March 16th: Hearty Pasta & Bean Soup

After many days of eating this soup, I decided to toss the recipe, but if you're feeding a crowd and could use it up quickly, it was pretty good. From March 2014's Chatelaine: Hearty Pasta & Bean Soup.

Hearty Pasta & Bean Soup

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil*
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/3 cups finely diced pancetta, (about 150 g) [I used bacon]
2 red potatoes, diced
2 900-mL cartons no-salt chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups macaroni
540-mL can romano or borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup grated parmesan
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
4 slices Italian bread, toasted
1 garlic clove, cut in half

HEAT a large pot over medium. Add 1 tbsp oil, then onion and pancetta. Cook until onion is soft, about 3 min. Add potatoes, broth, salt and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 15 min.

ADD pasta and continue cooking until pasta is tender, about 8 min. Stir in beans. Ladle soup into bowls and top with parmesan and parsley. Drizzle with 1 tbsp oil. Serve with toasted bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with remaining 1 tbsp oil.

*I used regular olive oil for the frying, and extra virgin for the drizzling at the end.

March 12th: Baked Beans

This is a slightly cheater post, as I blogged about these beans three years ago, but I didn't include the recipe that time, so I will this time. This was the absolute perfect March Break apres ski meal. I tossed every thing in the slow cooker before Greg, O and I hit the slopes, then supper was ready and waiting when we got home. Lovely. It was also perfect timing, as they've been eating baked beans and molasses in The Long Winter, which O and I have been slogging through. She was excited to try them, but didn't like them any more this time than she did when she was 3. Alas. From March 2011's Chatelaine: Classic Baked Beans.

Classic Baked Beans

1 onion, finely chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup fancy molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hot red-chili flakes
2 cups dry navy beans, rinsed
341 mL bottle beer

Stir onion with bacon, molasses, ketchup, Dijon, salt and chili flakes in slow-cooker insert. Stir in beans, beer and 3 cups of water until combined. Cover and cook on low until beans are tender, about 10 hours. Serve with baguette slices topped with grated cheese and broiled. Beans will keep well, refrigerated, up to a week.


Makes 6 servings.

A month of skinnytaste

If I remember correctly, I first heard about the blog skinnytaste from my former coworker Brittany, a couple of years ago, although I didn't try any recipes from the the website at that time. I recently came across it again, and in need of kitchen inspiration - and with my trusty new/old iPhone in hand - I spent some time trolling the website and came up with a list of recipes to try out. We've been eating skinnytaste almost exclusively in the month of May; happily, we have had a number of hits and only a few near misses. Super excited to have a new bank of inspiration upon which to draw.

I'm only going to talk about the hits...


May 5th: Cheesy Jalapeño Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken and Fiesta Lime Rice

The title pretty much says it all. Create a stuffing of bacon, cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, jalapeño, and green onion, and roll it into flattened chicken breasts. Bread and bake. Cheesy, spicy, gooey goodness.

We ate this accompanied by Fiesta Lime Rice, a delicious and super healthy side dish of rice, beans, corn, tomatoes and green onions. Greg found it bland, but of course, I made his without cilantro, which added tonnes of flavour. His loss. I loved it. I doubled the corn in my version.

Mmm. I want to go make, and eat, this again right now.

On the left side of the plate are the cheesy bits that melted out of the chicken onto the pan. Mmm.
To the right of the plate is my current reading material.

May 7th: Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise

Again, with the apt title. Need I say more? Yes. These are probably the best homemade bean burgers I have made to date. The recipe says it makes 4, but I was working with small buns, so I made 6 out of the mixture. I cooked 3: one each for me and Greg, one to split between O and S. I then froze the other 3, and happily ate them in later days as a quick, cook-from-frozen lunch (I found I had to cook them a little longer than suggested). Delicious every time. The burgers are a little spicy, and the mayo is spicier. I left the mayo off O's and S's, and although O said she didn't like the burger, she ate it, which makes me doubt her word. S ate hers; she loves beans.

The recipe calls for 1 jumbo egg; I used 2 large. If you decide to make these, read through all the instructions; there are some good tips there.

May 10th: Broccoli and Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes

Maybe not quite as good as bacon- and cheese-laden baked potatoes, but still good tasting and infinitely better for you. All your veggies in one spot.

May 12th: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

I left off the part of the title describing these as "insanely good." They were good, but I don't know if they were that good. We did, however, make short order of them in our house; they were gone in 2 days.

Olivia and I spent Mother's Day morning making these. We haven't done much baking together recently; it was good to do so again.

