Fall Root-Vegetable Bean-Burger

Tags

anti-inflammatory foods, Beans, chilli, gluten-free, vegan

Lately, I have had an insatiable craving for vegan black-bean burgers. I have no idea why, but the crispy crunchy outside with the soft inside, combined with the savory flavors of the vegan mayo and/or sriracha on top..mmm… the symphony of flavors was begging for a replay.

..So I had one, and then another, and then I just started to look for recipes for vegan black-bean burgers online. It’s funny, I know how hunger works, and it is not satiated if you look at 20 pictures of just delectable looking vegan black-bean burgers on the internet. Of course, make delicious vegan black-bean burger patties is what I did. When my husband who has the most discerning palate of anyone I know said they were tasty, I knew I had to share with the world. Especially because bean-recipes are one of my favorites to share with the world.

I was super excited about this recipe because I literally did zero shopping for it – everything I used was already in my pantry.

Ingredients:

• One can of black beans, drained, and one can of chickpeas, with the juice.
• 2 packets of trader-joes organic oats and flax oatmeal
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 4 serrano chillis chopped fine (I like my burgers spicy! You can de-seed and use jalapenos, or sub bell-peppers if you like)
• 1 cup of Frozen root vegetables (or frozen beets or steamed or canned beets)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup frozen or canned corn
• 2 tbsp of coconut oil

Pic of a raw frozen patty. Batter should be mashed up but still chunky. Pink color is from the beets

Instructions:

• Mash up the beans and chickpeas. You should still be able to see half fragments of beans – so don’t mash up too much!
• Add chopped jalapenos and serranos, salt, coconut oil and soy-sauce
• Grind oatmeal in a coffee grinder to a fine powder and add to the mixture
• Grind frozen root vegetables in a blender into a powder. Use the dry blades that make powders for this. You can also grate fresh beets/root veggies, or coarsely blend steamed (preferrably lightly steamed) or canned beets. Shredded or grated carrots are a good addition here as well.
• Add frozen spinach
• Mix everything together so the ingredients are distributed evenly
• Spoon onto a cast iron skillet coated with oil and heat for 15 minutes on each side. The cooked patty is brown and has a crust on the top and bottom.

Check out some of my inspirations for this recipe on our pinterest vegan burger board

The topping for the burger is a local jalapeno pesto from the farmers market – Baby Clydesdales Small Batch Hot Sauce

– DS

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Roasted “Chick-peas” Indian Style

Tags

Beans, chilli, coconut oil, healthy snacks

Indians love their snacks, and I am no exception. When you go to India, your hosts make it their job to fill your day with deliciousness. First there is breakfast, then there is “coffee” which is between breakfast and lunch and includes more than coffee, then there is lunch, then there is “Tiffin” which comes between lunch and dinner and includes lots of bad for you snacks, and then finally there is dinner.

So naturally, I love snacks and I often feel “snacky”. I have been seeing recipes for roasted chickpeas all over pinterest. I really do enjoy them, but I realized that the Indian grandmas and home-makers of the world have made sure of one thing despite all kinds of cosmic shifts and changes in political winds – that prices at the Indian grocery store stay amazing.

A common thickener used for gravies and chutneys is called “Chana Dalia” and can be found in Indian Groceries, and nowadays, online. It looks like this:

Chana Dalia

Given that both my parents have diabetes, I’ve been trying to stay away from refined carbohydrates. Now, I should say that the resistant starch found in beans breaks down with heat, and Dalia have been roasted. The fiber shell has also been taken off. However, take a look at the nutrition info on these babies here. Lots of protein, and lots of fiber. I thought they would be a pretty good base for a snacky dish :).

Once you get how to make a Tadka – “spices tempered in hot oil” – Indian cooking is basically the same from dish to dish. Heres a great article on tempering of spices. For this tempering, I used cumin, black mustard seeds (optional), curry leaves (optional but when added really give the dish a nice flavor and fragrance), and dried red chillis. The cumin lends a lovely spicy fragrance, and the black mustard seeds lend a pungent taste. These spices are in addition to the chilli powder, turmeric, salt and garlic powder that you add. Once you have the ingredients, this dish takes just about 15 minutes to make.

