Veggie Burgers- to grill!

This burger is fairly simple to make, but does require a little planning ahead in order to ensure all ingredients are ready to go. We love to grill food in the summer, and so decided to try making our own burgers-ones that were eggless and could hold their own on the grill. This recipe is it!

Notes:
-I use soaked and sprouted pesara, however, sprouting is not required. This is one ingredient to plan ahead to have ready.
-Recipe calls for cooked rice and quinoa, which should be cooked ahead of time and allowed to cool.
-Spices can be modified according to your taste preferences and creativity :)
-When the burgers are frozen, they hold up a lot better on the grill. Again, part of the planning ahead process.
-Makes 4 good size burgers.

Ingredients & Process
To saute:
1 large clove garlic, minced
1Tbs ginger, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup shredded carrot
1 8oz package mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh sage (optional)
Dry ingredients:
1/4 cup oat flour (ground oatmeal)
2 Tbs flax meal (ground flax seeds)
1tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup DRY soy granules (also known as TVP) *Do not soak in water prior to adding
spices:
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp garam masala
pinch of turmeric, marjoram, sugar
For making paste:
1/2 cup soaked & sprouted pesara (green moong dal)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2-3 spoons oil
To add for texture and "bite":
1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa or brown rice (or a mixture of the two)


Saute the garlic, ginger, and onion until onion is translucent. Add the carrot, mushroom, and sage and continue to cook on medium heat until nicely cooked and most of the liquid evaporates. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, set aside and allow to cool.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oat flour, flax meal, cornstarch, dry soy granules, and spices. Add into the cooked vegetables and stir to thoroughly combine.

Using a mixie or blender, grind the pesara and rice to make a paste, adding oil as needed to thoroughly blend. Add to the vegetable mixture, again stir to thoroughly combine. This is the main binding ingredient. Add the cooked quinoa, starting with 1/2 cup. If mixture still seems too sticky, add the remaining 1/2 cup and stir to combine.

Now is phase 1 of the cooking process: lightly pan fry the burgers.
Take a ball of the mixture (about a 1/2 cup makes a good size burger) and form patties. It will help to put oil on your hands and on the surface you are working on since the mixture will be slightly sticky. Put a few spoons of oil in a pan and fry on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side (should turn a light brown) Lightly cooking like this will help it hold up on the grill. Also, as noted above, we found that they grilled best with less sticking when they were frozen first. This is a perfect recipe to double or triple in order to freeze and have burgers ready to go when it's time for phase 2 of the cooking: grilling!!

 Enjoy!

French Bread

Freshly baked bread. Enough said :)

I used my mom's French bread recipe. One batch I shaped as per instructions for a loaf of French bread. The other I put in a bread pan. Both turned out well.

Recipe & Process

2 1/2-3 cups flour (I used a combination of all purpose flour and oat flour. I added a spoon of wheat gluten too, which is optional)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs butter *can substitute coconut oil for vegan version
1 pkg dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 Tbs warm water

In a food processor with metal blade, place 2 cups flour, salt, sugar, butter, and yeast. Run machine until butter is cut in. Add half of the water. Turn processor on and off 4 times. Add remaining flour and water. Repeat pulsing, then run until dough ball forms. Let run 40-60 seconds to knead. Knead lightly on a board. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rest for 20 minutes. Roll dough 15x10 inches. Roll tightly into a 15 inch loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush dough with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise 45 min-1hour and bake at 425 for 25 minutes. *I left out the last part of this recipe for an eggless version, but if desired you can beat an egg while and 1 Tbs water, brush it on the loaf after 20 minutes baking time and then bake for 5-10 more minutes. This will give it a nice golden brown, crusty finish. I just drizzled a little coconut oil instead of brushing with the egg white. It still turned out delicious!

Roasted Pesto

I finally harvested another round of basil. I've already made some pesto, dried some, added to our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners...

This bunch was made into pesto, but with a different twist.

Roasted.

Well, the basil was not roasted, but the garlic and almonds were.

We're talking yum. Bursting with flavor yum.

Here's the ingredients & process.