My girlies and my Mother's Day flowers:

Must Stop Using IPhone To Take Pictures

May 13th: Chicken and Orecchiette Soup

Delicious warm chicken soup after a couple of cold days. I found these fun-coloured carrots at the grocery store:

...but didn't realize the purple carrot would colour the soup an unappealing grey colour:

Luckily, the taste was good. I couldn't find the cavatelli pasta called for in the recipe, so instead bought orecchiette, which Olivia was excited about, because they stick to the tongue. She and Sadie both ate the soup right up.


Looking for cooking inspiration? Check out skinnytaste. More to come...

Birthday week: Red Apron meal plan

I mentioned we ordered Valentine's Day dinner from The Red Apron, and it was fantastic. When ordering the meal over the phone, I gave Justine my email address and apparently she put me on their mailing list (sneaky girl). Now I get weekly emails about what they're dishing up. Between that one and the Cuisine and Passion email I get every week, I am left wanting, a lot. Must ... resist ... buying pre-made food all the time, no matter how good.

In any case, I started scoping out The Red Apron website in more detail and came across their blog. A sucker for food blogs already, I read through several of the more recent posts and came across a 4-day, 4-person meal plan and decided to give it a go. It involved cooking up a big chicken (or two smaller chickens, in my case), then using the meat to make several meals and the carcass to make stock for use in those meals. Rounded out with some fresh winter-available vegetables and a variety of beans, you end up with four healthy, balanced and DELICIOUS meals. They are supposed to feed a family of 4, but when half your 4 don't eat huge portions, we ended up with plenty of leftovers too.

Only one beef with the whole thing: the blog post listed a shopping list, but missed a few of the ingredients it called for in the recipes! So I had to borrow - keep - celery from my neighbour and go back to the grocery store the day after my first venture. The post also referenced the affordability of the meals, and so I added up my bills, and for us, the 4 meals - plus leftovers - came to $100.89.


I'm including the complete grocery list below, plus the recipes, with a few modifications or suggestions according to my own tastes, plus pictures of all this fabulous food. Yum yum.

Grocery List


2 lemons
1 avocado
4 onions plus 1 large Spanish onion
2 heads of garlic
1 leek
2 green onions
2 red peppers
gingerroot
1 medium carrot
1 celery stalk
1 bunch of kale
1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes
3 medium potatoes
thyme
oregano
parsley
cilantro
bag of baby spinach leaves

green salad or cole slaw ingredients

Parmesan cheese
Cheddar cheese
butter
500 mL 35% cream
sour cream

frozen green sweet peas
frozen corn kernels

crusty bread
1 package small tortillas

whole chicken (3-4 kg/7-9 lb), or two smaller chickens

grapeseed oil
28-oz can whole tomatoes (1 can of tomatoes will be used in 3 recipes)
1 can coconut milk
1 can organic chickpeas
1 can organic white beans
1 can organic black beans
organic brown basmati rice
1 small package organic whole wheat penne or ziti (approx 250 g)
Thai red curry paste
salsa
bay leaves
cumin
chili powder
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Day 1: cook chicken, make chicken stock, cook rice


whole chicken (3-4 kg/7-9 lb), or two smaller chickens
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 medium carrot, peeled, large dice
1 celery stalk, large dice
1 thyme branch
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt

Cover the chicken with cold water in a large stainless steel stockpot and bring to a boil. When the stock comes to a full boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer skim off the grey foam that rises to the surface. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, thyme, bay leaves, and salt.

Cook gently for 1-1.5 hours until the chicken is cooked. Remove, and when cool enough to handle, remove breast meat, thighs, and wings. Put the carcass and the wings back in the pot and continue to simmer for another 2 hours, until the broth tastes rich and is a light golden colour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or a colander lined with cheesecloth. Save any pieces of chicken and set aside. Return the stock to pot and simmer to reduce to 2 litres.

Allow the stock to cool completely; skim the fat and promptly refrigerate.


Cook 2 cups organic brown basmati rice. The rice will be served with the stew and the tacos.


March 3rd: Chicken Tacos


2 tbsp grapeseed oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
1 large Spanish onion, sliced
1 large red pepper, seeded and sliced
meat from chicken leg and thigh, shredded

cumin
salt
freshly ground black pepper

2 green onions, diced
1/2 28-oz can whole tomatoes, rough chopped (reserve juice and remaining tomatoes for another recipe)
1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 cup organic black beans, drained and rinsed
chili powder
juice of 2 lemons, divided

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 avocado
1 package small tortillas


sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro, for serving (optional)

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saute pan and saute onions and peppers until caramelized. Add shredded chicken meat and season to taste with cumin, salt, and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan and saute green onions, tomatoes, corn kernels and black beans. Season to taste with chili powder and lemon juice. Set aside half of mixture and add rice to the remaining mixture. Warm to serve.

