Chickpea and Brown Rice Veggie Burgers with Tomato Corn Salad

I love burgers. Thick and juicy beef patty with a nice big slice of melted cheese on a toasted buttered bun. It sure looks and sounds delicious but it's not very good for you is it? Since I started eating better and trying to lose weight, I've stayed away from the delicious beefy burgers and while I've been happy with my progress so far, I've missed the burgers. I know I could make a burger with lean ground beef but those are always so dry and not very tasty. So I started looking for a veggie burger.

Because of previous love of the beef burger (I still love them to be honest, I'm just being g-o-o-d) I never paid much attention to veggie burgers. I like vegetables just fine but when you are a meat eating gal, you go for the beef burger not the veggie one (well most people I know anyway). I've found many veggie burgers that sounded good and some that were a little out there for my taste. But when I came across this burger on the Weight Watchers website, I knew I had to give it a try.

I made a few changes based on my taste and what I had available but for the most part left the ingredients the same. Instead of the tomato salad in the recipe, I made a tomato and corn salad (made with my freshly picked tomatoes!) to serve with the burgers.

For my first experience with homemade veggie burgers, I was extremely happy. I love chickpeas and use them when I can so I was pleased that they worked so well in a burger. You could serve these on a bun but they work just fine without one. I topped mine with the tomato and corn salad and served a dill pickle spear alongside. A delicious, healthy, and filling meal that will be made again and again in my house. I think the burgers would also be tasty if you vary the seasonings. Smoked paprika is the first one that I'd like to try!

Chickpea and Brown Rice Veggie Burgers
Adapted from Weight Watchers
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 2

Ingredients

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 Tbsp panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp shredded carrots
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp minced dried onion (I'm not an onion fan so I rarely have fresh)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
3 Tbsp liquid egg whites (I used the Eggbeaters version) or 1 lg egg white

Directions

To make burgers, place chickpeas in bowl of a food processor; pulse for 10 second intervals until a course texture is reached, about 20 to 30 seconds total. Add rice and pulse again to combine, about 10 seconds more.

Spoon mixture into a large bowl. Add panko, carrots, parsley, onion, lemon zest, coriander, 1salt and pepper; mix to combine. Add egg white and mix again to combine; refrigerate for at least 10 minutes and up to overnight.

Spray a grill rack or grill pan with cooking spray; heat grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.

Form the mixture into 4 burgers using about 1/3 cup of mixture for each (I used a large ice cream scoop that was about 1/3 cup). Spray tops of burgers with cooking spray.

Grill burgers, without moving them (don't touch them!!), until golden brown and crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully flip burgers and cook until golden brown and crispy on other side, about 6 to 8 minutes more. Yields 1 burger per serving.

Tomato and Corn Salad
From: Heather's head and fridge
Servings: 2 (1/2 cup each)
Weight Watchers Points: 2

Ingredients

1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup tomato, seeded and diced
1/2-1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for one hour so flavors can mingle. Serve as a side with any meal. Delicious with burgers!


Note: Weight Watchers points calculated using their online tool. I am not affiliated with Weight Watchers International.

Daring Cooks: Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

Growing up in Texas, I obviously ate a lot of enchiladas. Cheese, beef, chicken, green chili, sour cream, ...you name it, I've probably had it. Any time you take a tortilla (flour is my favorite) and roll it around a filling of some sort then top it with a sauce, I'm game to eat it. Enchiladas are without a doubt, my favorite Tex-Mex food. My favorite combination is a simple cheese with a red sauce.

Our challenge this month was to make enchiladas with a homemade Mexican style sauce. It had to be a Mexican sauce so I decided to go with a 'chili gravy' from Robb Walsh's Tex-Mex Cookbook that I had been dying to make for a long time. This cookbook is the bible of Tex-Mex cooking.  As Robb says, chili gravy the life blood of old-fashioned Tex-Mex cooking. It's a mix between an Anglo brown gravy and a Mexican chile sauce. This was the type of sauce that I grew up eating in my enchiladas, both at home and in restaurants. This is the sauce that I love.  But it's one that I've never attempted to make.  I've always used the canned version and while that's good, it's not homemade.

For my filling, I decided to go simple and use shredded chicken and cheddar cheese.  A lot of times, people get too complex on enchilada fillings and in my opinion, simple is better.  Too much 'stuff' in the filling almost always ruins the enchilada for me.

