Really Hearty Plant Based Burger

First off, thank you to everyone at Impossible Foods for making the amazing Impossible Burger(TM) and letting everyone know that a really good plant based burger is doable. An Impossible Burger at a restaurant that serves them is great (and you should get one if you can), but I couldn't get one this weekend and decided to try my own. Mine is not as good as the original, but it sure hits all the right notes--I get the meaty texture and almost 'aged beef' flavor from the tempeh, the mineral-y taste from the beets and a crust and moisture from the coconut oil. PS-sorry about the photo quality today-not my best. 

Ingredients (serves 8):

For the fat:

¼ cup coconut oil, well chilled

For the binder:

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

3 tablespoons water

¼ cup potato starch (like Bob’s Red Mill®)

¼ cup water

For the spice mixture:

½ teaspoon granulated garlic

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon granulated onion

For the base:

24 ounces plain tempeh (3 8-ounce packages)

4-6 slices beets from a 15 ounce can (not pickled beets)

5 Tablespoons beet juice (from the same can)

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon coconut aminos (optional, but this has umami like soy sauce does)

2 Tablespoons canola or olive oil for cooking, divided

Directions:

For the fat: Scrape a fork across the cold coconut oil until you have ¼ cup of flakes. Place in the fridge until needed.

For the binder: Combine the flax seed and 3 Tablespoons water together and chill in the fridge for at least 5 minutes. Stir in the potato starch and the remaining ¼ cup of water. Stir well and set aside.

For the spices:

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

For the binder:

Break up the tempeh and put it in the food processor along with the beet slices, beet juice, tomato paste and coconut aminos, if using.

Combine:

To the base, add the binder, the spices and the fat. Stir well until you can grab a handful and it holds its shape. If it breaks apart, just add water, 1 Tablespoon at a time. Form into 8 patties.

Cook: Preheat a cast iron or non-stick skillet to medium and add 1 Tablespoon canola or olive oil. Cook the patties, in batches, for about 4 minutes per side, using the rest of the canola or olive oil.

Serve with your favorite burger toppings.

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash with Bacon and Mushrooms

I love mushrooms, onions, bacon and Swiss cheese. I can’t help it. This recipe gives me everything I want in a comforting meal with very little guilt. It’s creamy, it’s filling, and it tastes wonderful.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 medium spaghetti squash

Cooking spray

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 shallot, finely chopped

5 strips chicken bacon (or any microwave ready bacon), diced

4 Laughing Cow light original Swiss cheese wedges

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup warm water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Spray the insides of the squash with cooking spray and place cut side down on the baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove and flip the spaghetti squash over to cool until it is easy to handle.

Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium low heat in a large skillet. Toss in the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring often, until the veggies are soft, about 10 minutes. Add in the diced bacon. If you want to serve this to company, pull out some of the mushrooms and bacon when they are cooked to put on top of the dish when you plate.

Use a fork to scrape the insides of the spaghetti squash into strands and add the strands to the skillet with the veggies and bacon. If you want to serve this to company, pull out some of the mushrooms and bacon to put on top of the dish when you plate.  

Keeping the heat on medium low, add in the cheese wedges and stir until the cheese melts, adding the warm water to keep the sauce loose. Taste and add salt and/or pepper to taste. Serve hot with a bit of fresh parsley on top.

Malted Protein Waffles with Toasted Oats

I wish you could smell these warm, toasty waffles right now. They are not super sweet, have perfectly crunchy outsides and tender, moist insides-just perfect even to eat plain. I ran this recipe, using low fat cottage cheese and skim milk, through a nutritional calculator (myfitnesspal) and it showed that two waffles have 158 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of fat, 4 grams of sugar, 20 g carb and a whopping 11 grams of protein.

Ingredients (makes 8 3x3 or 4x4 waffles):

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup cottage cheese

2 Tablespoons original malted milk powder (like Carnation®)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons milk (your choice of dairy/non-dairy)

Directions:

Toasting the oats (you can totally skip this step, but I like the toasty flavor): Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and spread the oats out on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes, stir and then toast for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Place the cottage cheese, malted milk powder, baking powder, egg, vanilla and milk in a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Prepare your waffle iron as you normally would. Scoop ½ cup of the waffle batter into the iron and let cook for 4 minutes (my waffle iron makes two small [about 3x3 inch] waffles at a time, so ¼ cup in each section).  Remove to a plate and continue making waffles until all the batter is used. Top with nut butter, fresh berries, butter and/or maple syrup.

Kate’s Sausage Stuffed Poblanos

My sweet friend Kate was recently telling me how she and her husband are finding creative new ways to eat healthy and told me about how she stuffed poblanos with turkey sausage and I couldn’t get that out of my mind, so I had to do a riff on that. Instead of using rice as a binder, like I would for other stuffed peppers, I’m adding an egg white and some grated parmesan to make the filling hold together nicely. Kate’s husband is right-this tastes just like a sausage pizza, minus the guilt!