Slice avocado and drizzle with lemon juice and oil. Season with salt.

Heat tortillas in dry fry pan or according to package directions. Stuff tacos with chicken mixture. Garnish to taste with sour cream, salsa, and chopped cilantro. Serve with rice and garnish with black bean mixture.

Stuff tacos with chicken mixture.

Top with black bean mixture.

Serve with rice on the side.

Best tacos ever.

March 4th: White Bean, Kale, and Potato Soup


2 tbsp grapeseed oil


1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves rough chopped
1 can organic white beans, rinsed and drained
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 litre of chicken stock (plus more if needed)

meat from chicken stock
juice from 28-oz can whole tomatoes (reserves tomatoes for another recipe)
1 tbsp each, chopped fresh thyme and oregano
salt, to taste
crusty bread, for serving
chopped fresh parsley for garnish
grated Parmesan and/or Cheddar cheese



Heat oil over medium in a large soup pot. Saute onion and garlic in oil until softened. Add kale and cook until wilted. Remove vegetables from pan. Add white beans, potatoes, chicken stock, reserved meat, and tomato juice to the soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add herbs and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Return kale and onion mixture to pot and test for seasoning. Add salt to taste and serve. (Add more chicken stock if soup is too thick.)

This meal would be best served with crusty bread. The soup can be garnished with chopped fresh parsley and grated Parmesan and/or Cheddar cheese.

ASIDE: March 5th was my birthday. We dined at The Wellington Gastropub. Excellent Arctic char. Excellent restaurant children.

March 6th: Curried Sweet Potato and Chicken Stew

grapeseed oil
2 medium onions, peeled and diced
1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed (1 inch cubes)
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tbsp gingerroot, peeled and grated
1/2 28-oz can tomatoes, diced (reserve juice and remaining tomatoes for another recipe)
1 can coconut milk
1 cup organic canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken stock, divided
cooked meat from one chicken breast, cubed
1 tbsp red curry paste
salt, to taste
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves
1 cup cooked brown rice
sliced green onions, optional
minced cilantro, optional
diced avocado, optional

Prepare all of the ingredients.

Saute onions and sweet potatoes in oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat until soft, 5 minutes. Add red pepper and cook until wilted, 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add chickpeas, 1 cup of chicken stock, and chicken. Simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes. Add curry paste and season with salt to taste. If the stew is too thick, thin with remaining chicken stock. Before serving, toss in spinach leaves. Serve on steamed rice.

Garnish with chopped green onions, cilantro, and avocado, to taste.

• 
  
• March 7th: Pasta, Chicken, Pea and Leek Casserole
• 
  
• 1 small package organic whole wheat penne or ziti (approximately 250 g)
• 2 tbsps butter
• 1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 500 mL 35% cream
• 1 cup frozen green sweet peas
• meat from one chicken breast, cubed
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 bag baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 
  
• green salad or cole slaw, to accompany
• 
  
• Cook pasta according to package directions. When al dente, drain, rinse with cold water, and reserve.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium. Saute the leek until soft, 5 minutes. Add cream and bring to a simmer, then add peas, chicken, Cheddar cheese and spinach. Stir in cooked pasta and salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to ovenproof 8L casserole dish and top with Parmesan. Cook at 375 F until warmed through and top is golden brown.

This meal will go well with a tossed green salad or cole slaw.

[NO PIC!!]


In order, Greg and I agreed - a rarity! - that we liked the tacos, pasta, soup, and stew. We likely won't make the soup or stew again, but will make the tacos and pasta. Success.

December 12th: Quinoa-Bean Soup & Shortbread

This time of year, it can be nice to have something quick, light, and healthy. I made this recipe almost by accident. G & I went to Montreal the first weekend of December, and I brought along all the recipes I'd pulled out of magazines and printed off the internet that wanted to make this month, then spent time on the weekend organizing my meal plan for the month of December. The Quinoa-Bean soup came from October 2011's Chatelaine, and was actually on the back of another recipe I wanted to make, which I realized after I'd scheduled the soup for today. I didn't expect to like it much, but decided to make it, for the reasons above: it sounded fast and easy, and would be healthy. Turns out it's also quite yummy, and vegan to boot. Yay, surprise!

Another quick an easy for a Monday night comes from November 2005's Chatelaine: Shortbread. I haven't made any other shortbread recipes, so can't compare, but this one seems foolproof to me and is tasty delicious.

