Know what's not bad?

These things--Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex veggie burger patties. I bought them on my last trip to Trader Joe's after hearing others recommend them here and there. I originally thought they'd be a nice quick lunch for myself when The H and little guy are at work/daycare, but they came through in a pinch for dinner tonight. The H his not a gigantic fan of meatless products, but he pasted on a smile and went with it. Actually, he MADE it. I was blustering around a few stores after my run this afternoon and he was kind enough (hungry enough?) to start dinner while I was out.

We served these with sliced avocado, fresh tomato, and sliced sharp cheddar, with some gluten-free mac 'n' cheese (another Trader Joe's purchase) on the side. My meal plan indicates sweet potato fries, but the sweet potatoes were in the car with me, having just been purchased this afternoon. No sense in waiting another 45 minutes when my boys were hungry; the GF mac did just fine as a side. Here's a little tip: you can make your macaroni--the boxed stuff, I mean--with plain Greek yogurt in place of the milk if you want a creamier, "Kraft Deluxe" style dish. Omit the butter and just use 1/2 cup yogurt instead of the 1/4 cup milk. If you swap out the pasta included in the box and use brown rice spirals (oh, Trader Joe, how often can I praise you in one post?) it's a dead ringer for the mac 'n' cheese at Boston Market at a fraction of the arterial damage.

So that's what we had. And what I will be having again, because those patties were good. The H and I commented as such multiple times throughout the meal about them. Not too crumbly, as some meatless things can be, not too spicy, and really rather flavorful. The H's only minor complaint was that some of the veggies in said "veggie burger" are recognizable. ;) Works for me!

My favorite burger, revamped

Just in case you were wondering, this chicken burger recipe is equally--if not more--tasty as the original when you use ground turkey breast in place of the chicken. For one thing, they hold together better, so much that we were able to grill them. The H and I also thought they were somehow more flavorful, even though the *only* thing I changed was the poultry I used. I did freeze them on a foil-lined baking sheet for about 3 hours before cooking, simply because I didn't have fridge space and we weren't ready to cook them right away.

We served them with local raw gouda and a quick tomatillo relish that I threw together using our last two tomatillos, one seeded jalapeno, the juice of half a lime, and sprinkle of kosher salt. On the side, we had blackened green beans. Both of these dishes were cooked on the grill, which made clean-up incredibly easy and kept my kitchen cool on a warm summer day. Oh, and the little guy gobbled an entire burger--with organic ketchup--even though he was supposed to be in bed. He literally ran out of the room during bedtime stories, crowing, "Iss BURger tyme!" Thus, this post has earned the honor of the kid-friendly tag.

Beans, beans...

One of our favorite summer vegetables is fresh green beans. I got some at the farmer's market last week, since the ones I planted (yes, very late) aren't even growing yet. When we bought them, the little guy was munching them raw! I had a different idea in mind for dinner last night, though. We started eating beans prepared this way a few years ago when I stumbled across a recipe online.

First, sauté diced onion in olive oil. Then add the beans. If you have more beans than I did (one pound) do half at a time.

Stir around so the beans get covered in the oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Then let 'em sit there and get all black and blistery. Tasty, right? :) The onions get sweet and caramelized, and the beans get *just* tender, but not mushy in the least.

We served these with grilled local beef burgers and cheese from our great state.

Clean and local burgers & fries

Tonight we had burgers and fries--the clean and local way! Or, at least the way *I* do clean and local.

The fries were made from local parsnips (thanks to the farmer's market) and sweet potato. I cut them into fry-sized pieces, tossed with some olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne, and roasted at 425* for about 35 minutes.

I got this idea from Katie at Health for the Whole Self--I never would've thought to make parsnip fries on my own, but I'm glad to have another way to prepare them.

I shuffled them around after about 25 minutes to help them brown evenly. I like 'em crispy.

The burgers were 1/4-lb patties from a local farm via the co-op. The H seasoned them perfectly--I love dried chipotle powder! Between that and the cayenne on the fries, it was a pretty spicy meal.

When the fries were done, we plated everything and sat down to deliciousness. Our burgers were topped with spinach, tomato, and mustard (organic ketchup for The H).

I ate mine on a sandwich thin, and The H had his on a piece of freshly-made gluten-free, egg-free bread. I used flax meal "eggs" with our usual GF bread recipe, and it came out great. And you know what? We ate off salad plates, so even though it looks like a heap of food (and it was really filling) our portions weren't overpoweringly heaping. Try it sometime!

