Adapted from: I Believe I Can Fry
Summer is officially here and to begin it this is a wonderful alternative to grilling burgers this summer. It is a well balanced, lightly spiced, hearty burger. It is also gluten free, dairy free, and meat free.
I ended up broiling them in the oven to get them crispy all over. To serve them I used the deli flats that are very common right now. I also made a dairy free mayo with cilantro and lime in it to spread on the buns. Recipe below
Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl
1. 15 oz can of black beans, mush them up with a large fork
2. 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles.
3. 2 cloves of diced garlic.
4. 1 tsp of onion powder
5. 2 scallions, sliced thin
6. 1 cup of shredded carrots, I also diced them up in a small food processor.
7. 1 cup of cilantro, chopped finely
8. 2 cups of oats, pulse these a few times in the food processor too.
For the cilantro lime mayo
1. 2-3 tbs of Trader Joes dairy free/eggless mayo
2. 2 tbs of dried cilantro
3. juice of one lime
Mix up with your hands and make flattened out patties just like you would hamburgers.
Bake in the oven at 400 until brown and crisp all over. I think it took me about 20 minutes and I flipped them halfway through.
Best
I have found being married to be pretty easy. Tell that to someone who has been married for 30-40 years and they may have a different story. I knew from the get go that we were two very independent people that just happened to be in a relationship then to be married a few years later. The independence and empowerment I have from being in a solid and wonderful relationship is what I cherish most. I dont feel guilty for saying that either because I know that he feels the same and we are both more than okay with it! Along with that we always celebrate the very special days such as anniversaries, valentines day, and sometimes birthday's with just a very special meal at home. The gift we try to give each other during those times is to just spend quality time together.
On this year's anniversary meal the menu was delicious and well worth the time spent!
For dinner
- A fresh garden salad
- Fairly self explanatory. But you should try fresh fennel on top!
- Creamy wine chicken.
- I am not sure what this is really called, but I sort of made it up on the fly. It is wonderfully simple and I believe that is the major reason why it was so amazing. Any dish that has less that 3 ingredients cant be beat!
- Take as many chicken breasts as you need and flatten them a little to ensure they will cook evenly.
- Salt and pepper both sides.
- Sear them on both sides in a frypan so they get all brown and golden.
- Place a cover on top and a put about 1/2 cup of white wine. Let the wine cook off and steam the chicken through the rest of the way until its fully cooked. Then place it on a cutting board and cut into chunks.
- Then return to the pan and add about 1/2 cup or more of white wine. Let that cook a little then add in about a 1/2 cup of light cream. Then the sauce simmer down a little and it will thicken up. Once the sauce is thickened up its ready to serve!
- Spring hash
- a bunch of fingerling potatoes, a bunch of asparagus, a small pack of pancetta, one onion chopped, 4-5 cloves of garlic minced, salt and pepper, and a little olive oil.
- Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees.
Then desert is another story. This is the fanciest thing I have ever made. Put it this way anything that has you scraping the inside of a vanilla bean, whipping up a custard, and flambeing apples with brandy is well worth the time! It is apple and spice bread pudding.
- Brioche buns from trader joes worked beautifully for this. Rip it into chunks and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until it gets all toasty and brown.
- Heat 4 tbs of butter in a fry pan. Add in 2 large granny smith apples chopped along with 2/3 cup sugar. Also add in about 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp of cinnamon.
- Let the apples cook down and get nice and brown and syrupy. Then add in 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup of brandy.
- Now comes the fun part light that pan on fire! Well, be safe and just gently tilt the pan and light the brandy up so it cooks off. Don't worry it will go out in a few seconds.
- Then beat 4 eggs, 3 cups of milk, the scrapings or innards of one vanilla bean, and 1/2 cup of sugar.
- Throw everything into a large bowl and let it sit for about 5-7 minutes.
- Then pour into a large baking dish and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Enjoy the sweet moments in life and know that there is no reason to buy unnecessary junk when being with each other is the most important thing.
Best !
Over the last year a lot has happened. I have moved from Maine back to Rhode Island and through that and many more transitions it has been difficult to update and process new posts under this outlet. I have realized during the last year how much I do miss doing it. I also miss being able to direct family and friends to recipes on my blog when they ask about a lunch or dinner I am obsessively raving about. So I am going to try, try, and try again to make the time and process new posts over time. But over the last year I have made lots of strides especially in new cooking endeavors.
I learned how to make sushi somewhat properly.
My husband and I traveled to London for 2 1/2 weeks. We have both always wanted to go and we made it work. I have always loved that about traveling. There are so many ways to save on travel. It really just doesn't need to be as expensive as people make it out to be. We rented an apartment and bought groceries to cook at home. That alone saved a tremendous amount of money for us. The digs weren't anything spectacular, but they suited us just fine.
We also got to enjoy some delicious treats at the world famous Harrods !
For it being our first time that either of us had traveled to Europe we had pretty wild experience and won't forget a moment of it.
We capped off our trip with a delicious bench picnic in Hyde Park. It was an amazing way to have a final send off in the bright slightly cloudy daylight hours of central London.
I wanted desperately to buy french macaroons at Harrods for our bench picnic. Little did I know that I would be spending 15 British pounds on them which is about a little under $30.00. It was a splurge for sure, but looking back on it I don't regret it for a single second. With flavors like dark chocolate cherry and pistachio salted caramel how can you say no?
It was a one in a million trip for us that I am happy to share a little snippet of it for you all.
The other somewhat major event was that my brother had a baby (well my sister in law actually did the baby having) but nevertheless I now how a beautiful wonderful nephew. I am finally an auntie!
As you can see I am pretty proud of it !!!
Today is also our wedding anniversary. We have officially been married three solid years. And as my husband said today via facebook, "I have been married to my wife for three years today. That's 1,095 days of sharing laughter, laughter that I get paid for....she is going to owe me so much money." Anyone that knows what Ray does for a living will completely understand this statement and how important and beautiful it is to me. see....Ray Harrington Comedy
So even though a year has passed I am going to get working on some new recipes, tutorials, and general daily, weekly, and monthly news as we move through life in a productive and caring manner.
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