon burgers. This was a variation of a recipe from Cooking Light; we mostly changed the recipe because we were missing a few ingredients. They came out good with a nice spice to them.

Mayonnaise Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of pineapple
• 1/8 teaspoon of lemon juice

Burger Ingredients:

• 1-1.5 pounds of salmon fillet
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup of chopped green onions tops
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• Cholula hot sauce
• black pepper
• an egg might be necessary as a binder

We first mixed up the mayo in the food processor...the next time I make this, I would consider adding a teaspoon or so of the green onions and a little of the adobo sauce. We didn't bother cleaning out the food processor since the mayo wouldn't be bad in the burgers.

For the burgers, we added the cilantro, peppers, green onion, and lemon juice into the food processor and chopped then up. We transferred this to a separate bowl. We chopped the salmon up into about 1-inch sized cubes, and then chopped these in the food processor. We added these to the bowl and mixed to combine. We added a few dashes of hot sauce and a few grinds of black pepper. We were out of eggs so we didn't add one as a binder...the patties stayed together pretty well without it, but it sure would have helped.

We had these on multigrain english muffins...my 1-cup measuring scoop was pretty much the perfect diameter. We packed it a little more than half full to form the perfect sized patties. I grilled these on the charcoal grill...I oiled the grate first and let the patties cook almost entirely through before flipping...using this procedure I had no problems with the burgers falling apart.

Top with the mayo and some greens (we had spinach) on a toasted bun. These were really tasty. They had a nice little bite to them and a great cilantro flavor. These were way better than any salmon burgers I've ever purchased.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

My mom makes the best black bean soup. She starts with a ham bone, makes her own stock...it's great. It's a nice, thick and flavorful soup. Since I don't feel like cooking an entire ham (and nicole has that whole issue with pork), I decided to try a veggie recipe of it (hence making the vegetable stock). My mom starts with dry beans, but for this first attempt I just went for canned.

Ingredients

• vegetable broth
• 2 cans of black beans
• 1/2 a medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 hot pepper
• 1/2-1 cup of bell peppers
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 piece of soy bacon (Morningstar Farms is what I used)
• cilantro
• cayenne
• cumin
• chili powder

I sauteed the onions, garlic, hot pepper, and bell peppers in a little oil. I chopped up the fake bacon and cooked it in the veggies. I chopped up the carrots and celery and added them to the mix (I used the ones from the vegetable stock since they were really soft which decreased the cooking time). I added the black beans and heated the mixture; I then added about 2 cups of vegetable stock. I added a few dashes of cumin, cayenne, and chili powder and then a handful of chopped cilantro. I let this cook for 30 - 60 minutes (I was on the phone asking my mom about her black bean soup at the time).

I pureed the mixture in the blender until it was smooth.

Vegetable Broth

I wanted to make black bean soup, but realized I needed some stock first. I looked through a few recipes for vegetable stock...some called for roasting the veggies first, others told you just to throw them in water. I decided to go the route of roasting the vegetables first. The veggies I used were those that were on hand -- carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, celery -- many recipes recommend leeks, potatoes and apples. This was good...next time I may try this recipe (it's similar but is flavored with herbs de provence).

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 carrot (about 5 baby carrots)
• 3 celery stalks
• 1 small red bell pepper (or Italian frying pepper)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 black peppercorns
• a few sprigs of thyme (optional)

I chopped the vegetables up into approximately 1 inch pieces. I put a little oil in a pan, threw in the vegetables and roasted them for about 30 minutes. I actually did this on the grill over medium-high heat rather than using the oven...for the oven use 450°F. I dumped the vegetables into a small pot, filled with water, added 2 bay leaves, a teaspoon of salt, and about a dozen black peppercorns. I didn't have any fresh thyme, but that would be a good addition. I let this boil for about an hour. I strained out the vegetables.

This came out really good, very nice and light, and a little sweet.

I really like to make risotto (which obviously needs some sort of stock)...mushroom stock really works well for risotto, so for that purpose I think I would add mushrooms into the mix.

Turkey and Mushroom Burgers

I biked over to the grocery store today and saw they had ground turkey on sale. The veggie burgers I made yesterday had me now also craving a turkey burger, so it seemed like everything was falling into place. When I make meatballs, I usually food process mushrooms and mix them into the ground meat; since I had about half a package of mushrooms left, I decided to include these into the turkey burgers. The overall result was pretty good.