2 cups basil, packed & overflowing
heaping 1/2 cup of almonds
16 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil, or more as required
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp turmeric

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put garlic cloves on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Seal the foil.
In an 8x8 oven-proof baking dish, put the almonds. Lay the garlic packet inside the dish as well.
Bake for 5 minutes. Stir the almonds. Bake another 5 minutes. Stir the almonds. Turn oven off and leave pan inside for another 10-15 minutes until the almonds are nice and toasty. By this time the garlic should be nice and sizzly as well.

Add the basil, almonds, and garlic to a food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. Add half amount of lemon juice and oil. Process for another minute or so. Add remaining juice and oil and continue to process until desired consistency is reached. Add more oil if required. Add seasonings and process to combine.

All done! Store for use now or later.

I was planning to save these for my afternoon snack, but they didn't make it.
This pesto is too good!

I like to freeze pesto and store for adding to pasta later.

What are your ideas or favorite uses for pesto? Do you have a favorite pesto recipe?

Soaked/Sprouted Chickpea Waffles

I'm suddenly intrigued by soaking and sprouting grains & legumes. I know this is a common practice in India, but here in the US we've gotten away from this process. I'm still in the learning stages, but am striving to make this a regular part of the way we prepare food. More or less, soaking and sprouting beans begins the germination process and helps to make the nutrients more bio-available...more readily absorbed in our bodies...more easily digested. This is very important for the health of our bodies, especially for vegetarians who rely on the essential amino acids, proteins, B vitamins, iron, calcium, etc, present in these power foods.

Here is another waffle recipe, that I will definitely make again. Delightfully crispy on the outside, fluffy and light inside, filling yet not too heavy. Recipe makes 3 nice sized waffles.

Ingredients & Process

1 cup soaked, sprouted chickpeas
1 2/3 cups water
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups oats

Blend everything, except the oats in a blender for 90 seconds. Add the oats and blend for another 60 seconds. Once nice and smoothly blended, plug in the waffle iron and allow to preheat to medium setting. *The batter will thicken to the right consistency as the waffle iron heats.

Add 3/4-1 cup of batter to the greased waffle iron.

Close it and allow it to cook for 8-10 minutes.

*Important note-No peeking allowed-if you open the waffle iron before the waffle is finished cooking, it will split apart and stick to the waffle iron.

Ragi (Millet) Waffles

So my best friend from college is going to be in town briefly this weekend, and is going to come over for brunch. I'm always excited to decide on a menu for my company, but a twist is thrown in to come up with vegetarian, gluten-free options. I could easily go the traditional Southern Indian breakfast of idli, dosa, or uttapam. However, I want to serve something more Americanized, especially since this provides a good excuse to try new recipes!! After searching online for ideas, I finally came across this gluten-free & VEGAN waffle recipe guide. If someone experimented with the same recipe over 24 times, testing various flours, then it must be a recipe I can trust. I was so excited to try it out, that I just made two batches this afternoon as a trial run before this weekend. I adjusted ingredients slightly according to what I had on hand, and of course, using gluten-free flours found in a typical Indian pantry.

First batch was made with ragi flour (millet flour) and my second batch was with besan flour (chickpea flour)

The ragi waffles will be the recipe I make for our brunch. They are a better match for maple syrup. The besan waffles aren't bad, it's just that they are more suitable as a savory waffle as opposed to sweet. I've never eaten savory waffles before, so am not exactly sure what that would look like...right now I'm thinking I'd try it with some melted cheese on top. Who knows, maybe even a curry. If we go with sweet, next time I would probably double the sugar and add some cardamom. I will have to continue to experiment, but for now...here's the recipe.

Ragi Waffles ~makes 2 large waffles or 3-4 smaller ones
Ingredients-
1 1/4 cups ragi flour (or use other gluten-free flour of your choice)
1/2 cup tapioca flour (tapioca starch)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs water

Process-
Heat waffle iron.

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the oil and water to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. (May need to add a little more water, 1-2 Tbs at a time to reach desired consistency.)

 

-I didnt think to take pics  of the process until batch 2, so this is how the besan flour batter looks 

Grease the waffle iron, and put 1/2 cup of batter (more or less, depending on how big you want your waffles to be) onto the waffle iron. Use spoon or spatula to help spread it out to cover the waffle iron.

Close the waffle iron and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, or until desired done-ness is reached.

**For more gluten-free waffle ideas and tips from the gluten-free waffle/pancake baking pro, make sure to visit the link I included above! Have fun :)