I burnt my fingers eating a piece as soon as the pan was out of the oven.

March 19th: slow cooker baked beans

I make baked beans about once every five years, because I always get stuck eating a huge pot of beans myself, which is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Greg doesn't like beans. I was hoping Olivia would like beans when I set out to make the easiest baked beans ever: from March 2011's Chatelaine: Classic Baked Beans. These are so easy: you put the dry beans in the slow cooker, add lots of water and flavour and 9 hours later, you are done. The recipe says you need 10 hours, but mine were done after 9. And, they were super tasty. AND, Greg loved them. Ha! Olivia didn't give them much of a chance, unfortunately. But I had already fed her by the time they were done. I might not make beans again for another five years, but when I do, I think it will be these beans.

Grandma's brown bread rolls would have been my preferred side,
but I just can't seem to make them like she does.

March 3rd: Corn and Black Bean Salad

I already have an amazing corn and black bean salad recipe, courtesy of Kelly, courtesy of her fitness instructor, courtesy of Women’s Health magazine. Here's my version:


Black Bean Salad
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
1 can (19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 oz mozzarella, diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
2 avocados, coarsely chopped
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn and pan-roast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.


In a large bowl, combine corn with remaining ingredients and toss together. Chill until ready to serve.


Makes 4-8 servings 


However, that salad makes a big bowl (perfect for a potluck). This week, I wanted a simple corn and black bean salad that I could take for lunch, and save myself the $5 I spend on corn and black bean salad at Green Rebel. Every time I eat one, I think, this can’t be that hard to make. It’s not, but it is a little time intensive; however, it's not too bad if you spread it over a couple of days, as I did. The genesis of the recipe came from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, but I altered it slightly.

I started Tuesday night with 1 cup dried black beans. Boiled in an open pot for 2 minutes, covered and left to sit off heat for 2 hours, salted and then gentled simmered, partially covered until done, checking for doneness every 15 minutes (it took 30-45 in total). Once done, I measured out 1 ½ cups cooked beans for this recipe, then refrigerated the rest, in its own soaking water, for another purpose, yet to be determined. From there, on Wednesday night I made the salad:

Corn and Black Bean Salad

2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

2 cups frozen corn, thawed (I left them sitting on the counter top for a couple of hours while I made supper, ate, and put O to bed)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1-4 garlic cloves, to taste, chopped

1 ½ cups cooked and cooled black beans

1 tomato, chopped (optional)

1-4 tsps minced jalapeno, to taste

2 tbsps freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

1 avocado, diced

Heat oil in a large skillet over med-hi heat. Pan fry the corn, sprinkled with some salt and pepper, until it starts to get charred and crunchy to taste, 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and stir for 1 more minute. Remove all to a large bowl.

To the bowl, add the beans, tomato, jalapeno and lime juice. Mix all and adjust seasoning to taste. I found I wanted more lime juice, 1 tbsp of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Gently stir in cilantro and, if serving immediately, avocado. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you do refrigerate it, try to allow time for it to come back to room temperature before eating.

Serves 1-4, depending on what else you might have on the go.

On Thursday, when I ate the salad for lunch, I diced up the avocado and stirred it in at the last minute. So yes, I ate this whole thing in one sitting, which I didn’t think would happen, but it was pretty good.

For future versions, I am thinking of adding diced sweet pepper and red or green onion. Of course, the more I add, the less likely I am to be able to eat it all in one go. Hm.

And, so sorry, but I didn't even think to take a picture. How about a picture of my beautiful kid playing with dried beans instead? These are old ones, from about a year ago:

February 21st-22nd: 5 Bean Salad

As part of my plan to increase our meatless meals, I have set a personal goal of learning how to cook beans and lentils in tasty ways. I figure it shouldn’t be too hard; I regularly pick up delicious bean, lentil, quinoa and grain salads for lunch. However, cooking out of my head isn’t one of my stronger talents. I rely on resources at my disposal, including How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

This excellent book describes what a multitude of food items are (kasha what now?), how to cook them, and tasty ways to create meals with them. Hence, for my first self-assigned project (multi-bean salad), I turned to HtCEV. Turns out, you don’t have to soak beans for a day, as I’ve been doing with my chickpeas. Apparently, a 2-minute boil followed by a 2-hour soak in the boiled water equals an 8-hour soak in cold water. Who knew? I created a 5 Bean salad, including red kidney beans, Romano beans, black beans, Adzuki beans and green beans. Here’s the recipe, plus some thoughts I have for improving it in future:


Part 1: Cooking your beans


Pick over and rinse 2 cups dried beans, any variety. Place in pot and cover with water by 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover pot and let sit for 2 hours. Add a large pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper, bring the pot back to a boil and boil, partially covered, over med-low heat, checking tenderness of beans every 10-15 minutes.