Ingredients

• 20 oz of ground turkey (I used Jenni-o 93% lean, I've found this works the best; the white meat or anything leaner comes out way too dry)
• 4 oz of mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of mustard (I used dijon and spicy brown)
• dash of hot sauce
• cilantro
• lime juice (or the chili and lime seasoning)
• chili powder, cayenne, salt, black pepper
• probably should add about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or crushed cheddar crackers (Mmmm) next time
  

I put the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in the food processor and finely minced them. I put these in a bowl, added the ketchup, mustard, lime juice, and hot sauce. I added the ground turkey meat, a few grinds of black pepper and sea salt, a few dashes of chili powder and cayenne. I chopped up about 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro and added this to the mix. Last came the egg to act as a binder. Next time I will also added some bread crumbs to firm up the mixture.

These have a tendency to fall apart until the egg cooks, so I often cook them on the George Forman grill or start them on a piece of foil on the grill and then transfer them to the grate after they have stabilized themselves. They came out really moist and flavorful...the mushrooms add a great flavor.

I made mini burgers to match the small multigrain rolls I had purchased. I topped mine with a piece of grilled zucchini, a slice of tomato, avocado (yup still have lots left), lettuce, and a piece of Australian cheddar (which has a little of the same bite as parmesan, but not as strong/sharp as something like Dubliner Irish cheddar).

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

so, hello. nicole here. chris has been bugging me to post some of the things i make. i'm not as extravagant in my cooking as he is, and it seems I have 1/8th the time to cook (wow, i wish i could work from home.) let's also start out with a little disclaimer: i am not a vegetarian. however, >90% of what i eat and what i cook are vegetarian. i used to be a vegetarian, but, in reality, i just like seafood too much. ;) in any case, i felt the following would be the absolute best thing with which to start out my posting, as it's the thing (next to sautéed tempeh or a hearty bowl of cocoa pebbles) that i make most frequently.

that being said, i need to give credit where credit is due. this recipe is only a slight modification of a soup recipe i saw on 101 cookbooks. (as an aside, this is a great website for really healthy, creative, vegetarian recipes). i prefer yellow split peas to green and i always add the broccoli and/or spinach just before puréeing, as well. i like to add a handful of garbanzo beans, and i don't much like smoked paprika, so i use plain ol' paprika. i also tend to make a half-batch, given the whole cooking-for-one thing. so. without further ado, i give you a FANTASTIC vegetarian split pea soup.

• 2 onions, any variety (i like sweet yellows), chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fine ground sea salt
• 2 cups of dried split peas, yellow or green, sorted. (pick out the ones that look, uh, shriveled.)
• 1/2 cup of garbanzo beans, optional (canned)
• 5 and 1/2 cups of water
• 1 cup of chopped spinach, optional (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup of chopped broccoli, optional (fresh or frozen)
• splash of lemon juice
• drizzle of olive oil
• sprinkling of paprika

in a large pot, heat the olive oil, salt and onions for about 2 minutes, until the onions become translucent and soft. add the water and split peas (and, if you are using dried garbanzo beans, add them here. otherwise, if you use canned, like i do, wait until the peas are cooked before adding.) bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to let the peas simmer until soft but still al dente. (this takes me usually 20 minutes.)

once you've cooked the peas and onions, add in the chopped broccoli and spinach, as well as the garbanzo beans - if you're using the canned variety. let simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes until the entire soup is heated through.

remove the pot from the heat. ladle about 1/4 of the soup into a bowl and set it aside. for the remainder of the soup, use either a hand blender, a traditional blender or a food processor and purée everything together. return everything to the pot and mix in the 1/4 of the soup you set aside. this step is really key - leaving that little bit left really makes for a great texture. :)

serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of paprika on each bowl. a very simple recipe, a super-short ingredient list, and a fantastic soup to enjoy. everyone wins.

n.b.: this recipe also makes for great leftovers and freezes very easily. if you're like me and low on time and, often, energy, make a big batch and it will be fantastic every time you heat it up.