A meaty month

Apparently May is "meat month" here in our household. The H has been asking for beef burgers lately, but I keep holding him off by making burgers out of beans and/or ground chicken. We've been filling in our menu with co-op bacon/pancetta, Canadian turkey bacon, the dregs of meat I've frozen from other meals, and protein alternatives like eggs or the quinoa in our stuffed peppers last night.

The last time I cooked actual chicken breasts is when I made these beauties more than two weeks ago. I have been wanting to hit up a local farm retail store, which I finally did with the little guy on Monday. There we stocked up with five packages of 1/3 pound beef burgers (a total of 5 pounds, or 15 pre-made patties), two pounds of ground turkey breast, and about 4 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Tomorrow is co-op pickup night, so I just logged in to remind myself what I ordered this time--and there I saw one package of 1/4lb beef burgers (oops), a pound of stew beef, and two pounds of flank steak. Looks like lots of grilling in our future!

Speaking of which, I grilled up a package of the 1/3lb patties tonight after running. Oh.My.Goodness. I wanted to keep eating long after my patty--topped with cheddar, mustard, ketchup, and sliced pickle on an HFCS-free wheat bun--was gone. On the side, we polished off a personal watermelon and some tomato-feta-balsamic vin salad. Fantastic!

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

This recipe is loosely based on "Best of Everything Burgers" from allrecipes.com. Would you believe I've never made my own veggie burgers before? Turkey, sure. Chicken? Yep. And beef, of course. But for vegetarian burgers, I've always relied on Morningstar Farms or Boca. Those are not exactly clean, and they usually contain wheat, so I figured it was time to get on the stick and find a good recipe that The H could enjoy. What better day to try one than Meatless Monday?

Here's what I ended up with:

2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup red onion, minced

1 cup bell peppers, chopped

1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped

4 large cloves garlic, minced

3/4 - 1 cup quick oats (not all oats are safe for GF folks, check for a cross-contamination disclaimer if you are extremely gluten sensitive)

1 egg

2 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp Frank's RedHot sauce

1. In a food processor, combine beans, onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Pulse several times until combined but not smooth.

2. Add rice, egg, oats, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce to processor and pulse several times until well mixed.

3. Form mixture into patties and place on wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.

4. While burgers are chilling, cover grill grates with foil and preheat to medium temperature. Spritz with cooking spray. Cook burgers 6-8 minutes per side.

Top with cheese, salsa, sour cream, avocado, etc. and enjoy with or without a bun. Freeze any leftovers.

Sounds great, right? Except... they were SO SOFT. They stuck to the foil and were too loose to flip. Folks, we almost ended up at Burger King. No lie. The H was already disappointed that we weren't having "real burgers" for dinner like he thought, and now to have these (apparently fake) lumps of mush staring us in the face... it was just a kick in the teeth.

Fear not--I figured out a way to get them off the grill, remove the charred foil, and finish them under the broiler. And then I realized I forgot salt, so I shook some kosher salt over the tops and called them done. Sigh.

The little guy positively devoured his (two!), starting before I even got them to the table. The H politely ate one or two, saying they had a great flavor (which they did).

Mine was enjoyable, if not for the headaches it caused before serving. I ate it on a whole-grain sandwich thin with spinach, mustard, extra Frank's sauce, two thin slices of marble cheddar cheese (local), and a bulb of grilled fennel on the side. Perhaps the leftover one will be better since it's had a chance to set and chill throughout.

This recipe certainly needs perfecting, but the flavors are good enough that I might consider it again. I should have added more rice or oats, or both, when I realized how soft the mixture was. After re-reading the original (linked above) I cannot imagine how wet they would've been if I had used the two eggs, cheese, and additional beans called for. Perhaps you'll have better luck. The flavor would be worth it! These were served with a tomato-feta-cucumber salad, dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper, and grilled fennel, topped with the same (minus feta). Fennel is one of those things, like beets, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, that I am teaching myself to appreciate.

Fabulous Friday

8am - Breakfast

Steel-cut oats with apple butter and chopped walnuts and raisins from the breakfast buffet--my favorite combination this week. I'll be sure to repeat this with my last serving of home-brought oats. I enjoyed this with some fresh pineapple and, of course, my one true love:

Hello, gorgeous.

11am - Snack time

After shopping with the little guy (I got two new tops to go with my two new Gap skirts from Monday) I had a Kashi honey almond flax chewy granola bar on the way to look for a more suitable midmorning munch, all the while hearing the little guy say "Go back to hotel! Take a nap!" Yeah... he wasn't kidding.

I scooted into Bruegger's and grabbed a protein smoothie (no added sugars, and 16g of protein per serving) that I swigged on the way back to the hotel.

The little guy was still asleep by the time we made it back to our 4th floor room, so I left him in the stroller and closed the curtains... and uploaded the pics I'd taken so far. :) He ended up snoozing for an hour, before lunch, which never happens anymore.

