Tag Archives: Lime

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.

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes & Berry Salsa

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You have 45 minutes, ready….. and Go!

Dishes, laundry, shower, eat, sit, about to bring that re-heated for the 5th time coffee to my lips and…. oops she’s up.

Nap times lasts 45 minutes (about 3 times).  Sometimes I can get all of those things done. Sometimes I can get one chore done.  And some days I say “Screw the dishes, I’m making Pancakes!!”

There is so much going on with these pancakes, so many flavors.  Smashed sweet ripe banana mixed in with heartier buckwheat batter, topped with creamy honey greek yogurt, a sweet & spicy berry salsa and of course maple syrup.  They were kind of intense, but in a good way.

If you haven’t noticed I’m starting to build a small obsession to fruit salsa.  Ever since the Watermelon salsa a few weeks ago, I keep imagining other fruits to use. I feel like Kiwis might be next…

Sometimes I get a little impatient when cooking pancakes.  I heat the griddle too hot, add the pancake too soon, don’t wait for enough bubbles or forget about them completely.  Today, I am happy to say, worked out so great.  They take some time, you definitely cannot rush pancakes. But they are worth the wait.

Trick is, wait for the griddle to heat (water drops should sizzle), melt a little butter, and add batter evenly. Wait for air bubbles to pop throughout the whole pancake, especially the middle, then flip. After the flip, it should only be a minute or so until cooked.

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes

2 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Banana, Mashed
In a medium bowl, whisk together mix, eggs and milk until just combined.
Heat a skillet on medium high heat.  Once heated (butter or water should sizzle when added), add batter using a 3/4 measuring cup.
Flip pancake after a few minutes and air bubbles have popped throughout the pancake.
Cook for an additional minute or until cooked.

Serve with greek yogurt, berry salsa (recipe below) and maple syrup.

Berry Salsa
1 Cup Blueberries, diced
1 Cup Strawberries, diced
A few Mint Leaves, finely chopped
A few Cilantro Leaves, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 Lime, juiced
1/8 Red Onion, diced
1/4 Jalapeno, diced

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and taste for seasoning.
Instead of dicing the berries, you could use a food processor, however I find there’s something almost therapeutic about dicing.  Salsa will last a few days, but tastes the best fresh on day 1

Creamy Avocado Coleslaw

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Wow, 1 Cabbage produces copious amounts of shredded cabbage!!  Having bought 1 green and 1 purple cabbage, I had no idea what I was in and needed to get a little innovative so we wouldn’t be eating the same salad for days and days.

With two salads in mind, I started out with a Creamy Avocado dressing.

No oil or mayo needed, this green salad dressing was made entirely of veggies, some herbs, lemon and buttermilk.  Cream-y!!

You could use this dressings for many salads, or even add a few more avocados and use it as a dip for veggies.

Biggest mistake I made with this salad, was not shredding the cabbage thin enough, I made sure to do that for the second salad though, which should be coming up tomorrow, so please stay tuned

(Adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook)

Creamy Avocado Veggie Salad

Small Handful of Parsley
Handful of Spinach
1/2 a zucchini, chopped
A few fresh basil leaves
1 clove Garlic
1 cup Buttermilk
Salt
1 tsp Lemon Juice
2 Ripe Avocados
Small Handful of cilantro

1/2 Small Purple Cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 Small Green Cabbage, finely shredded
1 Carrot, peeled in strips
1 Cucumber, sliced

In a blender or food processor, add all dressing ingredients and pulse until smooth.  Taste for seasoning, then pulse once again.

Finely shred both cabbages and arrange in a bowl.  Add sliced cucumber and peel carrot pieces.  Pour dressing over salad and mix together.

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)

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