Healthy White Bean Burgers

Being a pescatarian, I have found that I often get into eating phases. Sometimes my meals are more focused on seafood and then I change back to a more traditional vegetarian focus. Rarely I go the vegan route but for me that is experimental.

More recently, I have been in my vegetarian phase. Over the summer, I was grilling a lot, spending time with friends at the pool. Now that everyone is busy, I began making portabella burgers on the stove. I love, love, love them but it was time for a change.

Perusing the internet, I found a recipe in the NY Times for White Bean Burgers. The recipe was developed by one of my favorite cookbook authors, Martha Rose Shulman. I have a number of her cookbooks. She assisted Dean Ornish in developing the diet plan to reverse heart disease so her recipes are oriented toward optimum health.

White kidney beans (and other beans) are high in dietary fiber, both  soluble and insoluble. A 1-cup serving of kidney beans, cooked, meets roughly 45 percent of the Recommended Daily Intake for fiber. Beans are also an excellent source of folate. 

As always, I have made changes to the original recipe to suit my taste. Since I am a single girl these changes included reducing the serving size. You can go to the original recipe if you prefer to make more http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/nutrition/12recipehealth.html?_r=0 .

The burgers turned out great. I highly recommend you form them and refrigerate them so they hold together better on the stove. A good wide spatula will help you turn the burgers without them breaking apart. I found they stayed together pretty well though.

I mention tomato slices as a condiment. Since my basil is growing leaps and bounds and tomatoes are at their best, I used the slices I had in the fridge which were marinated with basil leaves, slivers of garlic and a little balsamic vinegar. Regular slices work fine too.

As for the basic recipe, you can experiment with different combinations to see what best suits your taste.  Other options I thought of would be using dill, lemon pepper and feta or cilantro, jalapeno, cumin topped with low fat cheddar. Another topping might be sautéed onions, mushrooms and low fat swiss. 

I hope you will try these. 

White Bean Burgers

These should be cooked on a flat griddle or pan; don’t try to grill them on a barbecue.

1 can  white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

1-2  large garlic cloves (to taste), green shoots removed, minced

1/3 cup shredded carrot

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbl finely chopped parsley

½ (or more if you prefer)  tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (optional)

1/8 cup panko bread crumbs (I like the seasoned crumbs)

1 egg, beaten

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Dash Himalayan pink salt

Small ciabatta buns or wholegrain hamburger buns

Condiments of your choice:

Vine ripe tomato slices, Avocado sliced or mashed, Roasted and sliced green chile (hatch), thin slices of reduced fat cheddar or swiss cheese, sautéed mushroom slices,  tzatziki (http://preview.tinyurl.com/m5pn5xq) or sriracha mayonnaise (mix 2 parts low fat mayonnaise with 1 part sriracha sauce or to taste), pickles.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium-size skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, the garlic and the grated carrot, and continue to cook for another minute or two, until fragrant and the carrot has softened slightly. Remove from the heat.

2. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, puree the beans with the lemon juice. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the onion mixture, the parsley, rosemary and thyme , the bread crumbs and the egg. Season to taste. Shape into patties, ½- to ¾-inch thick. Set on a parchment-covered baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy skillet or on a griddle over medium heat and brown the patties for 4 minutes on each side, being very careful when you turn them over. An offset spatula works well for this. Serve on whole grain buns, with tzatziki or sriracha mayonnaise and the condiments of your choice.

Yield: 3-4 patties depending on the size. I make mine small

Advance preparation: You can make the patties up to a day ahead; cover and refrigerate.

My apologies for not providing a photo. I was too hungry to wait for a photo shoot! :)

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

 People are always raving about the Lettuce Wraps at PF Changs. I did try their vegetarian version a number of years ago, and although I liked the idea of it, I found them kind of salty and greasy.

I hadn’t really thought much about it until I ran across a recipe that sounded as if it would be tasty.  I can’t tell you where I got this. I found it last year in a magazine at the local library. I am one of those obsessive types that collects recipes from everywhere and can’t always remember the original author or sometimes where I put them!

My sister came over for dinner last night and since she is the perfect guinea pig, I decided to try the recipe on her (and  also on me..the other perfect guinea pig!).

We loved them and the best thing about them was they were easy to make.  The wraps were fresh, light and flavorful.  For a couple of small women like us, it was a great meal. More hearty eaters might want to add more to the dinner menu than just the wraps.

I did change a few things and would change another if I was to make them again. The recipe called for ¼ cup of crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce. I am sure I wrote that down wrong. It sounded like too much. I added about a teaspoon.  Instead of jicama, I used water chestnuts. I couldn’t find jicama at the store and water chestnuts sounded more authentic anyway. I also put a few drops of sesame oil in the wok along with the canola oil.  I like the flavor.

The lettuce used was romaine, but romaine isn’t very flexible. I would use a butter lettuce next time.  The recipe was not enough for 12 lettuce leaves. It really just served 2 people with 2 Romaine leaves each. Double the recipe for 4 people if it is for dinner rather than an appetizer.

 I followed the rest of the recipe with success.

 How I made them:

I put together the ingredients for the wrap and stuck it in the fridge while making the sauce and the brown rice. While the rice was cooking, I threw the sauce ingredients into the blender, blended them then put it in a bowl. While the rice was cooking, I cleaned up the kitchen.

When it was time to eat, I pulled out the mix, stir fried it, added the sauce and that was it. When all was done, there was very little clean up, which to me is a big plus.

Ok, for you non-tofu lovers, feel free to substitute something else. I think some chopped up cooked shrimp would be a good substitute but you decide on that. 

You can serve these with hot Green tea or you might try a Zentini or Saketini 

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cocktails/zen-green-tea-liqueur.asp
(by the way The Nibble is a great newsletter too)

Tofu Lettuce Wraps- Serves two dinner size portions

Sauce:

¼ cup tamari sauce (low sodium if you prefer)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbl minced shallot

1 tbl packed light brown sugar

1 tbl plus 1 tsp rice vinegar

¼ cup plus 2 tbl water

1 tbl plus 1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¾ tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger (a fine microplane works great for grating both the ginger and the garlic)

Put all of the sauce ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Wrap ingredients:

½ cup diced carrots

½ cup sugar snap peas diced

½ cup diced jicama (or substitute water chestnuts diced)

½ cup pineapple diced

¾ lb extra firm tofu, diced

A drop or two of sesame oil (optional)

Canola oil spray for stir frying

½ cup unsalted peanuts (I used salted because I had them on hand)

12 romaine lettuce leaves (or substitute boston lettuce) See note on this. I only used 4 leaves

1 1/3 cup cooked brown rice

Toss together the carrots thru the pineapple in a large bowl. Mix in the tofu.

Heat a wok sprayed with canola oil on high heat (I added a drop of sesame oil for added flavor)

Add tofu mixture and stir fry briefly (30 sec to a minute). Stir in enough sauce to moisten well and cook another minute or until the sauce is just thickened.

Serve with the lettuce to wrap, the peanuts, rice and whatever leftover sauce there is.

Fill lettuce leaf with some of the mix, put some rice on top, then some peanuts. If you want, a little extra sauce is good too. Wrap and eat. Messy but fun and tasty too!

Fresh orange slices would be a great dessert.

I hope you enjoy these and would love to hear about it.