chipotle tabasco thick burgers

as i have blogged about before, i am a huge heat-freak. i love spicy food and usually have at least three or four different kinds of hot sauces around. recently, tabasco has come out with a couple new sauces, and i'm totally addicted to the chipotle one. it's not as spicy as the original, but it lends fantastic flavour to these veggie burgers. also, be sure and use short grain brown rice, as it is much stickier - i'm not sure how well these would hold up with the regular long-grain.

• 1 can black beans (15oz)
• 2 tablespoons hickory bbq sauce
• 3 tablespoons chipotle tabasco sauce
• 3/4 tablespoon vegan hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons beets, minced
• 2 teaspoons beet juice
• 1 tablespoon jalapenos, minced
• 1/3 cup oat bran or ground flax
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups cooked short grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

in a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cups uncooked brown rice and 1¾ cups water to a boil. stir once, cover, and turn the heat to low. simmer for approximately 35-40 minuets, keeping an eye on the water level. when finished, pull the rice off the stove and uncover. *note: this will make just a little over 2 cups. i actually measure out 2 cups for the recipe, but you could add it all in, with maybe a dash more liquid.

while rice is cooling, drain black beans and put in a large mixing bowl. mash the beans with a fork or potato masher - they should be mashed well enough to stick together. add rest of ingredients except the rice and wheat gluten. mix thoroughly, and then add the rice and wheat gluten. mix once or twice more, just enough so it's incorporated.

spray a 8x11 casserole dish with non-stick spay. using the mixture, form individual patties and place in dish. the mixture will be wet and may seem like it won't stick together well. if you can't get patties formed, you may need to add some more bread crumbs. try to keep the mixture fairly moist for cooking though.


preferably, place the patties in the refrigerator to set up. you can baste them with bbq sauce or more tabasco if you'd like. it's best to let them chill for at least a half an hour before you bake or grill these.

to grill: if patties are chilled (preferable), first bake patties in casserole dish at 350°f for 10 minutes. then grill on top rack of grill for 15 minutes on medium grill heat. if patties are at room temperature, you can move straight to grilling.

to bake: place casserole dish in the oven and bake at 400°f for 35 minutes, flipping once.

vegan explosion: the diablo dog

as a child, i always had an aversion to the taste of hot dogs. and a kids in the hall skit confirmed my distaste when they claimed that hot dogs were composed of yucky animal parts, mixed with old phone books and wieeeeener flavour. (i still firmly believe this is the original recipe for hot dogs). and truth be told, i've never liked the vegan hot dogs all that much either. then behold, the diablo dog. ms. jewbacca and ms. crunk both had me intrigued, then salivating, and then running to the store. i snatched up the jumbo dogs and some seriously awesome vegan hoagie buns. i kid you not, this is a little (er, huge) piece of sinful heaven.


my diablo dog consisted of:

• huge hoagie buns
• jumbo vegan hot dogs
• jalapenos
• chopped tomatoes
• regular mustard
  
• hot scottish mustard
• chopped pickles
• chopped green peppers
• vegan queso
• chili beans
• hot sauce
• ketchup
• sauerkraut
  

first get your prep out of the way, because when those dogs are done, you aren't going to want to be cutting tomatoes and pickles.

split the hot dogs down the center and pop them on the grill (about medium heat). then split the hoagies and grill them for a minute or two as well so they are nice and crunchy. pile all the fixins on, smush everything together and do your best to get it in your mouth.

definitely a three or four napkin dish.

broccoli and white beans

this was a side dish i whipped up when we needed something to go with our main course and the pantry was pretty bare. originally, i wasn't sure about the crunchiness of the broccoli with the texture of the creamy white beans. however, by the end of the bowl, i was looking forward to each green floret as it really created a nice contrast.

