Meagan’s Black Bean Burgers

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
The quest for vegetarian/vegan (V) burgers continues. These burgers were eaten at my friend’s cousin’s wedding shower and the flavors were awesome. I am simply naming these burgers after her. The original recipe came from “Smells Like Home”. I made some adjustments to the recipe to make them gluten free, but they are not vegan because of the eggs. Instead of panko bread crumbs, I used quick minute oatmeal. This is a truly versatile burger. Enjoy!

Meagan’s Black Bean Burgers
Created on 7/8/14

blackbean.burgers

Ingredients
¾ cup quick minute oatmeal
4 tablespoons of olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons
2 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 medium carrot, diced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions
In a sauté pan, with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, over medium high heat toast the oatmeal until lightly browned. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a fork to mash 2-1/2 cups of black beans. Add the eggs, cumin cayenne pepper, carrot, cilantro, the remaining black beans, and browned oatmeal, mix well. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will help form the patties.

Divide the mixture into 6 equal parts and shape into patties. Place the patties on wax or parchment paper covered tray and chill again for 10 minutes. Cover patties with plastic wrap if chilling longer for 10 minutes.

In the same pan that was used to toast the oatmeal, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook 3 of the patties over medium heat until browned and cooked through (about 5 minutes on each side). Cook the remaining 3 patties with another 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Serve with your favorite burger toppings.

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Tex-Mex Lasagna

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I think that Mexican food is everyone’s favorite, but we do know that sometimes Mexican food can be high in fat, calories, and carbs if we make the recipes with flour tortillas, beef, and lots of cheese. I found this recipe years ago in a magazine called Taste of Home “Light & Tasty” and modified the recipe to suit me. I love my vegetarian version. I do plan to try to make this recipe using Nutritional Yeast instead of cheese soon. I have an addiction to cheese and am working on weaning this out of my diet. The vegetarian recipe is excellent and so is the beef version. Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Lasagna

Click on the photo to see a larger image

1 lb. Lean ground beef or if you want to make vegetarian recipe (use Morningstar or Simply Organic Crumbles)
1 can (16 oz.) Refried black beans
1 can (15 oz.) Black beans drained and rinsed well
¾ cup Organic frozen corn
1 Jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped (this is optional – will depend on how spicy you like your Mexican food)
1 envelope Taco Seasoning (I suggest you make your own because of too many preservatives and additives in the packets)

Pam’s Home-made Taco Seasoning (sometimes I make a lot tripling the recipe and then I store in a glass container with tightly covered lid this lasts me about 2 or 3 months)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of Paprika
1 teaspoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Chili Powder
½ teaspoon of salt and pepper each
Mix well in a bowl and season your meat or vegetarian crumbles to your taste

1 can (15 oz.) Muir Glenn tomato sauce (or your favorite brand)
2-1/2 cups Salsa (your favorite brand) Mild/Medium/Hot flavors
12 Soft Corn tortillas
3 cups Low-Fat Monterey Jack/Colby cheese blend or your favorite Mexican Cheese blend (shredded)
Optional: Low-Fat sour cream, avocado, green onions as toppings

In a large skillet, brown the beef until cooked thoroughly or the crumbles are heated through. Stir in the refried beans, beans, corn, jalapeno, taco seasoning and ¾ cup of the tomato sauce. Mix well.

Combine the salsa and the remaining tomato sauce. Spread ¼ cup of the salsa tomato sauce mixture into a greased 13”x 9”baking dish. Layer 4 corn tortillas (these will overlap each other). Spread half of the meat or vegetarian mixture on top of corn tortillas, then spread 1 cup of the salsa mixture over meat or vegetarian mixture, 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Repeat the layers, top with remaining corn tortillas, salsa mixture and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake @ 350° F for about 45-5 minutes or until the edges are bubbly and the cheese is melted.(IMPORTANT) Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting, if don’t wait 10 minutes the lasagna will break apart and be messy.

Serve with Sour Cream, Avocado and onions. Makes 12 servings and the leftovers freeze very well.

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Edamame Cherry Chicken Sausage Dish

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I think I am just nuts about farmer markets. I love the one near my apartment. The market has several organic meat vendors that offer a diversity of meat such as different flavor sausages and cuts of meat. You can purchase, sample, and question the vendors to your hearts content about how they process their sausages and their meats. I just love the tart cherry chicken sausage that I purchase from one of the vendors just absolutely amazing. I threw some things together and came up with this fast and easy dish that is just loaded with some simple summer flavors.

Edamame Cherry Sausage Dish, created 06/13/11

Edamame Cherry Chicken Sausage Dish

1 lb. of Tart Cherry Sausage (or any flavor sausage that you like), meat taken out of the casing
1-1/2 cups of shelled Edamame (or any bean you like – i.e. Lima Bean, Green Bean)
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, half mooned sliced
½ small green cabbage rough chopped
1 can of organic black beans, rinsed and drained (or pink, cranberry bean)
Salt/Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Cooked Quinoa or another type of healthy grain

In a 10” sauté pan, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat and add the sliced onions and green cabbage. Season with salt and pepper and continuing to cook until the onions and cabbage is soft. Add the crumbled sausage to the mixture and cook until sausage is done about 7 to 10 minutes. Add the Edamame, black beans and tomatoes until heated thoroughly. Serve over cooked quinoa. Enjoy!

