The newest entry into the Great Gluten-Free Vegan Burger Experiment is an attempt to make the BBQ Black Bean Burger from Joni Marie Newman’s cookbook, The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet.

I say “attempt” because some things didn’t quite go right, but that’s the whole point in experimentation!

The recipe is gluten-free to begin with, calling for 1/2 cup of soy flour. I assumed we had soy flour and so progressed along with soaking the TVP and adding it with the black beans to a bowl. This would be when I remembered the soy flour.

Quinoa flour, fava flour, besan (chickpea flour), 3 kinds of gluten-free flour mixes, millet flour, almond flour… and…. soy milk powder.

At this point I decided my track record with using gluten-free instant oats had been pretty good and subbed them in for 1/2 cup soy flour I did not have.

Although I decided to start with 2/3 of the BBQ Sauce called for in the recipe, it still seemed very wet. 1/4 of potato flakes was added and I didn’t add in the final 1/3 of the BBQ Sauce called for.

Since I’d gone with oats + potatoes, I wasn’t sure if the fridge might inhibit the water those would soak up, so I let it sit at room temperature in the microwave (a.k.a., “cat safe”).

I’ll admit that I wanted to try baking in the drop-biscuit cast iron since it has been working so well to make very nicely shaped, cooked burgers. That perhaps isn’t a big deal, but I did try to get tricky and cook them at the same time as the french fries. So shorter time, higher temp.

At the halfway point I realized I couldn’t really flip them easily. Nor at the end point. Since the fries too seemed a little off, I switched the oven onto the convection setting and stuck everything back in for 5 minutes. Fries out, burgers another 10 minutes at 325F convection setting. They set up some in the pan, but we finally ate them. Still a little mushy, but way tasty.

The burgers sat in the cast iron for a bit, until they cooled and I put all the leftovers away. By that time they were very nicely set. This morning I had one along with a hashbrown patty from TJ’s, slices of the volunteer tomato that showed up in my zinnias, and a little avocado.

This experiment will be attempted again, this time using soy flour and really watching the liquid added to the TVP. I did sauté the onions, since they were very strong, which may have made for more moisture too. I do really like using the oats, but will see how the soy flour and refrigeration works before changing anything.

Something just seemed too wet with this version using oats, even through they ended up as well shaped burgers that reheated nicely and hold together well. I will add one to the freezer collection as well to see how it does with thawing. It may be these are a “make ahead” burger (the variation with oats), so they bake, set, and are lightly cooked again to heat through.

This week’s Burger Experiment comes to us from Lindsay S. Nixon‘s cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook. I have decided that in the Great Gluten-Free Burger Experiment I’m going to try substituting instant oats (GF, of course) any time I see Vital Wheat Gluten called for in a recipe. I also sub Tamari for anytime soy sauce is called for.

We’d already tried the recipe for the Pinto Burgers (same cookbook, page 86), which is already gluten-free, and loved them. In fact, they inspired my Summer Cilantro Slaw recipe! However, I wanted to try a new recipe and since this book has several bean-burger recipes to try I went for the Kidney-Qunioa Burgers (page 85) merely because I like kidney beans a lot.

First of all, this recipe comes together so quickly it is great. These could be whipped up from scratch on a weeknight. They were very flavorful, even though I totally forgot the tablespoon of Italian Seasoning it called for. The instant, GF oats worked perfectly, especially since I gave the “dough” about 10-15 minutes to rest and let the oats get sticky.

Last week, after the Scarborough Fair Burger Experiment, Christie had the idea of trying out our English muffin cast-iron pan for cooking the burgers. It would heat them more evenly and it would keep them in a nice, uniform burger shape (one which perfectly squishes out to fill an average bun). I heated the pan up in the oven while it preheated and sprayed lightly with oil before putting burger patties into each mini-pan. I must say, this idea is a winner and I will be using it for all burgers despite what cooking directions suggest.

Also known as a Drop Biscuit Pan, this works perfectly for English Muffins and scones too. Oh, and clearly vegan burgers as well!

Once again, the Wild Buns from Happy Campers Gluten-Free were the bun of choice. I loaded mine up with grainy mustard, vegan mayo, avocado, red pepper relish, a little ketchup, and some salad greens. It was pretty awesome (blurry, impatient photo indicates my rush to eat this all up).

On the reheat in the morning these, similarly to the Pinto Burgers, were a little dry. One patty is frozen to see how it does with the thaw/reheat test. One possible idea for these might be to par-bake them to help to retain the shape, freeze, and then reheat in a cast iron skillet.