The trickiest part is that some beans cook through more quickly than others. In my case, the kidney beans were almost mush by the time the Adzuki beans were tender enough to eat. I'm wondering if I should cook all my beans separately next time? Perhaps. I could do a large batch of each; apparently to store them you freeze them in some of their boiling liquid.

I couldn't get a picture to do justice to how cool these beans looked while cooking. The water was completely black.



Part 2: 5 Bean Salad

2 cups dried beans cooked as per the above, still warm

2 cups green beans, cooked to tender-crisp

1 tbsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice, or to taste

2-4 tbsp minced red onion or shallots

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to taste

1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

While the beans are cooking, stir the vinegar and onion together in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in the olive oil. Drain both types of beans and add them to the bowl with the dressing while they are still hot. Toss gently until the beans are coated with dressing, adding more oil if you like. Serve at room temperature or cold, stirring to distribute the dressing. Stir in the parsley just before serving, and adjust the flavour to taste.

I think you need more vinegar than listed, but I love tang. I think if you are going to use shallots (as I did), you need more, as the flavour is subtle. Not sure if using red onions. I used frozen green beans; they're not very good, but what are you going to do in February? I pulled this all together late Monday night and ate it for lunch Tuesday (and likely, Wednesday and Thursday...). Good stuff.



February 21st: Mexican chili soup

This is a bean and corn soup that tastes like a mild chili. It's even better than chili because it's not full of ground meat. We love this soup. All three of us. Also good for sicklings in this house this week. From February 1997's Today's Parent: Mexican Blizzard Soup. Soup's up!

Frying onions and spices.

Corn and beans waiting their turn to enter the pot.

SOUP!

November 18th: vegetable hash and eggs

Try Again: hash & eggs

I found this recipe on a blog (the vegetarian salmon) I am following, although I followed the original recipe, which came from a Food Network chef (Ellie Krieger: Southwestern Hash). I do not remember this chef from my days of maternity leave, 24-hour marathon breastfeeding sessions in front of the TV, watching the food network and thinking, "when will I ever cook again?" Who knew I would have a foodie for a child and get my cooking back on track in relatively-speaking no time at all? I do not, however, have time to watch TV any more.

This meal is essentially fried vegetables with a fried egg on top. Pretty simple, filling and tasty. I topped my first serving with Tabasco, which sent me running for milk. I topped my second serving with Cheddar cheese, which improved the flavour all around. Next time I'll add a cup of frozen corn to the mix. Yum.

October 26th: Red Bean Veggie Burgers

Verdict:
Try Again: veggie bean burgers

Have you heard about this Meat Free Monday thing Paul McCartney is promoting? Well, I say, good on you, P, but you're years behind David Suzuki. I took on the David Suzuki Nature Challenge sometime between 2002 and 2004 (I just remember I was living on Dundee Avenue), and one of my goals has always been to eat 1-2 vegetarian meals and 1 fish meal per week. Okay, so I don't always meet the goal, as this blog clearly demonstrates, but the intent is there and the follow through is occasional. (Side note: my lunches are very often vegetarian. Just sayin.)

Tonight, we ate, in Greg's words, "the best vegetarian meal ever." High praise. From October 2010's Today's Parent: Red Bean Veggie Burgers, which, blast it, they don't have online. Okay, here goes:

Red Bean Veggie Burgers

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) red kidney beans,* mashed smooth
1 cup (250 mL) grated sweet potato
1 cup (250 mL) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) quick oats**
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped red onion
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh cilantro***
1 tsp (5 mL) each salt, cumin and chili powder
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

In a large bowl, combine beans, potato, cheese, oats, red onion, cilantro, salt, cumin and chili powder. Add the egg, mix and form 6 patties. Heat oil in a large frying pan, cooking patties 5 minutes per side, or until heated through and golden brown.

*Beans: I used dried beans, soaked for a day, boiled for two hours, and then mashed. If you use canned, you may want to rinse them to remove the salt, as you are adding salt in the recipe.
**Oats: I used large flake (15-20) minute oats, turned out fine.
***Cilantro: added to half the burgers only. See October 19th post for commentary on Greg's hate for cilantro.

The recipe didn't say what to do with the burgers once they were cooked. Based on the spices involved, I opted for a bun-free assembly (ie, no assembly), topped with salsa and sour cream. Delicious! Two burgers and a small salad and I was stuffed.