How to Make a Vegan Bean Burger with Whats in Your Pantry

Tags

anti-inflammatory foods, Beans, coconut oil, vegan

After last weeks post (Translation: after wasting hours of productivity looking at delicious vegan and vegetarian black-bean burger recipes), I realized that bean burgers are one of the most versatile recipes out there. An old Mark Bittman customizable soup recipe came into my mind, and I decided to impart to you all a customizable vegan bean-burger recipe.

Since my inspiration for this post was the many bean burger recipes out there in cyberspace, at the bottom of this post, I’ll also post some links for other bean burger recipes that I found helpful.

The components of a bean burger:

1. Beans – (any kind – 2 cans will suffice. Examples – black beans, chickpeas, white-beans). Dont throw away the liquid, and mash these up. You want to mash them up enough so that you have a batter, but not so much that its a puree.
2. Binder: This is to hold your patty together. Personally, I love my black-bean patties a little crumbly. Lots of recipes use eggs – 1-2 will suffice, but we are going for vegan here. You can use a vegan egg replacer. Here’s a nice infographic with egg substitutions:  I am not sure how well bananas, apple sauce and peanut butter would work out here though. If you were using a vegan substitute, just use the vegan equivalent of 2 eggs (eg) 2 tbsp of ground flax. Whats nice is that you actually dont have to let the flax seed sit in water before hand for this recipe because the flax will absorb the moisture from the batter.
3. A grain or starch: Other than the potato/sweet-potato and brown rice, the starches also have a binding quality to them. Most recipes use a cup. Example are grains like quinoa, oats, brown rice, panko bread crumbs and even bread (one recipe suggested you put bread into a food processor and use the bread-crumbs from that). I have seen other recipes use sweet-potato or just potato, and chick-pea flour (besan) is another common one. You can also use corn starch or tapioca starch. You can use whole grains or you can grind them in a coffee grinder to make a flour. Oh yeah, you can use wheat or a gluten-free flour of your choice too.
4. Filler: Add whatever vegetables you want! Whatever you use, chop it up really fine. Lots of black-bean burger recipes use cilantro, onions, corn and jalapenos for the south-west feel. Beets, surprisingly, were a big hit. Lots of burgers include a green vegetable like chopped frozen spinach or kale. Zucchini or squash is another common add in. For a mediterranean feel, you can use chick-peas as your bean and egg-plant as your dominant vegetable, and then add parsley and paprika. Basil, ginger mushrooms and soy sauce will give you an asian feel
5. Spices: Go nuts! Use whatever you want! Most use cumin and garlic powder at a minimum. Use about 1tsp of salt or more to taste. If you arent using jalapenos, you might want to add crushed red pepper, sriracha, or chili powder. Paprika lends a smokey-ness. Soy-sauce lends a nice, savory umami flavor.
6. Dipping sauce (optional): Adding a tbsp of Sriracha to some vegan mayo you have lying around is common. You can use some salad dressing. Another option is to make a tahini or nut-based based dipping sauce. Or you can use any condiment in the fridge. An avocado base or guacamole is another option.
7. 2 tablespoons of your choice of heathy cooking oil

To make the burger:

1. Mash up the beans with the bean juice from the can using a fork or masher. Add in your starch, spices, and binder. Add in your veggies. Use a wooden spoon or your washed hand to mix the batter so the ingredients are distributed evenly.
2. To cook the burgers, coat a cast iron pan with your oil of choice (I like coconut for its high smoke point). Spoon the batter on to the pan and flatten with your spoon so it looks like a patty. Let it cook on low heat for 20 minutes on each side. The burger is ready to be flipped when it is holding together on the side which it is cooking on. The flip and cook to your desired crispiness.
3. You can also bake these too but I havent tried to do that yet. I will update this post if I do.

Add on your condiment and place between 2 pieces of scrumptious bread if desired. Serve with a side salad to make the meal complete.

Other Black-bean burger Recipes:

Black-bean Burgers with Chipotle Lime Tahini and Crunchy Guacamole from Host the Toast

Simple Black Bean Burger Recipe on All-recipes.com

Spicy Chick-pea veggie burgers from Running on Real Food

Sweet-potato Black-bean burger from minimalist baker

Vegetarian Mushroom Burger from Rock-Recipes

Best-ever beet and bean black-bean burgers from Epicurious

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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

Triple Power Flax-Seed Energizing Oatmeal

Tags

brain food, breakfast, cinnamon, coconut oil, flaxseed, kids, oatmeal

One of my colleagues in residency is a dad to triplets and over time he developed a recipe that he swears makes them very active and energized in the morning. You would think he was crazy for doing this, but there is a method behind his madness – the ingredients are good for brain development.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Raw Flaxseed
1 inch cinnamon stick grind to a fine powder in a coffee mill
2/3 of a cup quick oats
1 tbsp coconut oil
liquid lecithin
Molasses

Directions: Add 1 cup hot water, and stir well. Serve hot or cold.

-DS

Coconut oil

Tags

baking, coconut oil, cooking, vegan

Next time when you walk down the grocery aisle filled with various cooking and baking oils, consider coconut oil…

Coconut oil is both versatile in and outside the kitchen. A healthy vegan butter substitute, coconut oil is solid at room temperature and is great for making desserts, icings, even soups.

Despite containing mostly saturated fats, coconut oil has many health benefits.  This is because not all saturated fats are created equal.  Coconut oil mainly contains saturated fat called lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid.

Lauric acid does not negatively affect the overall ratio of your cholestrol.  It directly enters your liver, where it is used as energy source (like glucose), instead of being stored as fat.   In addition, it is less susceptable to oxidative damages from heating (as with olive oil).

Coconut oil is believed to have many other health benefits including:

1. Improve digestion
2. Boost immunity
3. Promote healthy metabolism
4. Control blood sugar

Remember, when choosing coconut oil, buy virgin coconut oil.  These have not been chemically treated.  Avoid  partially hydrogenated coconut oil, which has trans-fat.

Take advantage of the great benefits and flavor of coconut oil.  Simply substitutie coconut oil for other oils in cooking/baking.

Experiment and bon Appetit~