Veggie Burgers, version 2

Nothing really takes the place of a good beef burger, but I do really enjoy a good veggie or turkey burger. Over the years I've experimented with making my own veggie burgers with varying degrees of success. Last summer I made a batch that both tasted pretty good and didn't completely fall apart on me. This is my second version of the recipe, where I tried to refine the flavor and texture.


Ingredients

• 2-3 cups brown rice (I used a mixture of Kashi Pilaf and brown sushi rice)
• 4 oz of mushrooms
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 carrot
• 1 can of legumes (I used dark red kidney beans)
• 1/2 a medium onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1 hot red pepper
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of worcester sauce
• 1 tablespoon of mustard
• hot sauce
• paprika, chili powder, salt, black pepper

I cooked up the brown rice (actually a blend of the pilaf and brown sushi rice). I chopped up the mushrooms, onion, carrots, and zucchini in my food processor. I sauteed the garlic and hot pepper in a little oil and added the rest of the veggies with a pinch of salt. When the veggies were soft, I added the ketchup, mustard, and a few dashes of hot sauce. I seasoned this lightly with a little black pepper, chili powder, and paprika. It's important to cook off as much of the liquid as you can otherwise the burger will fall apart.

I pureed the legumes in the food processor and added them to the veggies. I transfered this to a bowl, added the worcester sauce and grated parmesan. I added rice until the mixture had a good consistency (I didn't add all the rice I cooked, just enough until it seemed right...use your own discretion herE), then added salt and pepper to taste. After the mixture cooled a little I added the egg (I added 1 egg in this batch but two would probably work better) and mixed well.

I also added some pea, potato, and spirulina protein powder I had, about 1/4 cup. It didn't impact the flavor much in the cooked patty.

I covered a baking sheet in foil and sprayed it liberally with cooking spray (don't skimp otherwise they will really stick). I made a little ring mold and spooned out about an 1/8 of the mixture into each patty. I baked for about 30-35 minutes at 375°F. I decided the patties were done when they had a nice crust to the outside and were on the verge of starting to burn. My cookie spatula worked well for freeing them from the foil. This makes about 8 patties

I topped mine with cheese, avocado, Morningstar soy bacon, a pickle, lettuce, and salsa and ate it on some multigrain bread. My roommate had one and said they tasted closer to a real burger than any other veggie burger he has had. Next time, I may try adding a small amount of textured soy protein to round out the texture a little more. Obviously, I could add more/different veggies, like peppers and/or potatoes (and probably will). This whole batch was pretty cheap to make too, about half the price of buying veggie burgers (and I get to include a lot more veggies).

Shrimp and Avocado Sushi Rolls

So I bought a lot of avocados and shrimp and have been trying different recipes to use them, hence the last post of Shrimp and Avocado Summer Rolls. I really enjoy sushi and have gotten pretty good at making my own (thanks to some hints from Eric and experimentation over the last few years). I like the "hot & hot" roll from Miki a lot, I think mainly because the spicy sauce doesn't have mayo in it (although the roll has cream cheese in it...hmm). I've made a sauce that gives a similar flavor.



Ingredients

• seaweed wrappers
• sushi rice
• seasoned rice vinegar
• sugar
• shrimp (I used 3 medium, 31-40 count, per roll)
• avocado
• carrots
• pickled ginger
• wasabi
• soy sauce
• rooster sauce
• sweet chili sauce
• ...and anything else you'd like to put in the rolls

I learned a great trick from Eric in terms of preparing the rice. Rather than heating up vinegar and sugar separately, just add the sugar and vinegar directly to the rice while it is still hot. This works out well because it gives you a chance to taste the rice and adjust the flavor. I added approximately 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/8-1/4 cup of vinegar to about 1.5 cups of dry rice (this made two large rolls). I put the rice in the freezer to cool down and cut the carrots into matchsticks and avocado into slices.

I minced a few pieces of pickled ginger, added about a teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of rooster sauce, 1 teaspoon of sweet chili sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of wasabi to make the sauce. I had previously purchased wasabi powder...but it always tasted off, I'm not sure if it was the brand or just because it was old. I got prepared wasabi paste (it was the only other brand at Busch's) and that stuff tasted the way I expected so I was happy.

I used shrimp leftover from last night when I made summer rolls (steamed shrimp marinated in soy sauce, ginger and rooster sauce). I sliced the shrimp in half length wise, and cut them in half width wise so they would fit in the roll.

