Tasty Treats Thursday

This week's TTT is a variation of one of my favorite Food Network personality's, Guy Fieri. I mean, how can you not love that man? I watched his Chefography show on Sunday night and began to like him even more... family man, married for a long time, two kids, great chef, fun personality... great. I was watching one of his Big Bite episodes and he was making veggie burgers for his vegetarian sister, but with his spin. I watched the show, didn't write anything down, and just recalled... so I'm sure it's not perfect, but it is delicious. Here goes:

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed*
1 can pinto beans, rinsed (you can use any creamy bean, though, like white or great northern)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
a handful of black olives, diced
a handful of artichoke hearts, diced
half a red pepper (either roasted or fresh is fine), diced
half a green pepper, diced
a couple cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup rolled oats
1 large egg
cumin
chili powder
salt, pepper
sage
oregano
red pepper flakes

First, add your veggies (not the beans) to a pan with vegetable or canola oil (1-2 TBSP) on medium heat. Hold the garlic until later... you'll add it to the pan, but you don't want it to burn. Let the peppers and onions get nice and soft, but not too soft. You want them to create some texture to the patties. The artichoke hearts and olives will add a nice briny-ness to the flavor. You can add some salt and pepper to the mix. During the last 2 - 3 minutes add your garlic.

In the meantime, you take the beans and put them all in a large bowl together. I use a fork to smash them all, but you want to leave some consistency, so you don't have to break them down completely.The bean mixure: not as pretty as I'd like it to be, but whatever

Then, add your egg and rolled oats. All rolled oats are are the quick oats you find in the grocery store. Not the instant... but the 5 minute oats. Add about half the oats, and then after you add the veggies, you can continue adding them until your patties are nice and firm, but still juicy.

Take your veggies off the heat and let them cool down a few minutes. You don't want scrambled egg in the mix.

After it cools a little, add the veggies to the bean mix. Begin adding your seasonings, and you can do this to your taste. If you love cumin, add a lot (a few teaspoons), add a few shakes of chili powder, salt, pepper, and lots or a little red pepper flakes. Be sparing on the sage if you aren't a fan, load it in if you are. And add a healthy dose of oregano and parsley. Dried is fine, fresh is fine. Remember that if you are using dried, you'll use about 1/3 of the amount that you would use if you had fresh on hand.

Then, get your (clean) hands down and dirty in the bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into patties. You can make large patties or small patties, depending on your appetite and the size of the buns (if you use buns at all) that you have. If you make large patties, you'll get about 6... smaller patties yield 8 or so.

Next, put your vegetable oiled pan on medium high heat. You can either cook the patties solely on the stove or put them on the grill for some additional flavor. If you cook them on the stove, about 4 minutes on each side is great. If you want to put them on the grill, cook them about 2 minutes on each side (to help them stay binded together) and then transfer to the grill for another 2-3 minutes per side.

Last, load them up like you would any burger... lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup... they are really delicious.
*My veteran vegetarian friend says that rinsing the beans will reduce the amount of gas one will experience after eating those beans... just an fyi.

Tasty Treats Thursday

This week's Tasty Treats Thursday is an easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Now, I had an option to go for more of a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but I opted for the cake-like cookies. And let me tell you, they turned out spectacular!! Since Betty Crocker generally has a coupon during the month for a box of her cake mix, and one of the grocery stores usually have a sale on Betty's mix, I pair the two together and stock up. We've got birthdays, anniversaries, and parties through the year so those boxes of cake mix will NOT go to waste. I found out that cake mix could be used for cookies a year or so ago, found this particular recipe and LOVE it. It meets my criteria (easy and delicious) and I hope you enjoy as well! I guess the only thing that makes it "Mexican" is that there is cinnamon in the recipe. Leave it out if you like, or add a little bit more for some real spice. And remember that you can use ANY type of cake mix- so if you have white or yellow, game on!! German Chocolate? No problem (you'd simply have to rename it... ;) All's fair!

Mexican Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 package cake mix (chocolate for this specific recipe, but any will do)
2 large eggs (I only had small/medium from my aunt's farm, so I used 3)
3/4 cup butter, softened (margarine is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I like the minis)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (totally optional... my husband hates nuts in sweets- weird, I know)

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. You can use ungreased cookie sheets or parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl beat half of the dry cake mix, butter, vanilla, and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until well-blended and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the remaining dry cake mix, chocolate chips, and nuts (if using) with a spoon, just until combined.
4. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls approximately 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.5. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes (mine took 12), or just until the edges are set but the centers are still soft.

6. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for about 1 minute and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

This is a fun and easy recipe with very little cleanup... and what needed to be cleaned, the girls were happy to help with!!




**Before you get too upset, the eggs were gathered this week by yours truly, so there is just virtually no chance that she could get sick from them. :) Oh, and the baby doesn't eat solids yet, so I just gave her the cleaned one. :)

Tasty Treats Thursday

Each Thursday I'll be sharing a little something for you to whip up in your kitchen. There are only a couple of rules. First, it has to be easy. Second, it has to be delicious!!! So, straight from my aunt's blueberry farm to your table:

The Blueberry Sonker

* 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed
* 1 cup all-purpose flour * 1 cup sugar * 1 egg
* 1 stick butter (use real butter for best results)

(frozen blueberries are okay, but your local farmers markets should be teeming with fresh ones this time of year!!)

In an 8x8 baking dish spread the rinsed blueberries. Add a little water, maybe 1/8 cup, and sprinkle a little sugar over the berries. If you don't have a square baking dish, go for a 9x13.

Mix together the flour and sugar. Add the egg and blend with the flour mix.

It'll take on the consistency of cornmeal and be lumpy and all the flour and sugar won't mix completely, but it's OK. Spread the flour mix over the blueberries.

Melt the stick of butter. Drizzle the melted butter over the flour mixture. Don't worry about covering every last inch of the flour/sugar mixture. It will be fine.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees until it's golden brown for about 45 minutes. You'll know it's almost done when it begins permeating the whole house with the sweet smell of warm blueberries!

If you want to really treat yourself, grab some yummy fresh churned vanilla ice cream to top it with while it is still warm from the oven. I don't have any today, but what a delicious dessert!!!

This recipe can also be used with any other fresh fruit- peaches, blackberries, cherries, raspberries... all would make delightful sonkers!