Last summer I finally got the hang of fresh fava beans and we were hooked. This year we haven’t had any yet, but last weekend I picked up a few pounds at the Gresham Farmers Market.

Summer Rolls - Shiso & Favas

The combination of shiso in our garden and fresh favas inspired me to answer Christie’s desire for sushi.

The favas are pretty slippery, which made putting the roll together a little tricky.  I was also rushing a bit with the rice, which meant it was a little thick. Next time I try these out I’ll do a much thinner layer of rice and perhaps a really thin maki roll.

These make me want to get some purple shiso growing. I think the contrast to the bright green favas would be striking.

Although there’s a bit of labor involved in the whole “peel, boil, blanch, peel” process, fresh favas are amazing. I made sure to set aside a few for each of us to enjoy.

Beautiful Favas!

I also made us a very quick salad with purple cabbage, aged brown rice vinegar, and shiso flowers.

And the feast was rounded out by grilled tofu, two ways, and grilled kale.

Grilled Goodness

Yes, you read that right, I grill our kale. It becomes a little crispy, little smoky, a little wilted, and entirely delicious! I’ve also found that a drizzle of tamari and wasabi over the grilled kale is fabulous indeed

Tofu 1 (on the right): “Mushroom Ultimate” seasoning. We bought this seasoning last time we drove down to California. We make a regular stop in Corning to visit the Olive Pit. I used the seasoning like a dry rub for the tofu, then grilled. Really delicious!

Tofu 2 (on the left): “The Old Favorite” being a mix of nutritional yeast, freshly ground black pepper, and granulated garlic. This is such a favorite mix I’m going to start keeping a blend of it in our spice cabinet.

This recipe is really an on-going quest for the best chickpea soup, with or without noodles. With my innate ability to make stews in big pots, this Provence inspired version is just what a wet, February night needs. This can easily be served over a grain or with pasta, but it is very nice all on it’s own.

I was inspired by two different recipes in coming up with this. The first being the Chickpea Noodle Soup in Veganomicon. The second being the Cabbage “Noodle” Soup from the Fat Free Vegan, Susan Voisin. This recipe falls somewhere in between the two and I add kale to thicken it into a hearty stew. It is absolutely packed with vitamins A, C and K!

The Stuff

• 1 large shallot, cut in quarters and sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium carrots, diced small
• 4 medium stalks celery, diced small
• 3 leeks, white part, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 c mirin
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 15oz. cans drained & rinsed)
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1/2 t thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 t herbes du Provence
• 1 t poultry seasoning
• black pepper to taste
• 10 cups water
• 1/2 medium head white or savoy-style cabbage cut in half, cored and shredded
• 8 cups kale, stemmed and shredded
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/4 c white miso
• 1/4 c fresh Italian parsley, chopped

The Making

Heat an 8-quart stock pot to medium high and lightly spray with high-heat Canola oil. Add in shallot and garlic, sauteing for 5 minutes, or until becoming translucent and just beginning to brown. Add in carrot and celery. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until carrots are glistening. Add in leeks and saute 5-7 minutes, until leeks begin to brown and rings come apart.

Reduce heat to medium-low and deglaze pan with mirin. Stir wine and sauteed veggies together for 30 seconds.

Add in chickpeas, water, and dried herbs. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add nutritional yeast, freshly ground black pepper,  cabbage and kale. Stir together and simmer for 10 minutes, until greens are softened.

Remove pot from heat and add fresh parsley. Remove a cup of the broth and in a bowl whisk miso into broth and add mixture into stew. Mix well and let stand 5 minutes, at least, before serving.

Makes 10 servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 193
Total Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 385 mg
Carbohydrates: 36 g
Dietary Fiber: 9 g
Sugars: 8 g
Protein: 11 g

This winter it seems like we’ve always got a few yams on hand. So far they’ve inspired the Golden Provence Winter Stew, which has become a quick favorite, but I recently had several chilies on hand as well as a large quantity of black beans we’ve been trying to find more uses for. With these ingredients on hand I came up with this delicious, warm stew inspired by Cuban flavors.