I'm sure my mom would have preferred the given green chili enchiladas and I'm also sure they are very good but I much prefer the enchiladas that I ended up making.  The sauce was out of this world amazing.    There was no doubt that this was an authentic Tex-Mex chili gravy.  It was full of the nice bold chile flavor.  It was slightly spicy but not too spicy.  The chicken and cheese paired wonderfully with the chili gravy.  An absolutely delicious meal all around that I will be making many, many times to come.

If you would like to get the recipe for the chili gravy, see page 74 of The Tex-Mex Cookbook.

Thanks to our hosts for challenging us this month to make enchiladas with a homemade sauce.  This recipe had set on my shelf for well over a year and I never got around to making it.  Now I'm sorry I wasted so much time!

For more from the Daring Cooks, check out the DC blogroll here.

TWD: Mini Quick Classic Berry Tart

Cristine of Cooking with Cristine picked Quick Classic Berry Tart on page 377 of Baking from My Home to Yours. I'm a sucker for a nice fruit tart and this one just sounded too good to miss.

I made the tarts mini (single gal on a diet here!). I used strawberries for my berry because it's what I had in the freezer at the time. They are my favorite so it wasn't a hardship!

These were lovely little tarts. I'm always a fan of the sweet tart dough and it paired wonderfully with the strawberries and pastry cream. In the mini size, they are perfect single servings. A make again if there ever was one!  They would also be delicious with blueberries or any other berry that you fancy.  I'd love to try them with fresh when they are in season and in my grocery store at a decent price.  For now frozen does just fine.

To see more from the TWD Bakers and the Quick Classic Berry Tart, check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll. You can find the recipe on page 377 of Baking or at Cooking with Cristine.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

I've been bad lately and haven't participated in HBinFive. I recently started my Master's degree (ack! What am I thinking?!) and have cut down some on my food blogging. But I had to make the selections for the May 1st bread braid because they sounded to good to miss. Thankfully we were able to use the Pumpkin Pie Brioche because I had some stashed in the freezer. A 24 hour thaw and I was ready to go!

Since the dough was already made, it was a fairly simple recipe to make. The only problem I had was after the 40 minute rest, a lot of the brown sugar had melted. Not a huge deal but it was a little annoying.

I left of the cream cheese frosting off and just sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top. The roll ups were fabulous. Just like mini pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Most of mine ended up looking like them anyway because I messed up on cutting the strips. Oh well. They still tasted delicious. Maybe next time I'll learn to count how many strips I need correctly!


The other recipe for this bread braid is the Milk and Honey Raisin Bread. I didn't have that made up in advance so I've got that in the fridge resting and will make it tomorrow. Will have a post up as soon as I get it made!


To see more from the HBinFive bakers, check out the latest bread braid here! If you would like more information on the HBinFive group, Michelle at Big Black Dogs has the information here.

R2R: Spinach Strata

This month's recipe for Recipes to Rival is a spinach and pancetta strata from Giada De Laurentiis.  Stratas are a great breakfast option that I love to make.  Normally I go with a sausage filling but this time it was nice to go with a veggie filling (especially since I'm trying to eat healthier).

I used a homemade white bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  I really think that added a wonderful sourdough flavor and fresh texture that you just can't get with store bought bread.  The only other change I made was substituting bacon for the pancetta.  I had bacon already in my freezer and preferred to use that rather than buying pancetta.   

I loved this dish.  The top was wonderfully crunchy and the bottom was nice and creamy.  The spinach was great touch.  With a meat strata, it tends to be a little heavy and you feel like you ate way too many calories.  The spinach felt lighter, both in taste and in calories.  It may not be that much better for you but it sure tasted like it.  It is also a great lunch to take into work.  Filling but doesn't leave you feeling like you need a snooze!

To see more strata, check out the Recipes to Rival blogroll.  

Spinach and Pancetta Strata
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped (I used regular bacon)
1 small onion, chopped
1 (10-ounce) box chopped frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups cubed Italian bread, from a 1-pound loaf (I used a homemade loaf from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
3 cups whole milk
10 large eggs

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a bowl. Add the onion to the pan drippings in the same skillet and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the spinach and garlic. Saute over medium-low heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, nutmeg, and the cooked pancetta.

Place half of the bread cubes in a buttered 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the bread, then top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layering.

Whisk the milk, eggs, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a large bowl and pour evenly over the strata. Chill the strata, covered with plastic wrap, at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake strata uncovered until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.