Ingredients (serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a main):

2 large poblano chiles

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ cup diced onion

1 cup diced zucchini

1 cup diced mushrooms

½ cup diced red bell pepper

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

2 sweet Italian chicken sausages (I used Al Fresco™) brand

½ cup marinara, plus a little more for the plate, if you wish

1 egg white

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup low fat shredded mozzarella (I’m using fat free because it is what I have)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Cut the poblanos in half lengthwise, all the way through the stem. Remove the seeds and veins, trying to keep the stem intact to help hold in the filling. Place the poblanos on the baking sheet.

In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onion, zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper and Italian herbs. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on medium for about 5-8 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Diced the sausages and add those to the veggie mixture. Add in the marinara, stir, and then add the egg white and parmesan.

Stuff the sausage mixture into the poblanos (tip: if you gently spread the peppers out with one hand, you can put more stuffing in) and top with a bit of mozzarella.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

To serve, place a bit of extra marinara on a plate and top with 1 or 2 poblano halves.  

Garlicky Chicken Pasta with Vegetables and Lemon-Parmesan Breadcrumbs

Sorry for the long title, but I wanted people to know what was in the dish. This one is savory and comforting and sprightly at the same time with fresh lemon zest and fresh parsley. My favorite part is when the lemon zest, parsley and breadcrumbs meet the hot pasta-it just smells so good! There are so many different ways you could go with this. Want it creamy? Toss in a few ounces of cream cheese and grated parm to the sauce. Want it vegetarian? Leave out the chicken and sub veggie broth for chicken broth.

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1.25 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 5 thighs)

Pepper and garlic salt to taste

Pasta:

12 ounces long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, fettucine, whatever)

Sauce:

¼ cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup baby spinach leaves

5 asparagus spears, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

Breadcrumbs:

2 Tablespoons butter

½ cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 to 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

¼ cup grated parmesan

Directions:

Chicken: Heat oil on medium heat in a deep skillet. Open up the chicken thighs and sprinkle with pepper and garlic salt. Cook on medium about 5 minutes per side—you don’t want to crowd the pan, so you might want to do two batches. Check to make sure that the thighs are cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Sauce: Reduce the heat on the skillet used for the chicken to medium low. Add white wine and stir to scrape up any bits. Add 1 Tablespoon butter and minced garlic. Cook for just a minute until the garlic is fragrant but not burnt. Add in the chicken broth, spinach, asparagus and mushrooms. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let cook for about 10 minutes.

Pasta: Prepare pasta according to directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water and then drain. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook for about 8 minutes until well combined. Add reserved pasta water if the pasta looks dry.

Breadcrumbs: In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave (usually about 2-3 minutes on 50% power-check at 2 minutes and add another minute if needed). You may want to cover the bowl with waxed paper to prevent splatters. Stir the breadcrumbs into the melted butter and then add the parmesan, parsley and lemon zest.

Assembly: Place the pasta on plates and then slice the chicken. Place slices of chicken over the pasta and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Dry Brined Turkey Thighs

I’ve been a fan of wet brining poultry and pork (soaking for a time in a salt water mixture) for years, but I wanted to give dry brining a shot. All that means is that the meat is covered in a salt mixture and left uncovered in the fridge for a while. The salt and other seasonings actually get pulled into the meat this way and also create a great coating. This is so simple, so quick to do, and doesn’t require boiling and a huge tub like wet brining does. Note: this is on the salty side when cooked, so if you don’t favor that, just rinse off the dry brine and pat dry before putting the thighs in the oven.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning

3-3 ½ pounds fresh turkey thighs

Directions:

Mix the salt, pepper and poultry seasoning together in a small bowl. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment.

Place the turkey thighs on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle liberally with the salt mixture. Turn the thighs so that they are skin side up. Place, uncovered, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours (overnight is fine).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the baking sheet with the turkey in the oven on the middle rack. Roast until the turkey thighs are at 165 degrees F (about 1 ½ to 2 hours).

Remove and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Cheese and green onion cornbread

I love cornbread—I really do. This time around, I was looking for a cornbread that would not only hold together well and could be toasted, but also one that could serve as a meal. This one meets my goals.

Ingredients:

Vegetable cooking spray

1 Tablespoon corn meal

2 boxes Jiffy(TM) corn muffin mix

1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn

2 eggs

1 ½ cups buttermilk

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and sprinkle in the corn meal. Shake the pan so that the corn meal evenly coats the bottom and sides of the loaf pan. Discard any excess and set the pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the corn muffin mix, corn, eggs, buttermilk, green onions and cheddar cheese. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Remove from the pan and cut into thick slices.

If you want the slices toasted, spray a non stick skillet and toast the slices for 5 minutes per side on medium heat.

Serve with honey, hot honey, butter, or pepper jelly.