The Stuff

• 2 medium yams, diced small
• 3 cups cooked black beans
• 1 large yellow onion, 1/4″ dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium green bell pepper, 1/4 dice
• 1 Ancho/Pasilla pepper, 1/4″ dice
• 1/2 t cumin seed
• 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2.5 T tomato paste
• 5 cups water
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 1/4 t ground coriander
• 1/2 t sweet smoked paprika
• 1 bunch collards, cut up small
• 1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

The Making

Heat a 8-quart stock-pot to medium-high heat and then lightly spray with Canola oil. Add cumin seeds and toast until fragrant, about 2 minutes or less. Add onion into the pot, lightly spritz with oil and saute 5 minutes, until onions become translucent. Add garlic and saute with onions another 5 minutes before adding all of the diced chilies. Saute all together another 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, yams, dried herbs & spices and water to the pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 35 minutes, or until yams are tender. Add collards and tomato paste and stir in. Simmer for 15 minutes before adding in the fresh herbs and lime juice. Simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.

10 Servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 191
Total Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 81 mg
Carbohydrates: 41g
Dietary Fiber: 8 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 7 g

** This Recipe is Only a Test and is Still in Progress **

This recipe was inspired by a recipe we found in Kathy Hester’s book, The Vegan Slow Cooker. Her recipe calls for a slow cooked dal featuring a sweet potato, yellow split peas and chard. Check out this cookbook, by the bye, it is given us a lot of ideas for new ways to use our slow cooker.

During our first year of produce delivery we received enormous piles of it from Organics to You. We also had volunteers of it coming up all over the garden. We steamed it, braised it, baked it, put it in soups, stir-fried it…. and by the end of that season we had come to the rather embarrassing decision that we really don’t like chard. Beet greens too, for that matter. Mustard greens aren’t entirely a fave either, although I like them more than Christie.

So that was the first thing we wanted to change. No chard, but we did have collards on hand and decided to use those instead for our green.I thought this was a good choice since classical saags often feature mustard greens or spinach. Collards have such a great combination of that mustard note with a green sweetness, that they’d be perfect against the rich, earthy dal.

Two reasons we changed out the pulse used. Kathy Hester calls for yellow split peas, which are easy to find and tasty. We happened to be out of them, but I’d just picked up a bag of channa dal when we were at a Desi market shopping for spices. Channa dal are split black chickpeas (really just a very dark brown) and they have a wonderful texture. You could just use yellow split peas, but if you happened to have a pan-Asian or Desi market, it is totally worth the trip to use the more authentic channa dal. You can find all the spices I mentioned while you’re shopping for this particular dal.

We go out fairly often for Indian food at family restaurants. One of our favorite places features various Southern India specialties, which are usually far spicier. With this palate we found the mix of spices used in Kathy’s recipe to be far too mild and tame to bear much resemblance to the richly spiced dals we’re accustomed to. Christie asked me to change up the spices to something closer to our favorite restaurant dishes.

The resulting dal still owes inspiration to Kathy Hester’s, particularly with the inclusion of a large sweet potato that eventually melts into a thick gravy for the dal. Her cookbook has been inspiring us to find more slow cooker recipes, this dal being one of the first.

The Stuff

• 1 small onion, medium dice
• 1″ fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 1/2 cup channa dal, picked over and washed
• 1 large sweet potato, diced
• 2 bunches of collard greens or kale, de-stemed, washed and sliced up small
• 4 cups water
• 2 t garam masala
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t hing
• 1/2 t amchur
• 1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 t cumin seeds
• 1/4 t panch poran
• 1/4 t brown mustard seeds
• salt, to taste

The Making

Heat a saute pan and spray a little canola oil, add onions and saute 5 minutes. Onions should be translucent. Add the seeds and saute for a minute. Sprinkle in the powdered spices, and stir everything to coat the onions, being careful to not burn any of the spices. Saute for a minute, stirring constantly and heat all the spices. You will have a very dry mixture at this point with the onions well coated. I recommend a cast iron skillet for the kind of dry frying of spices this step takes.

Add sauteed onions and spices to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 9 hours. After 8 hours of cooking add the washed, chopped greens and let them cook into the dal. Stir occasionally to help the greens cook in evenly.

If you want to make this with yellow split peas you will want to cook on low setting and for less time, 6-8 hours.

You could make this a lot spicier by throwing in some dried, red chili pods. A channa dal we’re served at the South Indian place has little hot chili pods floating in it and the flavor is pretty awesome. A green chile, chopped small, would also add a pleasant spice.

Serves 6-8

Yet another example of a stew/soup experiment that turned out so well, I had to put a recipe together!

This stew started out as a kind of “get out of my fridge” project after Thanksgiving. We get a big produce delivery every Monday and by Sunday I’m often trying to figure out a dish to use up as many veggies as possible. I also like to make a really big batch of something and we often have it as our lunches or a quick dinner during the week.