• 1/2 head of fresh broccoli, chopped
• 2 cups cooked white beans
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

whisk the apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger and pour over the chopped raw broccoli florets. allow broccoli to marinate for at least 4 hours, tossing occasionally.

in a large saucepan, add the two cups of cooked white beans and nutritional yeast and bring burner to medium heat. add the broccoli and marinade and cook entire mixture for about 10 minutes. the dish will be slightly creamy, but the broccoli should still have a bit of crunchy texture. add a dash or two of hot sauce if you like heat. serve as a side dish - about 4 servings.

spicy hummus sprout wrap

today is earth day! a veggie diet is one of the top ways to green up your life and reduce your carbon footprint. one person can make a difference! on earthsave.org, you can read:

+10 people could be fed with the grain used to feed 1 cow
+for every pound of beef you do not eat, you save 2,500-5,000 gallons of water
+over 280 gallons of oil are used to feed a cow before slaughter
+animal agriculture is the number one cause of methane and nitrous gas emissions


white bean hummus:

• 1 15oz. can white beans (drained & rinsed)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• sriracha (optional)

wrap:

• 2 whole wheat wraps
• 2 cups sprouts
• 5 baby spinach leaves
  
• 1 avocado
• 5-6 roasted red pepper slices

to make the spicy hummus, put all the hummus ingredients in food processor or magic bullet and blend away. i prefer to add the sriracha last, adding until it meets my spice preference.

spread the hummus on wrap. this hummus recipe makes enough for about 4 wraps, so you can keep the extra refrigerated for a few days. you can buy sprouts, or make your own just as easily - read here for miss v's easy sprouting instructions. place sprouts (here with garbanzo, black-eyed peas and green lentils), avocado slices, spinach and roasted red pepper slices on each wrap. roll up and devour with an earth-friendly conscious. :)

cabbage and peas in nooch sauce

education time for non-vegans: 'nooch' is a reference to nutritional yeast - known for helping us create imitation cheeze sauces, or i've even heard it used to refer to the sauce itself. i buy it in the bulk bins at whole foods, and find that a good $5 worth will last me at least a month or more, and i cook a lot. some people don't like the taste, but i do, and like to add it to my veggies for a little amped up flavour.

• 10 oz cabblage/carrot mix
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter (earth balance)
  
• 1 cup cooked peas (~1/2 can)
• tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)

for the nooch sauce:

• 1 tablespoon vegan butter
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1 cup soy milk (unsweetened)
  
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• heavy dash of black pepper

mix all nooch sauce ingredients in a jar and shake to mix. i save pickle or salsa jars just for this purpose. small mason jars would work just as well.

saute cabbage in large non-stick skillet with 2 tablespoons water on high. in 3-5 minutes, the cabbage should start to show some translucency, but still have a crunchy texture. add in the butter, and peas. about 30 seconds later, pour in nooch sauce. continue cooking on medium-high for about 4-5 minutes and remove from heat. it shouldn't be too liquidy - if it is, keep cooking. the cabbage and peas should be nicely coated, but not swimming. top with hot sauce if so desired.

this makes a nice side dish for about 3 people.

kickin' cornbread casserole

the first time i made cornbread was last year, to go with my smokey white bean chili recipe. since then, i've found myself craving different variations of standard cornbread and decided i wanted to make a cornbread casserole of some sort. below is the results.

• 3/4 cups cornmeal
• 3/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter (i use smart balance)
• 1 can corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can rotel
• 1 tablespoon onion
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ener-g egg replacer (w/ 3 tbsp water)
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons tabasco or other hot sauce
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• vegan mozzarella (optional)

mix dry ingredients (except breadcrumbs) in a large mixing bowl. in a separate bowl, mix up the wet ingredients (butter, milk, tomatoes, rotel, egg replacer and hot sauce), and fold them into the dry.


spread into a lightly greased 8x13 glass casserole dish - top with a thin layer of vegan breadcrumbs. i prefer panko. if you prefer, spread mozzarella tofutti slices or other vegan mozzarella on top.

bake for 40-45 mins @ 350°f.

untraditional gazpacho

traditionally, gazpacho is served cold, but i like mine at room temperature. traditionally, it's a refreshing summer dish, but i like it in the winter too as a counter to all the heavy meals. traditionally, bread crumbs are almost always in the recipe, but i omitted them because really, they just seemed unnecessary. no offense to other gazpacho chefs - i'm sure there are plenty of great recipes with breadcrumbs, but this is untraditional gazpacho, after all.

• 2 14oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes (drained)
• 1 jar of roasted red peppers (drained)
• 1/2 can whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• hot sauce to liking

just throw everything in a food processor and pulse until you have a well blended chunky gazpacho. you may need more vinegar or hot sauce to help liquefy everything.

makes several bowls.