Here’s the finished product! Dont you just want to reach in with a spoon? nom nom. Thats my lunch-box in the background. 

Ingredients: 

• 3-4 cups chana dalia
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic (can skip the salt and use garlic salt too)
• A few grinds of black pepper
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• For the tempering:
  •  3 tbsp of oil
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 4-5 curry leaves (optional but they are so good) can be found online here
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds can be found online here
  • 2-3 Dried red chillis

Directions: (Time approx 15 minutes)

1. Toast the Chana Dalia in a non-stick pan on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes
2. Once the dalia start to become a little brown around the edges, add the spices. Keep toasting for another 3-4 minutes until the chilli powder starts to darken
3. In a separate small pan ( a small soup pot will do. For my tempering spices, I use this pan), heat a little oil. I use coconut as it has a high smoke point. Add the tempering spices except the curry leaves. When you hear the spices start to sputter, add the curry leaves. Be careful, as the oil can splash! The tempering is done when you see the dried red chillis start to turn almost black.  Heres a video to help you out! My ingredients are different, because the Tadka (tempering) varies based on the dish.
4. Pour the tadka into the Dalia which is toasting. The oil from the tadka will help the coat the chilli powder, oil, turmeric and other spices in the non-stick pan.
5. An option is to cut raw onions and serve this mixed with raw onions, 1 green chilli pepper chopped, chopped coriander, and lemon. The dish is very dry and heating, so the cooler raw ingredients help with that in the hot weather. The finished product looks like this when you serve it that way.

-DS

Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Tags

almonds, boost metabolism, cayenne, chilli, diet, Food, grapefruit, health, metabolism, red pepper, weight loss

The bad news is that your metabolism slows with age. The good news is that you don’t have to give up hope.  There are plenty of things you can do to prevent the slowing of the metabolic process.

It is important to avoid constant, long-term stress and not to skip meals.  Stress and skipped meals slow down your metabolism and causes your body to go into “energy conservation” mode, thus slowing down the calorie burning process.

It’s no news that exercise is the fastest and most effective way of increasing your metabolism since lean muscles consume more calories and increases your basal metabolic rate.  Did you know that certain foods can also boost your metabolism?  Even small things such as drinking water will help to maintain a healthy metabolic rate.  The foods below not only have a lot of healthy benefits, but they will help your body burn more calories and boost your metabolism.

1. Almonds

Packed full of nutrients and antioxidants, almonds are high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and fiber.  This makes them filling and requires the body to burn more calories to digest them, thus increasing your metabolism.

In addition to being a great source of calcium, magnesium and antioxidants, studies have shown that a cup of almonds each day can helps to increase your body’s metabolic rate.  Be sure to choose unsalted/unsweetened almonds to avoid preservatives and unnecessary calories.

2. Grapefruit

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can help regulate insulin levels in body, which is important for controlling body weight.  Weight loss studies have shown that consuming grapefruit or its juice daily (preferably immediately before each meal) can lead to more weight loss.  Avoid grapefruit juice from concentrate, which contains a lot of sugar and often contains artificial sweeteners and additives.

3. Cayenne pepper

Adding this red hot chili pepper spice into your dish will not only give your tongue a kick, but it will jump start your metabolism too. Simply season dishes with cayenne pepper powder to enjoy the health benefits of capsaicin, which is known for its anti-inflammatory properties, as well as its metabolism-boosting benefits.

~NZ

Best Vegetarian Chilli You’ve Ever Had

Tags

Beans, chilli, health, mexican, nutrition, receipe, tex-mex, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian chilli, vegetarian receipe, veggie

I don’t like to stereotype my people, but I think most of my fellow South-Asians would agree that we love our Tex-Mex. Last year, my husband and I spent a month in the predominantly Hispanic Mission district of San Francisco where there’s a taqueria on every corner, and we would eat burritos 3-4 days a week. We almost got burritos again at the airport before flying back to New
Jersey but decided on principle to get Japanese instead. We regretted the decision later.