I assembled the rolls in a normal fashion...rice spread on the seaweed, avocado slices, carrots and shrimp. Before I rolled it all up, I spooned a small amount of the sauce on the filling. Then I rolled, sliced and ate. The overall flavor was pretty good...the Hot & Hot roll from Miki is fried, so this wasn't quite as awesome, but still really good.

Shrimp and Avocado Summer Rolls

When Nicole was here, we made Summer Rolls with Carp that came out really good. I still had a bunch of rice paper wrappers left over, so I decided to experiment with a shrimp roll. Essentially I just substituted shrimp and avocado for the tofu, but also upped the ginger content. I forgot to pickup cucumbers and bean sprouts, but the rolls still tasted good without them. This recipe is anything but exact, just put in whatever.



Ingredients

• leafy lettuce (we used red leaf last time, I used romaine this time since that's what I had)
• rice wrappers
• shrimp (I used medium, 31-40 count, and put 2 shrimps per roll, but 3 or 4 would be better!)
• carrots
• avocado
• rice noodles
• cucumbers (whoops forgot those)
• bean sprouts (I walked by them twice and forgot to get them)

Sauce

• pickled ginger
• hoison sauce
• soy sauce
• mint leaves
  
• cilantro
• rooster sauce

Shrimp marinade

• white or rice vinegar or lemon juice
  
• dash soy sauce
• few grinds of black pepper
• squirt of rooster sauce
• dash ginger powder

I started by marinating the shrimp in the marinade listed above. It really only takes about 5 minutes for it to have a good flavor. I steamed the shrimp, then suck them in the freezer to cool off while chopping all the vegetables. I really liked how shrimp turn out when steamed, and they cook a little faster, so I would recommend trying it.

I next rehydrated the rice noodles (my package said 10 minutes in hot water) and cut the carrots (and cucumbers, had I remembered them) into match sticks. I sliced the avocado into small pieces and remove the sharp edges from the stems of a few lettuce leaves.

I then prepared the sauce...last time I would sometimes get a ton of mint in one bite and none in the next, so I decided to chop it up and add it to the sauce instead. I chopped a few pieces of the ginger, added a few dashes of soy sauce, about a teaspoon of hoison sauce, a squirt of rooster sauce, a few mint leaves diced and the cilantro leaves.

I assembled the rolls the same way as the last time (refer to other recipe)...I put down the lettuce first, topped it with the noodles, carrots, about 2 or 3 slices of avocado per roll, and 2 shrimps per roll (next time I would use 3 or 4)...I topped the ingredients with a drizzle of the sauce and few additional cilantro leaves.

They came out really good. The rooster sauce and ginger added a nice spice without being overpowering. I read a few recipes that recommend dipping these in peanut sauce, but that seemed like it wouldn't really fit too well...I used the same sauce as we made before with some pickled ginger.

Just like last time, I had this with a big glass of Oberon.

Half-Assed Lamb Biryani

I had lamb leftover from my kabobs last night. I had read a recipe from Food and Wine, that looked like it was pretty good (Food and Wine recipe via cooking.com). I modified the recipe since I was using up leftovers and I wanted to include some more vegetables.

Ingredients

• 12 oz of lamb (cooked)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 carrot, minced (or about 5 baby carrots)
• 1/2 cup of diced peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 cups of basmati rice (I cooked brown and white and mixed them)
• 1/4-1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup of chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup of yogurt

Seasonings

• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon of coriander
• salt, black pepper, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, cayenne

I sauteed the onions, garlic, carrots, and diced peppers. I diced my leftover lamb into 3/4 inch cubes. I mixed cumin, coriander, and cayenne into the yogurt and added the lamb to this. After the vegetables were soft, I added the lamb mixture to the pan. It took about 5 minutes for the lamb to heat through. At this point I added cooked rice, raisins and almonds. I used Greek yogurt, so I had to thin the mixture down with some water. I added a dash of cinnamon, a dash of cloves, and a few dashes of turmeric. I adjusted the flavor with salt and pepper. I added a dash of lemon juice, as the Greek yogurt has a little different flavor than just plain yogurt. I really liked the flavor the raisins added, so I would have added more next time. I topped this with fresh cilantro.

