Category Archives: Appies

Black Bean Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

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We spent alot of time at the swings this summer.  They just happened to be on our daily walk route or were a good excuse to go for a walk or sometimes we just stumbled upon a park and hit the swings.  Calla had fun on the swings, she loved to get going faster and higher, I know we have a little daredevil on our hands, I just know it.  Love it though!

Um I think you’ll agree with me here.. this is Hands down the best swing reaction ever!

We also got into a bit of a burger kick this summer, but not the typical beef burgers with bacon, cheese and condiments.  More chickpea burgers, tilapia burgers, even zucchini burgers (coming soon). These black bean burgers were a total hit.

I love the taste of black beans sauteed with cumin, cayenne, and curry powder.  I would be happy eating that alone, but instead we stepped it up a notch and added jalapeno, garlic, onion, corn, oats, bread crumbs and cilantro.

Blended together it really doesn’t look like much. But let it chill for a little while, about 2 hours or so, and man the flavors really start to come together. After the ingredients have had some time to get to know each other, add the breadcrumbs and divide into 4 equal parts. Form each part into patties, packing them together nicely so the patties stay intact.

While the patties are heating up, sizzling away, you’ll have some time to gather dressings. There’s always a million ways to dress a burger.  Some go plain, some just a little sauce, some exxtra sauce.

It’s a good idea to throw some veggies on top, and a fresh warm (maybe) toasted bun is a great call too.  Once assembled, you may need some help diving in, so I say cut it in half for a little extra leverage.

Black Bean & Corn Burgers (adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon)

Serves 4

1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1 Jalapeno, seeded
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can Black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs Rolled oats
1/2 cup Corn
1 Green onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Curry powder
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/4 cup Whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp Vegetable oil
4 Whole wheat buns
Topping: cucumber, tomato, lettuce, parmesan cheese & roasted red pepper hummus (or whatever you desire)

Place red onion, jalapeno & garlic in a food processor and pulse a few times, until blended and diced.

Add beans, oats, corn, green onion, cumin, curry powder, and cayenne.

Pulse until combined.

Season for salt and pepper and pulse again until desired consistency is achieved (I would try to keep it a little chunky for extra texture).

Transfer to mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Remove chilled mixture and stir in breadcrumbs. Taste for any additional seasoning.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Divide mixture into 4 equal parts.  Using your hands, pack each part into patties about an inch thick.Add patties to skillet and and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side, until crusty and heated through.

Remove patties from heat, transfer to bun and dress as you wish.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

This dip is a nice addition to the Black Bean Burger, it’s also a great dip with crackers, pita chip, veggies or you could even mix with pasta.  Quick and easy to whip up you just need some roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, chickpeas, a few walnuts and olive oil.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 Garlic clove, roasted
3 Red Pepper, roasted
1 Can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 Cup Olive Oil, or to taste
1/2 Cup Walnuts
Salt & Pepper

Pulse the garlic in a food processor until finely chopped.

Add the walnuts and pulse a few more times to break up any large pieces.

Add the roasted red pepper and pulse a few times until combined.

Stream in olive oil through feed tube, and pulse until desired consistency.

Taste for salt and pepper, and add more olive oil if needed.  Serve with pita chips, veggies or as spread.

Sun-Dried Tomato & Feta Dip

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The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games have begun!

So far I’ve seen little bits and pieces of cycling, weightlifting (those guys are crazy strong), beach volleyball and swimming.

Of all the sports, I’m always the most stunned watching gymnastics.

Starring at the screen thinking, what the? how? i just.. how is that possible?

Running at full speed, leaping off a springboard, flipping at least 9 times in the air with twists and turns, then landing, on their feet and staying in that spot. Amazing!

The beam, or the bars, or the rings, even the floor, phew, each one is a feat I greatly admire.

If you’re looking for a dip that can be whipped up quickly in between competitions, this one is for you.  So creamy, it’s quite delicious!

Sun-Dried Tomato & Feta Dip

1 Cup Crumbled Feta
1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Oil-packed Sun-dried Tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 tbsp toasted Pine Nuts
Salt & Pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor blend together.  Stop periodically to scrape down sides & taste for seasoning.  Blend until desired consistency, I left mine a little on the chunky side.

Serve with veggie sticks, crackers, tortillas, pita chips, pretzel crisps, or use as a spread for sandwiches.

Spinach & Chicken Empanadas

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Empanadas are a latin caribbean pastry shell turnover. The filling can be sweet or savory and the shell is buttery, but still flaky.

These pockets of goodness are so intriguing.  At first glance I imagined them somewhere in the middle of a samosa and a calzone.  Upon tasting them, it triggered a memory of a flaky meat pie.  In the end, the taste and texture is completely its own.

With the buttery flaky pastry like shell, a sweet filling would be absolutely divine.

For our first batch of empanadas we went with spinach, feta, cottage cheese and chicken.

I’m totally hooked.  The list of combinations is already building in my head, and the hardest decision at the moment is deciding to go with sweet or savory.

Making any dough always leaves me a little perplexed since I haven’t worked with it too much.  The buttery flaky texture had me worried, it didn’t seem like it would come together.  Once chilled and rolled out in some flour, that texture stayed, right through till the end when you bite into a warm, flaky, buttery pastry shell.

The Dough (adapted from Epicurious)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Egg
1/3 cup Cold Water
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Rub butter pieces together with flour and salt (using your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal with pea size butter lumps.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, water and vinegar with a fork. Add to flour mixture stirring until just incorporated.

Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface and gather together. Knead gently, just enough to bring dough together with the heel of your hand. Form into a flat rectangle, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

The Filling (Inspired by Honest Fare)
1 bag Spinach
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 chicken breasts, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp red chile flakes
1/2 cup cottage cheese, drained
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp olive oil
2 Eggs

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes until onions are translucent and garlic is browned. Add chicken and chili flakes. Cover and cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes or until cooked. Add spinach with a touch of water.  Cover and let steam until the spinach turns bright green and wilts down. Drain as much liquid as you can.  Add cottage cheese, feta cheese and 1 Egg.  Mix together.

The Assembly
Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface, cut into 8 medium size pieces (or 12 small or 6 large).  Flouring the counter and rolling pin so the dough does not stick, roll out pieces one at a time until about 5 inches in diameter and 1/8inch in thickness.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tbsp water with 1 Egg to create an egg wash.

Place about 2 tbsp of filling into middle of each empanada.  Fold into a semi-circle.  Along the edge, fold bottom dough over top dough and press down with a fork.  Repeat with each empanada and place on prepared baking sheet.  Using a pastry brush, brush each empanada with egg wash, flip over gently (so you don’t break the seal) and brush again with egg wash.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until empanadas have puffed up, are lightly golden and crispy.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  Serve warm.

Mango Salsa

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Ah Mangoes! So bright, exotic, fruity and sweet.  So full of Vitamin A, and beta-carotene that is higher than most fruits. So deliciously high in fiber, vitamin C and b, iron, potassium and protein.  So great for moms and baby’s alike….unless you’re Calla and would rather spit it out and eat broccoli instead.  Ah what a girl, can’t complain though, at least she’s eating broccoli :)

With Calla not being interested in these beautifully ripe mangoes, and me being super stoked on the Watermelon Salsa last week, I decided to try my hand at Mango Salsa, and it was delish!

In lieu of eating with tortillas, I toasted a whole wheat bun, mashed avocado on it, and slathered with salsa.  It was so good, I ate it for breakfast, lunch and would have had for supper, but ran out of avocado. Darn!

Mangoes are the most difficult fruit to cut.  I know there is a technique to it, I’ve just never got around to learning it.  I usually peel first, then gradually cut pieces away from the pit.  It’s not a pretty technique, especially if the mango is perfectly soft and ripe.

Mango Salsa

My general rule, is start with less, than add more.  It’s easier to add to a dish, then try to take away too much flavor.

2 Mangoes
2 Firm Medium Tomatoes
1/2 Jalapeno, finely chopped (seeds removed if you want less spice)
1/4 Red Onion, finely chopped
1/8 cup Cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 Lime, juiced

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning.
Serve with tortillas or with yummy Avocado Toast.

If serving Mango to a little one;

Peel mango and cut around the pit, then chop into small cubes.
(1) Either puree until desired consistency, adding liquid if needed
(2) Mash with a fork
Or,
(3) Chop into very small pieces for finger food.  It’s pretty amazing the littlest pieces she can pick up with her thumb and pointed index finger (the pincher grasp)

Summertime Spring Rolls

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Hello Summer!! That’s how I feel when I look at these and eat them! They taste like summer.  So bright, fresh, flavorful and easy.  Oh boy, they were so easy to make.

I have a little confession to make.  This was our wednesday night meal this week, however instead of wednesday, we actually made them on thursday. Oops.  You’ll forgive me right?

I know we will eat these a lot this summer and I think they would be great for a summer potluck, bbq or picnic as well. You could easily change up the sauce for a sweet chilli or thai peanut sauce.  The ingredients could be changed as well. All veggie, adding chicken or using white fish. We had just run out of avocado, but I think that would be a key ingredient in the future.

If you make them ahead of time, I would cover them with a damp papertowel or cloth so the rice paper doesn’t dry out too much.

(Adapted from Food52)
For the Shrimp
16 ounces water
Washed peel of 2 mangoes
1/2 lime, cut in 1/4″ slices
1/2 yellow onion, cut in 1/2″ slices
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp dried chili flakes
1 Bag of shrimp, uncooked, deveined and peeled

For the Filling
1/2 package rice noodles
1 Mango, peeled, sliced in 1/4″ pieces
2 Green Onions, diced
1/2 Cucumber, peeled and sliced in 3″ x 1/4″ pieces
2 Handfuls spinach, washed and dried
1 Red Pepper, cored, seeded removed and sliced
Rice Papers
9″ Cake or frying pan with 1/4″ warm tap water
Handful Cilantro, diced

For the Sauce
1 Mango, peeled and fruit removed from pit
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lime, Zested & Juiced
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Sambal Oelek Hot Chili Paste

In a medium saucepan, fill with 16 ounces of water, mango peel, sliced onion, sliced lime, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Let it come to a boil.  Once boiling, add shrimp and let cook until pink on the outside and still a little grey in the middle.  Remove from element, drain in colainder and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.  Cook rice noodles according to package directions.  Let cool.  Slice mango, cucumber, red pepper, green onion and cilantro. Set aside all ingredients.

In a blender or food processor, add 2nd mango, sesame oil, soy sauce, lime zest and juice, fish sauce and chili paste.  Pulse until smooth.

Using a 9″ round cake pan or frying pan, fill with about 1/4″ warm water.  Working with 1 rice paper at a time, place into pan for about 15 seconds or until soft and pliable.  Gently remove from pan, let drip a few seconds then place on a wood cutting board or work surface.  Start layering.  The order you work in is up to you, here is what we did.  Start by laying down a few spinach leaves, then rice noodles, sprinkle cilantro, layer of cucumber and mango, then a slice or two of red pepper.  Add a few diced green onions and 2-4 cooled shrimp.  Either add a tbsp of sauce to the wrap or use as a dipping sauce, or both.  Tuck in the short ends of the wrap, then roll one side over the ingredients, tuck in and roll completely closed. Repeat until all ingredients are used.  Makes about 8-10 wraps.