In my younger days I associated beans with Taco Bell and (by extension) with junk food, but I had no idea that beans are actually wonderful for you. They are full of resistant starch and fiber
– the kind of carbohydrates that are associated with health-benefits and help you feel full for longer with less calories. One of my favorite recipes is vegetarian chili. A guaranteed a crowd-
pleaser, it appeals even to the most meat-and-potatoes palate. The best part of vegetarian chili? It’s a wonderful way to get people to eat vegetables! It’s also a pretty versatile recipe.

My one request – please don’t ruin it by using hot sauce! Most hot sauce is mostly vinegar, and it really overwhelms the taste. Using it as a condiment later is fine, but I really would not
recommend adding it to the recipe.

I also added optional Indian spices to be used. Although not essential, I can never resist adding these spices into all kinds of dishes. I find that they make it easier to digest the beans. In this particular chili, I used fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market. I just love all the gorgeous colors, shapes and sizes! I also used red Russian kale, pictured below.

Ingredients:
The biggest pot you have and a separate sautee pan
5-6 cloves fresh garlic minced
1-2 large onions
1-4 jalapenos depending on how hot you like it. I don’t de-seed them, but you can.
4-6 vine ripened or 2-3 beef-steak tomatoes
4 cans black beans, 2 cans chickpeas or other type of beans, 2 cans white beans or any other type of beans or rough equivalent amount of beans that have been soaked overnight.
2 cans sweet corn or kernels from 2 ears of shucked corn
Suggested veggies-
Desired amount of squash and/or zucchini (usually i use 2 of each) – halved and sliced into thin rounds
Leafy green veggies 2 bunches (usually I use Kale and Chard).
EVOO

Optional –
2-3 carrots diced into 0.5-1in cubes
2-3 sticks celery diced into 0.5 to 1in cubes
2 cans of refried black or pinto beans

Spices:
Cumin powder (i usually grind mine fresh quickly in a mortar and pestle. I find the aroma intoxicating!) 1 heaped tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Chilli powder to taste
Optional-
1-2 bay leaves
Coriander powder
Fresh coriander to use as garnish
Tempering indian spices such as a tsp black mustard seeds, tsp cumin and pinch asoefetida to help with digestion of the beans
Salt to taste

Directions:
-Heat desired olive oil in the large pot
-Add optional tempering spices at this point. Wait till black mustard seeds start to pop before next step.
-Add chopped garlic and jalapenos. Stir to coat with oil
-Add onions
-When onions are half done(not totally translucent but half way there) add cumin, 1 tsp chilli powder, turmeric and stir to coat the onions with the spices
-Add tomato, stir everything together and then cook covered until the peel is comes off the tomato, stirring occasionally
-Once tomato is thoroughly cooked, add all the canned beans, another tsp chilli powder and the cumin powder and cook for a bit, stirring occasionally. You can cook the beans however long you want. I usually clean most of the kitchen at this point.
-In a separate pan, heat oil and sautee squash with 1 tsp whole cumin. Once it is done, add it into the cooking beans.
-add chopped celery and carrots and stir them in
-add greens and push them to the bottom of the chilli so they wilt.
-garnish with scallions and chopped cilantro

Fun-fact:

While you’re enjoying your vegetable-packed chili, you might be interested to know that beans are a wonderful source of iron (which helps protect against anemia), zinc (which aids enzymes,
including those involved in DNA synthesis and repair), folate (which prevents birth defects during pregnancy, and is much more effective in food form than in folic acid-pill form) and potassium.

Beans count as a serving of both protein and vegetable, so they are a wonderful addition to your diet. They have a lot of resistant starch which makes them a wonderfully low-glycemic
food, meaning they don’t give you a sugar high. That makes you less hungry and less apt to gain weight!

I hope this recipe makes you want to eat your beans!