Erik's Black Bean Burger

Erik's Black Bean Burger                                                                                                                    By: Erik Hoffman                                                                                                                                  Prep and cook time: 40 minutes                                                                                                     Serves: 7 patties

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz cans black beans rinsed
• 4 T ketchup
• 2 t dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 medium white onion diced
• ¼ c red bell pepper diced
• 3 T parsley chopped
• 1 scallion thinnly sliced
• 1 T kosher salt
• ¾ c instant oats
• water or veggie broth for sautéing

Directions

1.  Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Mash beans.  Drain and rinse beans and place in a large mixing bowl. Mash beans with a fork or in your hands until they’re evenly broken down.  You should be able to still tell they’re beans. Don't mush them until they turn into paste.

3.  Saute veggies.  With enough water to just coat the bottom of a saute pan, cook over medium heat the onion, garlic and red pepper for about five minutes until translucent.  Add to black bean mash.

4.  Add the rest.  Incorporate the rest of ingredients. Then mix in oats. Wait 2 minutes for oats to absorb the moisture and better bind the mixture.

5.  Form into patties. I get about 7 burgers out of this mixture. I like to make the patties a little on the thinner side so when they cook, they get a nice sear on the outside and are not too mushy on the inside so they are easier to eat… i.e. not sloppy or falling apart.

6.  Bake burgers.  Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or silpat and cook for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes carefully flip and cook for an aditional 8 minutes. The outside of patty should be fairly crisp. Let set for two minutes then serve on bun, bread, salad, wrap or pita with ketchup, mustard, pickles, relish, avocado, hot sauce, salsa, or what ever your heart desires. Enjoy.

What's your favorite veggie burger topping?  What do you think of Erik's burger?

How daily desserts can help you stop eating sweet treats

Have you ever been on a diet and been told “you can never eat (enter your favorite dessert here) again?”  Or on the flip side, you love (enter favorite here) so much that it’s always in your house so you eat it all time? 

How do you stop eating indulgent sweet treats on the regular without swearing them off for life?  The answer lies behind “the double D."  Nope, I’m not talking bra sizes here ladies.  Rather, “daily desserts.”  Daily desserts are 100% healthy foods that satisfy dessert and sweet cravings.  Here’s a few examples...

Daily Desserts:

• Banana ice-cream
• Blueberry crisp
• Berry-chocolate banana ice-cream 
• Microwaved baked apples 

The trick is to keep your kitchen stocked with daily desserts well, daily.  Always have frozen fruit, dates, cocoa powder and maple syrup in the kitchen, this way, you’re always ensured a yummy daily dessert.

At the same time, you have to get the tempting treats out of the house and you can’t bring them into the house either.  This is worth repeating:  “Get the treats -- cakes, cookies, candy, ice-cream -- out of your kitchen.”  If you don’t, it’s only a matter of time until you eat them.  If you go to a party and are offered to bring the left-over cake home -- don’t do it.  If you do, you’ll eat it.  If you have a party and there’s dessert left-overs, have someone else take it home, bring it to work for others or, throw it away.

This doesn’t mean you can’t ever eat tempting treats ever again, but what living by “the double D” does do, is allow you to eat guilt-free desserts on a regular basis.  How can you gauge if it’s a good time to eat a tempting treat or not?  Ask yourself this question -- “Is this a special occasion outside of my house?”  (Think wedding anniversary, Christmas dinner...).  If the answer is yes, then it’s okay to eat a treat.  No guilt.    

Even vegan tempting treats should not be in the house on a regular basis.  If I kept this amazing and easy Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding in my house all the time, my husband and I would eat a  pound of chocolate chips every week.  Although it’s made with tofu instead of dairy, it still doesn’t make the “double D” list (but if you need a sweet treat -- it’s a good one).  

Now I'd love to hear from you.  Click 'comment' below and answer...

Take Control Now Question

What are your favorite daily desserts?  How has getting treats out of your kitchen helped you eat healthier?

Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding

Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding                                                                                                           By: Trisha Mandes, MPHN                                                                                                                      Prep and cook time:  20 minutes                                                                                                       Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb silken tofu
• 1 c 48% cocoa chocolate chips
• 1/4 c brown rice syrup

Directions

1.  Blend tofu in a blender until smooth.

2.  Prepare a double boiler to melt the chocolate chips.  To do this, place a metal mixing bowl over top of a sauce pot that holds enough water without hitting the top of the mixing bowl.  Bring water to a simmer.

3.  Add the blended tofu, chocolate chips and brown rice syrup to the double boiler (place in warm metal mixing bowl that's on-top of the simmering sauce pot).  Constantly stir the mixture with a high heat spatula.  Be sure to constantly scrape the bottom to ensure all of the chocolate is removed and all ingredients blend evenly.  Stir until evenly melted and blended.  About 8 minutes. 