1pm - Lunch time

The H was done with work early so the three of us got Jimmy John's (turkey for me, no mayo, with hot peppers--no chips) and enjoyed a windy little picnic near the hotel. The little guy loved being able to run again! It was nice to be in green, open space. Hotels and strollers are rather confining for small fry.

4pm - Snack time

I smeared half of my last whole wheat wrap (the other half was moldy) with almond butter and apple butter. It gave me heartburn. After a failed attempt at a second nap, we piled into the Metro with the running stroller and set out to run around the National Mall--we ended up with 4 miles (plus some walking) and a very tired but well-behaved little boy!

I love running.

7 pm - Dinner and bedtime

The H went to hunt and gather for us (Five Guys--ever had it?) after feeding the little guy some mac 'n' cheese, fruit, and turkey.

I utterly devoured my burger--topped with lettuce, tomato, green peppers, mushrooms, and mustard--and most of my fries. I liked the ones with potato skin on them best.

Even after consuming these eighty trillion calories, I was craving something sweet. If there had been a Dairy Queen closer than 6 miles away, The H would've been off like a shot, and I would have inhaled a small Blizzard. Instead, I ate the rest of the fresh pineapple from this morning and made a (surprise! Ready for this?) pot of decaf. :)

I must have been hungrier than I thought (and I felt famished) because for all I ate at dinner, I don't feel that overloaded. At all. Of course, I don't usually run three days in a row (5mi, 4mi, 4mi) and walk multiple miles on top of that, either. We're still trying to decide what to do tomorrow. Probably a museum...

My new favorite burger

Since last month's co-op pickup, I've had two one-pound packages of ground chicken breast sitting in the freezer, mocking me every time I'd go see what I had to create a meal plan around. The only thing I've ever made with ground chicken is chicken apple sausage patties. That's exactly what I had intended to do with them this time around, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Then I came across this recipe for chicken tequila burgers, another winner from Cara's Cravings. I modified it to exclude the tequila, as Jen the Beantown Baker did. I also made a version of Jen's Food Network-inspired drunken peppers to go on top. The beer we used was RedBridge, a gluten-free beer made by Anheuser-Busch.

Since the original recipe calls for 11oz of chicken breasts, and I had a full pound of ground chicken to use, I increased the quantities of the other ingredients a bit and ended up with five palm-sized patties instead of the original two servings. There would have been 6, but I made a pretty big one for The H and a small one for the little guy. See it there on the end?

The H and I both loved the combination of cilantro and lime with the ground chicken. Even the little guy ate about half of his, dipped in mustard. These are nice, summery-tasting burger that isn't heavy or greasy at all. The peppers and onions on top had great flavor that complemented the burgers really well. I look forward to making these quite a bit in the coming warmer months.

We served them with sweet potato fries, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt, cinnamon, ancho chili powder, and cayenne pepper, then baked at 400* and finished under the broiler while the burgers were cooking. I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today... that's when you know it's good. :)

Chicken Burgers with Cilantro

adapted from Cara's Cravings and Beantown Baker

serves 6

1 lb ground chicken breast

2 large cloves garlic, minced fine

Two large handfuls fresh cilantro, minced (about 1/2 cup)

Zest from half of a lime

Splash of wheat-free tamari OR lite soy sauce

Sea salt and black pepper

1/2 cup plain dry oats

1/2 fresh lime, cut into wedges

1. Preheat broiler (to low, if you have a choice). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray or olive oil.

2. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, garlic, cilantro, lime zest, tamari, salt and pepper, and oats. Using clean hands or a large spoon, portion the mixture into equal-sized mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten and form into burger-shaped patties.

3. Place the burgers under the broiler for 10-12 minutes total, flipping halfway through cooking time. Serve on toasted buns (or gluten-free bread) with desired toppings and lime wedges for an extra flavor boost.

Drunken Peppers

from Food Network's Sunny Anderson via Beantown Baker

serves 4

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 Poblano peppers, seeded and cut into strips (I used a large red pepper and a small orange pepper)

1/4 cup lager beer (we used the GF beer mentioned above)

1/2 medium onion, sliced

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper strips and onion; season with salt and pepper. Saute about 8 minutes, until veggies start to caramelize around the edges.

2. Add the beer and cover, cooking 5 minutes or until peppers are soft.

I do not have nutritional information for the burgers, since I modified them, but please check out the link to Cara's recipe above for the nutritional data from her original recipe.

