Thursday, May 28, 2015

Veggie Burgers with Beet Hummus

I figured I should post something sooner or later seeing as I haven't shared any recipes in forever!! I tried the best veggie burgers from Oh She Glows last night and I whipped out my camera faster than you can say oh-my-god-did-I-just-make-a-non-soggy-veggie-burger. They were fast to make and Angela goes on and on about how she tested out tons of recipes before she landed on these beauties. So even if you aren't vegetarian, these puppies will have your mouth watering.

In other news, I ran my second half marathon this past Sunday and spent the weekend with my cousins Ali and Moni who always come down to Ottawa for my favourite weekend of the year. There were close to 50,000 runners for Ottawa Race Weekend this year and it's just an overall fun, active, and exciting weekend. Even though it took me about ten minutes to sit down on the toilet on Monday, the race was worth it for all happy faces along the way and the expensive granola bars at the finish line.
Veggie Burgers
Recipe by Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

✿  ½ cup onion, diced
✿  1 minced garlic clove
✿  Flax eggs: 2½ tbsp ground flax + ½ cup warm water
✿  1 cup oats, processed into flour in a food processor
✿  1½ cups bread crumbs 
✿  1 cup grated carrots
✿  1 cup mashed black beans
✿  Heaping ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
✿  ⅓ cup chopped almonds
✿  ½ cup sunflower seeds
✿  1 Tbsp olive oil
✿  1 Tbsp soy sauce
✿  1½ tsp chili powder
✿  1 tsp cumin
✿  1 tsp oregano
✿  Little shake of salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a pan and sauté onions and garlic in a little oil (about ½ Tbsp). 
2. Mix the warm water and the ground flax in a small bowl and let sit for at least 10 minutes to make a "vegan egg" or what looks like egg whites.
3. Mix together all ingredients and then add seasonings. 
4. Wet hands and shape patties. I used a large round cookie cut to make them a perfect patties, but hands work perfectly fine too :) I made 6 patties, but Angela suggests 8. 
5. I cooked mine on the pan I used to sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat. Cook the burgs for about 5 minutes on each side or until nice and crispy on the outside. You can check out the original Oh She Glows post for instructions on cooking on the bbq or in the oven.




Beet Hummus
Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker

I wanted to add a little something something to my burgers so I threw some chickpeas, beats, and a couple other ingredients into a food processor to make some beet hummus. Isn't it so cute and pink!?

I also topped my veggie-burgers-from-heaven with lemon aioli, crumbled goat cheese, and chopped parsley. Can you say yum??

Ingredients:


✿  A couple (2-3) small beets (Confession time: I was lazy and just used canned instead of roasting my own. #talesofaweeknightcook)
✿  1 15 oz can of drained and rinsed chickpeas 
✿  3 Tbsp lemon juice 
✿  Little dash of salt & pepper
✿  2 cloves of minced garlic
✿  2 heaping Tbsp tahini
✿  ¼ cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Blend together until smooooooth in a food processor!
2. Admire the beautiful pink colour.


Enjoy!

G

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Foodie Gift Basket

Happy weekend! 

I hope you aren't all dying in this heat wave that's suddenly upon us. I finished my first week back at my office (in the HR department) and it felt so nice to have such a warm welcome back. It's sad that I can't frolic around town biking and doing yoga mid day anymore, but at least I'll be in good company for the rest of the summer. My calendar is bursting with fun stuff for the next couple of weeks too, so I'm sure I'll have a couple stories to tell you.

Today, I have a little gift idea for you guys! For my 19th birthday, I had a bunch of friends over for a grilled cheese bar and games and I really wasn't expecting gifts but some of my friends gave me the best gift: A foodie basket!! It was perfect because they gave me a bunch of things I would never buy in my regular grocery haul but that were delicious and thoughtful. There were yummy cheeses, crusty breads, vegetable pâté, sparkling cider, and a bunch of other little things that left me with a full tummy and happy tastebuds.

For Mother's Day and for my dad's birthday, which just happen to fall within two days of each other, I decided to go to a variety of grocery stores, shops, and bakeries to pick out a couple of things for my parents (and this way I could dig in too...). I headed to Whole Foods, Thyme & Again, The Ottawa Bagelshop, Art is In, and the Real Canadian Superstore for my treats.

Why food baskets are great:
1) You can customize them with your loved one's favourite treats.
2) They can be as extravagant as you want or can be super inexpensive.
3) It's fun to explain to the recipient of your basket where and why you chose each item. 







Happy birthday dad
&
Happy Mother's Day mom

xox