Aug 3, 2010

tex-mex veg burger

I have this thin cookbook of burgers: Meatless Burgers , and every one of the burgers we've tried from this book has not turned out quite right. The book has great burger ideas, but the execution leaves something to be desired. So I used their Tex-Mex Burger recipe as inspiration rather than cooked it as written.

It uses tofu and gluten as the base of the burger. I added roasted corn - fresh off the cob (CSA) - roasted peppers, grilled onions, garlic and chili powder. I baked the burgers first to make sure the gluten was cooked and then I briefly sauteed them in my cast iron skillet to add some color, flavor and texture. This was a great way to make veggie burgers that hold together well enough, do not need to be fried in lots of oil, but not have that dried-out texture that comes solely from baking.

   To accompany the burgers I made a Chili-Lime veganaise by adding some chili powder and lime juice to, you guessed it, veganaise. Toppings for the burger included cilantro, avocado, red onion slices and tomato.

Quick, easy, light lunch.

The kids are on vacation from cooking this week; they are planning their menus for the next ten weeks. The kids liked this one a lot - and not just because they didn't have to cook!

Cost Breakdown:
tofu: $2
gluten: $.50
onion, pepper, garlic, corn: $2
avocado, cilantro, lime, veganaise: $3.50
bread: $3
tomato: $2
Total to make 6 burgers:
$13.00




Aug 2, 2010

raw thai salad

Raw Night

I needed something quick for dinner - I am in the middle of cleaning my house from top to bottom, so this is what I came up with: cucumbers, peeled and sliced into thin strips with the peeler to the middle where the seed  are. I added strips of red pepper, thin slices of red onion and grated a carrot. I made a dressing using a young coconut meat, agave, nama shoyu, lime juice, olive oil, chilies and cilantro. To add some crunch I chopped up some almonds.

This was excellent - I really enjoyed it. Refreshing, cooling for the summer, quick and tasty. The dressing was especially nice - the young coconut is a very mild coconut flavor but just enough.

Cost Breakdown:
cucumber: $3
young coconut: $2
red pepper: $1
carrot, lime, cilantro: $2
almonds: $2
Total to feed a family of 4:
$10.00