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Edamame, Black Bean Corn Salad

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
Hello fans! It has been awhile since I have done any serious cooking. Looking back at my food diaries and notes, I think my last post was January 17th. For that I apologize and I have missed cooking, creating new recipes to add to my lifelong commitment of eating and making healthy food choices. I created this dish to eat for lunch or dinner to go with a nice green/herb salad with simple vinaigrette dressing. The flavors in this bean salad go very well together and it is a perfect dish to bring to a picnic barbeque or to simply grab a bite to eat when on the run. Enjoy!

Edamame, Black Bean, Corn Salad created 06/10/11

Edamame Black Bean Corn Salad

Click on picture to enlarge

1 can organic black beans rinsed and drained

¾ cup fresh corn cut from the cob or frozen organic corn thawed

1-1/2 to 2 cups shelled edamame thawed

½ cup red onion finely diced (optional)

1 pint or 2 cups of your favorite salsa (I used my own salsa that I canned from my garden last summer)

2 tomatoes diced, with seeds

3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and refrigerate for a few hours to give the flavors a chance to marry.  Eat alone or with a salad – serves 4-5 people.

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Pumpkin, Black Bean and Turkey Kielbasa Soup

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
This recipe I saw on Rachel Ray’s website but I tweaked it to a healthier version and added turkey kielbasa. I had purchased some pie pumpkins from a local farmer’s market and decided to roast them. I had some pumpkin puree left over and made the soup for the first time. It was delicious. Now when I am pressed for time and cannot roast pie pumpkins, I purchase organic pumpkin puree. This happens to be one of my favorite soups that I make quite a bit in the fall and the wintertime. The soup freezes well and it is good with a green salad or crusty toasted bread and butter. Enjoy!

Pumpkin, Black Bean and Turkey Kielbasa Soup
 

Recipe created February 16, 2010

Pumpkin Black Bean and Turkey Kielbasa Soup

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced Muir Glenn tomatoes with juice
2 cans (15 ounces) pumpkin puree or 3 pie pumpkins roasted and mashed
1-cup heavy cream (optional)
1-tablespoon curry powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
½-teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 (12 ounce) package of Turkey Kielbasa cut into cubes (can omit)
Coarse salt
20 blades of fresh chives, chopped fine
Heat a stockpot over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions. Sauté the onions for about 5 minutes and add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, black beans, pumpkin puree, and turkey kielbasa. Stir well and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream (optional), curry, cumin, cayenne pepper (optional), salt and pepper. Simmer for additional 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to your taste and serve with chives sprinkled on top.

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Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I made this recipe from a book called “The Big Book of Vegeterian” because I had bought a lot of sweet potatoes that were on sale from the market. When I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, sweet potatoes is one of the vegetables that is low on the Glycemic Index that does not make the glucose (sugar) levels spike. This recipe turned out to be one of my favorite things to make all the time. I demonstrated this in 3 of my diabetes workshops and the feedback from the people were all positive. When I have leftovers, I make breakfast wraps with multi-grain wraps, scrambled egg substitute and 1 oz of cheese. Wonderful alternative for breakfast. Enjoy!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash
 

Recipe created September 25, 2007

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash
1 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (it seems like a lot but the onions reduce after they have been cooked)
1 small green pepper, chopped (I omitted the green pepper)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced (1″ cubes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Rich Vegetable Broth, canned broth or water (I used Better than Boullion – it’s condensed just add to water – the broth is very rich)
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels (do not need to defrost)
One 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or 2 teaspoons dried
Fresh ground black pepper

In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, takes about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder and salt and cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add broth and cook until almost all absorbed about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn and black beans and cook, stirring until fully heated through. Stir in the cilantro and season to taste with pepper.

Taken from “The Big Book of Vegetarian”

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Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I created this recipe today as a backup plan. I had intended to make black bean plantain burritos but the plantains needed to be ripe and the store only had green ones. I decided to make Quesadillas of some kind but not knowing what. I wandered the grocery store trying to decide. I picked up some 2% Monterey Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese, onions, baby Bella mushrooms and flour tortillas and all of a sudden an idea formed.

Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas
Created recipe on 02/10/2010

1 medium onion sliced into half moons
1-15 oz can of organic black beans drained and rinsed
1 pint of baby Bella mushrooms cleaned and sliced
2 teaspoons Cumin
½ teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup low-fat mozzarella cheese shredded
¼ cup low-fat Monterey Jack cheese shredded
¼ cup low fat sharp cheddar cheese shredded
8 large flour tortillas

Slice a medium onion in half and then slice into half moon slices. In a sauté pan, with olive oil, add the onions. The onions need to be cooked for about 15 to 20 minutes until caramelized golden brown color. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes until semi-soft. Add the black beans and cumin. Cook until beans are thoroughly heated and remove pan from the heat.

I have a quesadilla machine so I am able to make quesadillas with ease. If you do not have one a 10” skillet warmed will work just fine. Just need to put a plate on top of the quesadilla so that the cheese will melt evenly.

Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas 1Make sure the quesadilla machine is hot.

Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas 2Assemble the quesadilla as follows – flour tortilla, caramelized onion, mushroom and black bean filling, sprinkle with cheese mixture and another flour tortilla on top. Close the top of the quesadilla machine and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.

Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas 3The cheese will melt and the flour tortillas will have a tan color.

Remove from the quesadilla machine and cut with a sharp knife into 6 – 8 wedges.

Serve with sour cream and salsa. Yum!

Caramelized Onion Baby Bella Quesadillas 4

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