Mexican bean burgers

As you read this post I will be battling my way across the Derbyshire countryside on a camping/hiking trip with friends this bank holiday weekend.

I’ve just bought myself my very first tent (having shared other peoples for many years) and it was of the pop up variety…. notorious for being difficult to pack down again once they’ve ‘sprung’ into shape. I popped it up on the garden lawn to give it a test run and thankfully it wasn’t too difficult…fingers crossed I manage to do it again at the end of the camping trip itself as a field full of bemused onlookers is not what I have in mind!

Back to food!

A BBQ was on my mind again as we’ll be hoping to have one or two during our trip (please don’t rain!) and so these burgers, that were the accompaniment to the BBQ sauce from earlier this week, came to mind. I may well whip up another batch to take with me.

The burgers with BBQ sauce were a match made in heaven! I do love a good veggie burger as they are always so versatile…served in buns, on salads, with cous-cous or quinoa, or even just served cold as finger food on their own. You can use any seasonings you wish, I simply went for a Mexican kick as the mood took me. The potato also holds them together nicely; see my notes below for choice of potato.

You can find more ideas for snacks and bbq sides here.

Recipe: Mexican bean burgers

Makes approx. 6 burgers

Ingredients

1 tin black beans (400g)

1 medium carrot- grated

1 small red onion- diced

2 cooked medium to large (fist sized) white or sweet potato (see note)

1 cup sweetcorn (I used frozen)

Seasonings to taste. I used 2tsp mix of cumin coriander and chilli. You could use fresh coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup chia seeds

¼- 1/3 cup gram flour or oats* (as needed to achieve burger patty consistency)

Method

Chop the potatoes into small cubes and cook for approx. 10 minutes until just tender.

Meanwhile prepare remaining wet ingredients and roughly mash together in a large bowl. Add seasonings and chia seeds and mix through.

Add the cooked potato to the bowl and mash into the mixture until you have a lumpy mixture. Depending upon the potatoes used (see note) the mixture may still be too wet to form into into firm patties. If so, mix gram flour or oats/oatmeal through until a firmer mixture is formed.

Using your hands form fist sized patties and place on a line baking sheet. Bake for approx. 20 minutes until golden turning once after 15 minutes (or bake for 5 mins to increase firmness and then finish of on BBQ like I did!)  Alternatively these could be pan fried- note I have not tried this method.

Potato note:  I used sweet potatoes which are softer and retain more moisture than regular potatoes. Make sure you allow all water to drain once cooked and using kitchen towel lightly ‘dry’ the potatoes to further reduce excess water. White potatoes are firmer and regular draining should be sufficient.

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Mexican sweet potato soup

Soup…in the middle of summer?? 

Well yeah, if  'summer' is practically winter!

We need the sunshine, I need my plants to grow….and I want to wear shorts and flip flops…. is that really too much to ask?

In mean time, whilst I wait patiently for the sun, I bring you soup. Not just any soup mind you, this sweet potato concoction has a spicy kick and a great texture that you can adapt to your preference. It’s super quick to cook and makes up a big batch for the freezer…just the way I like it!  You could probably also serve this cold on a hot day (note: I have not tried this!!)

I love grating sweet potato into soups as it speeds up the cooking time so much whilst still giving a great flavour and texture. You can also vary the seasonings as you wish, but I wanted to create a Mexican twist here. Oh, and you can ignore the savoury scones in the photos, they were an experimental lentil based recipe that were edible but not yet blog worthy.

I hope you are enjoying your summer, however hot (or not) it may be, and for those readers  who are now having their winter- well this recipe is for you!

Recipe: Mexican sweet potato soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 red or white onion-finely sliced

2 cloves garlic-crushed

1 tsp red palm oil or olive oil

1 medium sweet potato- grated or processed until coarse (approx. 1 large cups worth)

½ tsp chipotle sauce (or a small chopped chilli/chilli flakes)

1 can tomatoes

2 cups vegetable stock

½ cup cooked sweetcorn

½ cup cooked black beans

1 pepper

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chilli

Salt to taste

Method

Fry the onion and garlic in a large saucepan for few minutes in oil till soft.

Add the sweet potato, tomatoes, chipotle sauce and stock and simmer for approx. 10 mins until the potato is fully cooked. Blend to achieve desired texture if necessary.

Meanwhile cut the pepper into chunks and grill/fry this separately. Add to the cooked sweet potato mixture along with the sweet corn and black beans. Cook for a further 5 mins to heat through. Add all the remaining seasonings in the last couple of minutes prior to serving. 

For more soup recipes check out this collection.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Crispy polenta crackers

I found myself in a polenta frame of mind this morning, triggered by this chocolate shortbread, of which there is now a gluten free version…recipe coming soon!

It had been so so long since I’d made that shortbread, and I’d forgotten has delicately crisp and crumbly it was.