It came out pretty good for the minimal amount of effort and the fact I was using up leftovers. It wasn't exactly pretty, so no pictures. I think this would also probably come out pretty good with tempeh rather than lamb, I'll have to try that in a future go-around.

Grilled Zucchini

The weather has been pretty nice the last few days (well, really hot), perfect for grilling. Bello Vino had some local grown baby zucchini on sale...I grabbed a few to grill up and have with my lamb kabobs and red peppers.

I sliced the zucchini in long slices and coated them in a small amount of olive oil. I seasoned the slices with a few grinds of sea salt and black pepper, a few dashes of chili powder, dried oregano, dried cilantro, and chili & lime seasoning (specifically I used Cholula chili and lime seasoning...fresh lime juice would also work well). Then I grilled the zucchini...nothing too difficult, but the seasoning combination was really good.

Spam Musubi

The weekly dinner a Joe's often has a theme...everything from the simple "grilling" or "pasta" to "cupcake dinner" and "slurry night" (mac n' cheese, hotdogs and mixed vegetables pureed in the blender actually make an excellent pate).  Lisa sent Joe a "SPAM Musubi" kit from Japan, which includes a mold for shaping the rice and a can of SPAM.  The theme of this last week was "sushi"...we made a bunch of veggie, salmon, octopus, and mackerel rolls which were all great...and of course, the Spam Musubi.

And yes, we ate it all.  The whole album is here.

Pesto

A few years ago when I visiting my sister, she made a really good pesto that was very light. It turns out she substituted most of the olive oil for chicken stock. I actually prefer the version with stock over a very oily pesto. Stephanie and Eric came over for dinner tonight; since basil still is not really in season in Michigan, I cut my pesto with baby spinach. Pesto is easy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 1 cup of basil (or that's about what was in the package I bought...I would have used more if I had it)
• 1/4-1/3 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup of grated parmesan and romano
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of pine nuts (optional)

I added the basil, garlic, olive oil, and about half of the chicken stock to the food processor and blended. Next I added the spinach and the rest of the chicken stock and blended. The cheese came next, after which I tasted it and adjusted the amount of salt. I was out of pine nuts, so this didn't include any, and wasn't lacking without them.

We ate this over farfalle, paired with marinated chicken. The chicken was marinated in olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, basil, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper. After it was cooked, I topped it with some of the pesto. I often make this for Nicole, but use shrimp rather than chicken; the same marinade works well for shrimp.

Hummus

I really like hummus but I am not a huge fan of the stuff you can buy at the grocery store. The store-bought stuff just doesn't compare to freshly made hummus (I love the stuff from the Syrian Deli, but it's kind of spendy). It isn't very hard to make a really good, cheap homemade version.


Ingredients:

• 1 can of chick peas, drained
• 1-2 tablespoons of tahini paste
• 3-6 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 tablespoons of paprika
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt
• cayenne, hot Mexican chili powder, hot Hungarian paprika (optional)

This recipe is really easy. I first minced the garlic up in the food processor. I next added the chick peas to the food processor, 1 tablespoon of tahini paste, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and about 1/4 cup of water. I added just enough water to allow it to blend instead of chop. I then kept processing the mixture until it was smooth.

This next part was the tricky part, getting the flavors correct. I added a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of paprika, mixed it in, tasted, and added more salt if necessary. It is easy to put in too much tahini and get sort of a bitter flavor to the hummus. I always start on the low end (about 1 teaspoon -> 1 tablespoon) and add a small amount more during the tasting stage. I like it where I can just start to taste the bitterness of the tahini, but it still isn't the main flavor. I've found this varies a lot based on the brand of tahini and the consistency (the thicker it is, the stronger the flavor will be). Next, you'll want to adjust the lemon flavor; I like it very lemony so I usually go pretty heavy on it. I like it spicy, so I'll usually put in a pinch of cayenne, hot Mexican chili powder, and/or hot Hungarian paprika.

After transferring the mixture to a bowl, I topped with the olive oil and remaining paprika.

Variation (no tahini)
When I'm out of tahini (or not in the mood for it) and craving hummus, I'll substitute about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and about 2-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt. The yogurt makes it really creamy and gives a less-"in your face" bitter flavor.