I didn’t cook for my friends last week since they were being thankful with and fed by family and friends for the holiday.
I stated at the end of the last entry what I would be cooking this time and my ideas changed some. I was watching the grey windy sky and all I wanted was roasted root vegetables and gingerbread, but since I was feeding someone else I also made some veggie burgers.
Here’s what I made
Veggie Burgers
These vary depending on what I have on hand. Today I didn’t have much variety of vegetables so these were protein-packed burgers.
1 cake of extra firm tofu, drained
½ cup or so of flax meal
A few shakes of sesame oil
A few tablespoons Braggs amino acids
Slivered almonds, crushed
¾ cup cooked lentils
½ medium onion, chopped
Small wedge of purple cabbage, chopped
Broccoli stalks, peeled and chopped
Thyme
Salt and pepper
Brown rice flour
Cook the lentils. If you drained tofu before you’ve got your method. If I’m in a hurry I press the cake between paper towels or tea towels with my hands until the towels are barely damp. I mix the tofu, sesame oil and Braggs amino acids, thyme, almonds and flax meal and let it sit while I chop the veggies and sauté them in a skillet olive oil. I hand blend the sauté veggies once they’ve cooled and add it to the tofu mixture. Drain the lentils, mash them a bit if you like and add to the burger mix. Add salt and pepper. In a glass pie plate, I pour a handful of flour. I form into small patties and coat both sides in the flour. You can bake or pan fry them.
Roasted Root Vegetables
This rendition of roasted veggies is a little different than most I make. I wanted some sweet and tart flavor with the earthy sweet and bitter flavors of sweet potatoes and rutabagas.
Dad handed me a bag of tangerines when I departed from my family thanksgiving gathering. “Too many seeds,” he grumbled. Uh, thanks? I deseeded one and squeezed the plentiful juice as well as the juice from half of a lemon into a ceramic baking dish. I added a couple dozen fresh cranberries and a dollop of brown rice syrup. I peeled and cut the 2 sweet potatoes and 1 small-verging-on-medium rutabaga into large chunks and added it to the dish. I baked at 425 until the veggies were soft and absorbed nearly all the citrus juice.
Ginger(pumpkin)bread
Vegan and gluten-free! As far as I am concerned my oat flour is gluten-free. Oats are gluten-free; most are packaged in plants that process wheat so if you are allergic to wheat or gluten be careful. I purchase all my flours online from Purcell Mountain Farms. The flours are organic, but since they also process wheat, the flours are not guaranteed gluten-free.
My first gingerbread was insanely moist and amazing flavorful but it was dense yet delicate and falling apart. The pumpkin puree wasn’t enough of a binder. You can certainly add an egg to this or a Tbsp of flax meal or some potato flour (starch). For the second batch, I just increased the flour to 2 ½ cups total and added another tsp of baking soda. It helped.
¼ cup Earth Balance
½ cup molasses
½ cup soy creamer
¼ cup maple syrup
½ cup brown rice syrup
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 cup oat flour
1 ½ cup sorghum (milo) flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp total: allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon
With flame on low, I melted the Earth Balance in a saucepan, added molasses, soy creamer, maple syrup and brown rice syrup. In a large bowl, I sifted the flours, baking soda, baking powder, ground ginger, and other spices. I incorporated the liquid into the flour mixture. I mixed in about 6 oz pumpkin puree. Pour the mixture into an oiled square ceramic baking dish. Bake at 300 for 75 min.
I made another batch in a small rectangular baking dish with fresh grated ginger and I topped it with about 12 fresh cranberries and some slivered almonds. I might make it a little more Swedish next time with grapefruit rinds and lingonberries.