Tag Archives: Jalapeno

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.

Chickpea Burgers, Kale & Cilantro-Cucumber Yogurt

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Over the last two weeks, our Wednesday night meals have been falling short.

Crab cakes falling apart, pork tenderloin with little flavor, needless to say I was disappointed.

I tend to take it quite personally when recipes and meals don’t turn out, and when they do turn out, well, I feel like I need to share them with everyone I know.

With our past failures, I was particularly keen on making this Wednesday night meal a success and was beaming with happiness when this proved to be one.

The 3 components of these pitas work together beautifully.

Combining the sauce (without the mango) from these spring rolls and chickpeas, creates a flavor similar to this hummus, but more intense with the garlic and onion.

Softening the Kale in a jalapeno-lime marinade adapted from this site, takes the bitterness out of the kale, and has become my favorite way of eating kale and a firm believer that this chewy green vegetable can actually taste incredible.

Topping the burgers with a creamy cilantro-cucumber yogurt is the simplest and most fitting sauce.

Stuff those ingredients in a fresh, warm, homemade pita is absolute perfection.

Cilantro-Cucumber Yogurt
1/2 Large Cucumber, juliened
Salt
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped

Line juliened cucumber on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.  Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes to remove moisture.  In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, cucumber and cilantro. Set aside.

Jalapeno-Lime Kale (adapted from Not Without Salt)
1 Bunch Kale, thick steams removed and chopped
1/4 cup Fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (unless you like spice, keep the seeds)
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin

In a medium bowl, add chopped kale, lime juice, olive oil, jalapeno, cilantro, salt and cumin.  Mix together, with you hands if you like, and set aside for 30 minutes.

Chickpea Burgers

1 19oz Can Chickpeas, drained & rinsed

2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lime, Zested & Juiced
1 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Sambal Oelek Hot Chili Paste
1/2 Large Yellow Onion, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
Olive oil

In a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add diced onion and minced garlic, and cook for a few minutes until they brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a blender or food processor, add chickpeas, sesame oil, lime juice and zest, fish sauce, soy sauce, Chili paste and breadcrumbs. Pulse until combined, but not smooth. Add garlic and onion and pulse a few more times.

Form into patties, should make about 7 small ones.  In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. Add chickpea patties and cook about 4-5 minutes per side, or until browned.  You may need to cook in 2 batches.

Half Whole-Wheat Pitas (adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook)

1 Cup Water, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
About 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
Extra Flour for rolling
Olive oil for bowl and baking sheet

In a medium-sized bowl, add water and sprinkle in yeast.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to foam.

Add honey and salt and stir until everything dissolves.

One cup at a time, whisk in flour.  Once it thickens, use a wooden spoon to mix.  Once you cannot mix with the spoon, mix together with your hands.  Turn onto a floured surface and knead dough until smooth.  Place dough in an oiled bowl, and oil the top surface of the dough ball.  Cover with a tea towel and let sit for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch down dough and turn onto floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, then divide into 6 pieces. 12 if you prefer smaller pitas. Using your hands, form each piece into a smooth ball. Then flatten with a rolling pin into a very thin circle, no thicker than 1/8 inch.  (the circle does not need to be perfectly round). Let circles rest about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500F.  Place baking sheets in oven for a minutes or two to warm.  Brush sheets with olive oil. Place pitas on sheets, making sure circles don’t touch. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until puffed up and lightly browned. Remove from oven and wrap in a damp tea towel.

Tilapia Burgers, Buns & Watermelon Salsa

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“It’s the watermelon salsa”…. “actually, I think it’s the buns that make it”…….”nope, definitely the cajun”….. (says Scotty) All-in-all, these were the best fish burgers I’ve had to date.

I love Wednesday nights in our house.  It may take us a good 2 hours (or more) to eat and the kitchen is almost always a total disaster, but it’s such a great way to spend the night.

The rules are; it has to be something we’ve never made, and everything has to be made from scratch.  Which explains why the buns size and the patty size didn’t exactly match up here… I mean… that’s how I meant them to be, sort of tilapia sliders….