4.  Remove bowl from sauce pot.  Let sit for a few minutes to slightly cool.  Place covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  

5.  Enjoy as is, sprinkled with black finishing salt or as a dip for fresh fruit, or as an addition to banana ice-cream.  

What do you think?  Please click 'comment' below and let me know how you enjoy Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding.  xoxo

How to Make Creamy Tahini Mashed Potatoes

This is one of my favorite oil-free vegan (and delicious!) culinary wonders that my husband has made yet.  We've enjoyed it as a dinner with creamy mushroom gravy and sautéed kale, served it to multiple groups in the Columbia's Cooking kitchen classroom, for Thanksgiving with 3 different types of gravy (I really love gravy) and most recently, with our family as part of our Christmas meal.  It's fairly simple and pleases all crowds.  I encourage you to try Erik's recipe, then answer the Take Control Now Question below and let us know what you think.  We'd love to hear from you!

Creamy Tahini Mashed Potatoes           

By: Erik Hoffman                                                                                                                              Serves: 4                                                                                                                                               Prep + cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes (peeled and quartered)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 large onion diced
• ⅔ c vegetable stock
• 2 T tahini
• 1 c unsweetened almond milk
• salt
• white pepper

Directions

1. Prepare your mis en place (all of the ingredients prepped and cut).  

2. Start the potatoes.

Add prepared russet potatoes to a large pot and cover with at least two inches of water.  Salt liberally (at least 2 tablespoons). Place on stove top and turn heat to high. Cook uncovered until water comes to a boil (begin step 2).

Check potatoes three minutes after the water begins to boil. You want potatoes to be tender and have a starchy, translucent look.  They should be tender enough to cut through with a spoon with very little resistance. At this point, remove from stove and strain through a colander. Return potatoes back to pot or transfer into a large mixing bowl.  Cover to keep warm and set aside.

3.  Begin potato mixture.

In a small sauce pot, cook onions and garlic in ⅓ cup vegetable stock over medium heat until tender and liquid is almost gone.  Add to the onions and garlic, ⅔ cup almond milk and the remaining the vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn down to a simmer and add 2 tablespoons tahini. Mix well to incorporate tahini.  Once tahini has been stirred in, add the mixture to the potato pot.

4.  Mash the taters.

Mash potatoes well with the liquid. I use a rigid spoon and mix vigorously until the potatoes become very creamy.  You can also use a potato masher or hand blender if you want.  Once the potatoes are to a consistency of your liking, add the final ⅓ cup of almond milk and stir in until you have a very smooth result.  Season your creamy tahini potatoes with salt and pepper to your liking (I prefer the spice of white pepper in my mashed potatoes over plack pepper) and enjoy.

Then answer today's Take Control Now question by clicking 'comment' below.

Take Control Now Question

What did you and your family think of Erik's recipe?  Would you do something different?  Other thoughts to share?

Trisha's Top Three Holiday Desserts

Eating dessert is more fun when it tastes delicious AND it’s nourishing to your body.  Do healthy and delicious desserts like this even exist?  But of course!  Dates are blended into a thick paste to substitute sugar, almond meal acts as an egg binder, and peanutbutter and ground nuts contribute fatty and rich tasting flavors.  And let’s not forget mother nature’s number one dessert -- fruit!  

I’ve baked over 10 plant-based desserts this season and these three top my list (even though they aren’t chocolate!).    

 Trisha’s Top Three Holiday Desserts

1.  The pretty party dessert:  Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies by OhSheGlows.com (LOVE her recipes!)

Not only are these cookies healthy, they’re beautiful and delicious.  They're my number one “take to a party” dessert.  I baked these in a Columbia’s Cooking community class and they looked even more beautiful in person.  

2.  Interesting yet yummy dessert:  Chocolate Peanut-butter Cookie Dough Bites by TexanErin.com

These cookies are good and are even better the next day, but what really attracts me to these -- chick peas.  This may not sound exciting but the neutrality of the chickpeas binds and blends the chocolate and peanut together just right to make a traditionally not-so-good cookie, oh so good.  They really taste good!  They’re also gluten and flour free for those who avoid those products.  Recipe hint:  flatten the cookies out before baking instead of rolling them into balls to avoid the cookies breaking apart once baked.  

3.  The delicious daily dessert:  Microwaved Baked Apple by FatFreeVegan.com (so many great recipes on this website!)

I love this dessert because it’s incredibly healthy, simple, easy and delicious.  It’s a wonderful “daily dessert” and it’s perfect when you’re instantly in the mood for something sweet (and beautiful) to eat at home.  I love cuddling up to this dessert, enjoying how sweetand delicious it is and knowing I’m doing a great service to my body by eating it.  Makes it taste all the better.  Prep time: 5 minutes!

Take Control Now Question

What’s your favorite oil-free vegan dessert and why?  Have a recipe to share?

Answer by clicking ‘comment’ below.