Sweet potato semi-fail

I have recently discovered that I love sweet potato fries, especially when they're well-done and crispy. Their sweet, caramelized flavor is SO GOOD. I haven't yet been able to replicate the flavor of my favorites from The Cheetah, but I did come sort of close to that toasted-marshmallow goodness last summer. Sweet potatoes called to me at the grocery store this week so I gave in and bought a few. Last night we had these "chips" (they didn't all get crispy) with our local grass-fed beef burgers (topped with sauteed mushrooms, local yellow onion, and local sharp white cheddar). I served some homeade-from-co-op-fruit apple/pear sauce as well. Let's call this my DDC meal for the week, though the mushrooms and sweet taters weren't local. (I'm not very good at this challenge. I know.)

The photos don't look all that appetizing, but they really were good. Well, the ones that didn't get so charred they were fed to the dog were good, anyway! After slicing the two large potatoes with my mandoline, I set them on a baking sheet but had too many to do a single layer. That might've been part of my problem. Aren't they a gorgeous color?

I drizzled them with olive oil, but as you can see here, I may have added too much because it kind of pooled on top when I went to flip them halfway through.

A sprinkling of sea salt and dried rosemary finished them off. After I flipped them, they went back into the oven but under the broiler this time, and came out like this.

You might be able to spot a few that went to the pooch. Once they were plated (bad lighting, oh well for dark Michigan winter nights) they looked like this:

The H, LG (little guy!), and I polished them off. Tasty.

So even though they aren't show-quality, what do you think about the addition of more photos? I've been trying to use more and not be so lazy about uploading them! I think they brighten up the ol' blog. Yes?

Oh. Yum.

Dinner was awesome. The H may not agree, since he prefers beef over turkey for burgers, but I hope he'd concede that they were at least good as far as turkey goes! I ever-so-slightly modified the "Ultimate Turkey Burger" recipe from the Summer 2008 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. They came out flavorful, not dry, and just a little crispy-browned at the edges. I served them with blackened green and purple beans, which incidentally also turn green when cooked, sliced tomatoes with bleu cheese, and my first (but certainly not last) attempt at homemade sweet potato chips.

The beans have been a staple in our house for years but we love them each time I make them. The H even made some for himself the other night when I was running with my friends! So proud. :) All we do is heat some oil and add some diced onion, about half of the quantity you want to use. Then add half your fresh, trimmed, whole green beans. Stir them around to coat with the oil, and add a shake of sea salt and some cracked pepper. Let them sit in med-high heat until some of them are blackened and starting to wilt. Add the other half of your diced onion and the remaining beans. Cook until dead. No, really. The blacker they are, the better. Those bits of onion char up beautifully and turn so caramelly-sweet!

Speaking of sweet, my potatoes. Oh, those potatoes. I sliced a medium sweet potato as thinly as I could and soaked the slices in salted water while we went for a run. I've heard this makes potatoes stay crispy when they're made into fries, but maybe I did it wrong because it didn't work all that great. Anyway, I cooked them in a single layer, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned salt (not the best CE option) at 425 for 10-12 min on each side. At the end of the cooking time, they were still pretty soft, so I stuck them under the broiler until they looked a little charred and dry. Genius! The crispiest ones, which I saved for last, tasted just like a toasted marshmallow. Yum.

The tomato was.. a tomato. Not the best Roma I've had, but a lovely colorful pop on our plates next to the blackened beans, grilled burgers, and charred chips.

And now, the burgers:

Ultimate Turkey Burgers, Clean Eating Summer 2008, pg. 45

1.5 lbs ground turkey (I used 1 lb)

1 medium red pepper, diced (I used 1.5 cups of Trader Joe's frozen tri-color pepper blend, thawed and drained)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely minced (I used the curly kind)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup organic wheat-free quick oats (this is my addition, not in the original recipe--burgers were a little loose without it)

1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together well. Place about 1/3 cup of mixture between two sheets of waxed paper.* Press firmly into a patty, about 4in wide and 1/2in thick. Repeat with remaining mixture until you have 6 patties. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes before grilling time.

*If you do not use wax paper; your burgers will stick to the plate and you will have to let them sit at room-temp while you wait for them to defrost enough to pry up.

2. Using a spatula, place patties carefully on grill over medium-high heat. Grill 3 to 4 minutes, and then flip. Grill for another 3 to 4 minutes or until burgers are golden brown and firm in the middle.

Serve burgers on whole-grain rolls* with a selection of fresh vegetables for toppings, such as sliced tomato, lettuce, and onion.

*We skipped the buns, as usual.

And now The H just brought me a mug of decaf chocolate-marshmallow espresso with frothy steamed low-fat milk for dessert. Sweet ending to a sweet meal. I took pictures, but they're terrible! And my kitchen was horribly messy. Alas.