Aside from being just the kind of hearty, hot dish you want on a cold night, this stew is packed with vitamins and minerals and the French herbs pair beautifully with the veggies and navy beans. By the time the cooking is done the yams melt and the result is a thick, golden stew dotted with kale, parsley and carrots.

My favorite version is the one that is given, with lots of kale and fresh parsley. I’ve made a variation, pictured, with fresh thyme and white cabbage because that’s what I happened to have on hand that week. The cabbage & thyme variation is also really lovely, but I find it a bit sweeter.

The Stuff

• 3 cups dry navy beans
• 2 large leeks, whites only, sliced in quarter-inch rounds
• 2 medium red onions, half-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic, diced small
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 4 large stalks celery, diced
• 4 small yams, diced
• 1 t Herbes de Provence
• 1 t dried thyme
• 2 large Bay leaves
• 8 cups water
• 1/3 c nutritional yeast
• 1 T champagne vinegar
• 1/2 c chopped, fresh parsley
• 1 large bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped up
• 2 T white miso
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt, to taste

The Making

Pressure Cooker Method:

Pre-cook navy beans in pressure cooker while you prep all the other ingredients. Plan to under cook the beans, only 14-15 minutes at full pressure. Let the pressure release normally. Drain and set aside.

While the beans cook prep all the vegetables.

After the pressure cooker is free, rinse out, dry and put back on stove on medium-high heat. When the pot is hot again, lightly spray bottom with canola oil and add the onions. Saute 5 minutes, until translucent, add garlic and saute another few minutes until the garlic becomes very fragrant.

Add the celery, carrots and leeks into the pot. Continue to saute in the pan for an additional five minutes. Add the yams, thyme, Herbes de Provence, and Bay leaves. Stir together well. Add in par-cooked beans and water, stir once more, and seal the pressure cooker.

Once cooker is at high heat set timer for 7 minutes. Use the release valve to reduce pressure and unlock the lid (it is also fine to just let it come down & unlock naturally).

Stir in the nutritional yeast, pepper, salt, vinegar, parsley and kale. Simmer on low heat for five minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the miso.

Stove-top Method:

The main difference is that you’ll soak the beans overnight and drain them. Once you add them back in, you’ll need to reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Then follow the steps to add in the kale, fresh parsley, etc.

Serve in a big bowl and add some kind of grainy thing if you want. Rice, whole grain bread, crackers…

Makes 20 servings (freeze some, give some away!)

Nutrition Details

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 188
Total Fat: 1.2g
Sodium: 146 mg
Carbohydrates: 36g
Dietary Fiber: 11g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 11g

Chickpeas might very well be our favorite legume. We love them on salads, in soups, in “monk bowls”, as snacks, as hummus, roasted… well, you get the picture. A real lunchtime crowd-pleaser is my fabulous chickpea salad. This recipe has even had rave reviews from my step-father, who claims to hate chickpeas!

We’ve been more mindful of our diet lately, so I’ve been wanting to find a way to make this for us without all the extra fat and calories that are in the usual way I make it with Vegan mayo. Recently we’ve fallen in love with one of Susan Voisin’s recipes for a tahini dressing, made with chickpeas, and I found it works perfectly in place of the mayo!

Using Vegan mayo adds about 53 calories and 6 grams of fat to each serving. Using Susan’s dressing to replace the mayo makes this a far healthier dish at 112 calories and 2 grams of fat per serving.

The Stuff

• 2 c cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 c small diced onion (preferably sweet, about 1 small onion)
• 1/2 c small diced celery (about 2 medium ribs)
• 1/4 c either Vegan mayo OR Fat-Free Tahini Chickpea Dressing
• 2 T stone-ground mustard (very grainy)
• 1 T yellow mustard
• 2 t dry dill weed (or 4 T fresh — which is extra-tasty)
• 1/4 t dill seed
• 1/4 t celery seed
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 sheets (or 1 packet), of snacking nori snipped up into very small bits (optional)
• 3 T dill pickle relish (optional, I recommend Bubbies)

The Making

Pulse chickpeas in a food processor until they are well broken up, but still coarse. Pulse for just 2-3 seconds at a time, stop, check the consistency before pulsing again. Watch carefully, the idea is to have crumbly chickpeas, NOT the start of hummus.

Put chickpeas in a bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients. Mix together well until all ingredients are well incorporated. You can serve immediately or let sit, which lets the dill flavor really come out more.

Serve between two slices of bread, on a bed of greens, or rolled up inside of a collard leaf! We’ve made sandwiches and collard wraps of this salad as food for long airplane trips, and it travels very well.