Anyway back to the polenta. There it sat in it packet on the kitchen worktop, waiting to be buried back inside my baking box, until another recipe then popped into my mind. Another recipe I’d first tried out months and months ago, and I seem to remember at the time the Boy had said, ‘Mmmm, this tastes like crackling’! Er, well I didn’t think it tasted like crackling so don’t worry. But I do understand what he meant…these crackers are super duper crispy, you’d think they’d been deep fried to get that intense crunch, but nope they are simply baked.

The healthy way to a dip chip!

The key is to slice the polenta as thinly as possible and then bake the slices on a lower heat for longer, and then double bake for extra crispiness. You can mix up the seasonings however you wish. I went for a slightly Mexican theme as I teamed these with my veggie chilli.

Recipe: Polenta crackers

Makes one bowlful

Ingredients

½  cup instant polenta

2 cups water

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp cajun spice mix (chilli, garlic etc)

¼ tsp salt

Method

In a sauce pan mix polenta with water, add remaining ingredients and simmer for approx. 5 minutes stirring continuously until mixture begins to thicken but is still pourable.

Pour/spoon into a small loaf tin, smoothing the top as much as possible and allow to set then firm up in the fridge.

Once set firmly, remove the polenta loaf from the tin and using a sharp knife slice as thinly as possible, laying each slice on a greased/lined baking sheet

Bake at 150C for approx. 20-30 mins depending on the thickness of the slices. If the slices are not yet crispy in the centre but the edges are done, allow to cool and then re-bake for a further 10 minutes or as long as necessary.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Mexican tortilla stack

I love a good old veggie chilli!  Even before I began eating a vegan diet I often preferred to cook up a veggie chilli over a beef one. I think it’s more the textures and flavours of the dish than the actual meat itself that I fell in love with. The spices and the kidney beans are really what make a chilli.

Actually come to think of it, I usually find it’s the textures of a dish and the context of the food that I find draws me in…. for example I always loved my mum’s homemade chicken pie with veg and gravy, but I think I actually just have a thing for gravy smoothed over pastry and veg, I don’t think it really matters so much what the pie contains! Similarly tofu scramble on toast satisfies me just as much as traditional scrambled egg would have done.

(I now can’t get a vision of pie and gravy out of my mind!)

So, whilst a chilli is good… I wanted to change things up a little bit and up the protein count In the process. Beans! Beans! Beans! I also wanted to get a little saucy with a flavoursome cheese-style sauce drizzled over the top. I think the sauce makes a lovely rich complement to the dish but you could always have it without. This dish also reminds me a little of a classic lasagne, with it’s lovely layering!

This is a super simple meal that looks great in the centre of the table, well that is until you cut into it, then it gets a bit messy! This serves 4 but you could easily use large tortillas to serve more, or make your own. I have used regular tortillas here, as I am not gluten free (although I often opt for recipes that are), but you could easily sub these for GF wraps available in many supermarkets.

Recipe: Mexican tortilla stack

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion-finely chopped

1 red chilli- finely chopped (or up to ½ tsp dried chilli flakes)

2 cloves garlic- finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbs ground coriander

400g can black beans

400g can red kidney beans

400g can chopped tomatoes

100ml vegetable stock

A bunch of spring onions- sliced

350g sweetcorn (canned or frozen)

4 wholemeal tortilla wraps (regular or gluten free)

Vegan cheese sauce- see note below

Method

Heat oil in a large pan and gently fry the onions for around 5 minutes until soft. Stir through the chilli, garlic, cumin and coriander and cook for a further minute.

Pour in the beans, tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Whilst this is simmering make up the cheese sauce- see below. Stir through the spring onions and the sweetcorn.

Place a tortilla wrap in the base of a spring form cake tin- approx. 20cm diameter. Spoon over ¼ of the mixture and spread evenly. Drizzle a little cheese sauce over the mixture. Top with another tortilla and repeat the process with 4 wraps in total finishing with a layer of bean mix and cheese sauce.

Bake the stack for 25 minutes at 200C. Slice into wedges to serve.

Note: You can use your own favourite strong cheese sauce recipe. My current favourite is taken from Oh She Glows and has a strong ’cheesy’ mustardy flavour giving a nice flavoursome kick to the tortilla stack.

The original recipe can be found here but is also provided my ever so slightly tweaked version below for reference. I increased the flour (I used cornflour) to 1.5 tbs to ensure a nice thick sauce.

Recipe: Cheese Sauce

 

Ingredients

¾ cup almond milk

6tbs nutritional yeast

1 tbs coconut oil

1 ½ tbs cornflour

2 tsp Dijon mustard

¼ tsp garlic powder

½  tsp salt and pepper

Method

Melt the coconut oil in a small pan over the hob. Whisk the flour and milk together in a separate bowl ensuring there are no lumps. Add the milk mixture plus all remaining ingredients to the pan and whisk well. Simmer and whisk for approx. 5 mins until thick.

Note: this sauce also freezes well so can be made in a batch.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.