Living in Croatia has proven to be beneficial to us for the fact that we have been cooking a lot more at home, due to the lack of restaurants in and around our little village. We generally stock up on fruits and veggies at the local markets in neighboring villages a couple times a week and can purchase many of our "staples" at the market in Pisak. Although we are generally cooking with many of the same ingredients, night after night, we have been able to come up with some pretty fun (and healthy) creations.
Quinoa and Chickpea 100% Vegan Burger Patties
One of my first projects was to create a vegan burger. Most of the vegetarian burgers have cheese or egg in them in order to keep the patties together. Here is the process I used to create a 100% vegan patty!
Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas and 1 can of lentils (or any two types of legumes you like)
1/2 sweet potato
1/3 green bell pepper
1/3 red bell pepper
1 clove of garlic
1/2 white onion
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 slices of lemon
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper
Process:
Chop up all of your yummy veggies
Pour veggies in a mixing bowl along with the legumes
Using a potato masher or fork, mix and mash until about half of the beans are mashed up
Add quinoa to the mixer and mix again
Add lemon, oil, and vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper to taste
Using your hands, create patties with the mixture and place in the oven. I made mine about a palm's width.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes
Let cool for 10 minutes before serving
Add your vegan patty to your favorite bread,
or make it a lettuce wrap for a low-carb dinner!
Topping suggestions: I tried peanut butter and my husband had his with sweet chili sauce. We loved both versions.
Quinoa, Chickpea, Cabbage Spring Rolls (with homemade Vietnamese-style peanut sauce)
I had leftover mixture from my vegan patties, so the next night we decided to make spring rolls. I made a fresh cabbage mixture to add to the quinoa/legume mixture, to give it a little crunch.
The first step was to blanch the cabbage. I tore off 8 cabbage leaves, keeping them in tact as much as possible. First, boil one leaf at a time for about 30 second to 1 minute, depending on the thickness. Take the leaf out of the boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water for about 30 second. Towel dry and place on a plate.
Cabbage mixture:
Chopped cabbage (about 4 leaves)
1 Shredded large carrot
1/2 cup chopped green onion
Handful of chopped cilantro
Lemon zest
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 clove of garlic
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder
To prepare the rolls, lay one leaf flat on a plate. Take a spoonful of your quinoa/legume mixture (from the veggie patties) and place in the middle of the cabbage leaf. Add one spoonful of the fresh cabbage mixture. Roll and tuck the leaf to create a tight roll.
For sauce, we used some sweet chili sauce we had bought in town and I also made a homemade, Vietnamese style, peanut sauce.
Peanut sauce:
1 or 2 heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter
2 cloves crushed garlic to make a garlic paste
1 tsp soy sauce
Hot sauce or sriracha to taste
Water (thin to desired texture)
Sesame oil if available
Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed peppers are always a favorite of mine. I can generally look through the pantry and fridge and find just enough yummy ingredients to make a delicious dinner. We had purchased some amazing red peppers at the market in Split this past Sunday, which were my inspiration for this dish.
Cut off the top of the pepper, removing the stem and seeds. Slice the bottom of the pepper in order to make a flat surface so the pepper can stand up in the oven.
Filling:
Quinoa
1/2 yellow pepper chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 can chickpeas
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 zucchini chopped
Mix above together with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste
Fill each bell pepper cup with your delicious mixture and place in oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 mins
Summer Cucumber Salad
No lettuce? No problem! A fresh and healthy chopped salad that made my meat-lovin' husband proclaim, "this may be my favorite salad ever"!
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1/2 red onion
3 cabbage leaves
1 small carrot
1 stalk green onion
Cilantro (or your herb of choice)
1 garlic clove
Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon, s&p
Chop all of the fresh veggies and top with oil, vinegar, lemon, and s&p to taste.
Cinnamony-Coconutty-Peanut Butter
Sometimes it is the snacks that are the hardest. Especially here in Croatia, my go-to hummus dip is nowhere to be found. This delicious snack can double as a yummy dessert too!
Process:
Mix 1 heaping spoonful of peanut butter with 1 tbs water. Use a fork to stir until you reach your desired texture. Add a tsp of cinnamon and a tbs of shredded coconut. Stir and enjoy with half a green apple.
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