If you’ve never had watermelon salsa before, I highly highly recommend it.  The burst of fruity watermelon with crisp red onion, spicy jalapeno, and zesty lime is absolutely incredible. Make sure to try it soon, it’s delicious!!

In the last minute or two the burgers were cooking, we decided to make a quick Tzatziki to go along. I’m very happy we did.

Tilapia Burgers, Watermelon Salsa & Tzatziki

(Adapted from How Sweet Eats)

For the Burgers
5-6 Tilipia Fillets
2/3 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Egg + 1 Egg White, lightly beaten
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 Garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cajun seasoning

For the Salsa
1 Cup diced Watermelon
1/2 Green Jalapeno, diced
1/8 cup Red Onion, Diced
1/4 lime, juiced
Small handful Cilantro, diced

For the Tzatziki
1 Long Cucumber, peeled, sliced in half
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Dried Dill
1/4 Lemon, juiced

1 tbsp Olive oil & 1 tbsp Butter for skillet
Avocado Slices & Spinach for topping
Whole Wheat Buns

Using a small spoon, scrape the seeds out of the cucumber.  Slice, sprinkle with salt and let sit in colainder for about 30 minutes to drain. Using a food processor, pulse drained cucumber, garlic, lemon and dill until blended. Mix in yogurt and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together salsa ingredients and set aside.

In a blender or food processor, pulse tilapia until chopped.  Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Mix well. Using your hands, form tilapia into 6 tight patties.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add butter and olive oil.  Once melted, place patties in skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.

Whole Wheat Buns

Peeking at the dough occasionally, getting nervous it wasn’t rising enough, I was convinced the buns would not turn out.  Thinking they would rise more, I made them small, turns out a little too small for these burgers.

Although small in size, they still taste great!

(Adapted from Food Network)

Whole Wheat Buns
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Flax Seeds
2 tbsp Cornmeal
Flour for Counter

1 Egg
1 tbsp Milk
Butter for Baking Dish

In a small saucepan, warm honey, butter and milk until just warm to the touch.  In a small bowl, combine sugar and water. Add yeast, stir and set aside until mixture foams (about 10 minutes).

In a medium size bowl, mix together flours, salt, seeds and cornmeal until combined. Add yeast and milk mixtures, and mix together with a wooden spoon. Mix until dough just comes together.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead together until dough is smooth and elastic. About 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. Place into large, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set bowl in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Punch down dough and turn onto work surface.  Cut into 3 equal pieces, then into 4 smaller pieces.  (Or 3 smaller pieces if you would like bigger buns). In the palm of your hands, form dough into a smooth ball. Place buns on a buttered cookie sheet and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375F. Whisk together milk and egg. Using a pastry brush, generously brush tops and sides of buns until covered.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until buns are golden brown.  Makes 9-12 buns, depending on size

A fresh take on BBQ Chicken Tacos

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It is amazing how simple & delicious these tacos are!! The ingredients are fresh, basic & combined together, well its like it was meant to be. We first started using these ingredients for fish tacos, but soon realized you could use any meat or fish and they would be delicious. Your layering technique and measurements are personal preference, however here is what we used for 2 people.

4 Small Whole-grain Tortillas
4 Chicken Breasts
Bullseye Guinness BBQ Sauce
2 Tomatoes, sliced
2 Ripe Avocadoes, peeled & sliced
1/4 Red Onion, diced
1/2 Fresh Green Jalapeno, membrane & seeds removed, diced
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Franks Hot Sauce (optional)
Salsa (optional)

Heat BBQ, coat chicken breasts with bbq sauce & cook.

While chicken is bbq-ing, prepare remaining ingredients into assembly line.  Wash & slice tomato. Peel, remove pit & slice avocado. Diced red onion & grate parmesan cheese. With a small spoon, very carefully remove the membrane & seeds from jalapeno. Wash your hands right after, just in case you touched the membrane or seeds.  I’ve made this mistake before, then rubbed my eyes, and boy, that is not fun.

Once the chicken is cooked, brush your tortillas with olive oil and place in oven to warm briefly.  Now, start the layering; chicken, tomato, avocado, red onion, jalapeno and finally cilantro. Now, enjoy! Then go up for seconds, or save for lunch tomorrow, if you can.