Makes 6 1/2 cup servings

Snacking nori adds a great salty “sea” flavor we find reminiscent of tuna salad from our pre-vegan days. We like it a lot just by itself for a snack, so I usually have some on hand and often add to the chickpea salad. I’m sure there are lots of taste and mineral benefits to other popular sea veggies in this salad, but I tend to use the snacking nori because it is on hand and ready to go.

Be sure to check ingredients as some snacking nori contains fish, in the form of Bonito extract (usually), or shrimp. When I use it, I snip the little snack sheets into 4-5 long strips, then snip the ends off of those into very small bits directly into the bowl.

This year I’ve found success with all fava beans we’ve been delivered from Organics to You!

Last year I tried a couple of things with mixed success; mostly we found them kind of tough. The flavor had promise, but we were mixed on the texture. I even posted one of the more successful attempts, an Umbrian inspired dish that had great flavor, but tough beans.

This year I finally caught that there is a second peeling step I’d missed last year! Not sure ow I over looked this step and it does mean that preparing fresh favas is even more labor intensive. That said, they are so tasty and lovely it is entirely worth the effort.

Image by @Edsel Little used under Creative Commons License

Here’s the deal. You have to peel them out of the big pods first. Boil them for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Rinse well in cold water. Let sit for a few minutes. Peel off the tough, fibrous layer. Set aside tender, delicate favas to add to dishes.

The favas, once peeled out of the tough skins, are largely bright green, very delicate, and taste lovely. I have to chase Christie out of the kitchen or she’ll stand there peeling and eating them directly!

Since they’re already cooked and will fall apart if you cook them much further, I set them aside and toss into dishes right before serving just to warm them back up. This discovery has even caused me to revisit a spring soup made with pureed favas featured in the beautiful cookbook Christie gave me for Christmas, Kansha: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions.

Mostly I’ve just tossed them into stir-fry dishes, where they are reminiscent of edamame, but with a greener taste and a delicate texture. I’ve also added them at the very end of rustic, northern Italian inspired dishes with fresh tomatoes, gnocchi, and summer squash. I suppose I could tackle more exciting dishes, but right now I’m just basking in the joy of figuring out how to make delicious things with produce I’ve only newly been introduced to.

The whole goal of The Produce Project was to get us to eat more fresh, seasonal vegetables. Here we are, going strong and still experimenting. The favas are a complete success story now that we’ve really figured it out. We hold out hope for the same success with the garlic spears (scarpes, scrapes, etc.). Chard… we finally asked that no more be brought to us and we won’t be growing it. Just not that much of a fan.

For the past two years the “Recipes for Health” section in the New York Times has included a feature on vegan recipes for Lent. I didn’t get around to trying any last year, but this year’s dishes really caught my eye. I have been surprised by the huge amount of oil these dishes call for, but I honestly think they can be made without that much added oil.

Tonight we decided to give the lead dish of the article a try: Baked Beans with Mint, Peppers and Tomatoes.

Really, this is a three-chilies dish when you look at the dried, hot chilie added to the simmering beans, the paprika, and the chopped sweet bell pepper. The result was really delicious. Perhaps I should have left it in the oven longer than the 45 minutes or so, but we were famished. Longer cooking would just let the peppers and onions cook down further; the beans were tender and perfect. Honestly, after dinner I found myself standing next to the Dutch oven eating spoonfuls of these delicious baked beans!

I made a few other changes to the recipe as written, and I’d like to make a few more. That said, I’ll post a final recipe of my variation some other time. Here’s a quick recap of my changes.

• We used pinto beans, we had them on hand.
• I didn’t have 2 medium yellow onions on hand so I used 1 yellow and 1 red
• I did NOT use the 1/4 cup of oil, I used only a spritz of spray, high-heat canola oil in the cast iron skillet
• I used Muir Glen’s diced, fire-roasted tomatoes; delicious flavor!
• To my horror I discovered we were out of sweet paprika, so I used sweet, smoked Spanish paprika instead. This added a really marvelous smokey note that went well with the fire-roasted tomatoes
• In fact, I added a full teaspoon more of the paprika.
• I added MORE mint, probably 3 tablespoons. If I’d had more fresh mint, I would have added it in. At least 1/4 to 1/3 cup of fresh chopped mint would be great.
• I think some fresh, chopped parsley would also be good.
• I didn’t add any salt, just that added by the canned tomato products. Easier to salt at table if needed.
• In the future I plan to serve these delicious beans on a bed of steamed kale, collards, or other greens.
• I might cut the onions, especially, and possibly the bell peppers, into a smaller dice so it cooks down more quickly into the sauce.