New favorite burger

June 3, 2013

We started our day by trying almond butter for the first time. Wow. It is awesome. Why have we always eaten peanut butter? If everyone knew how delicious and flavorful almond butter is, then peanut butter would be taking a back seat. Do yourself a favor and buy a jar! My daughter packed an almond butter sandwich, an apple, and juice. My son packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, and yogurt. I had some leftover black bean pasta with roasted red pepper sauce. My hubby had leftover fajitas, fruit, and yogurt.

I decided to make a new recipe for potato salad. Actually, potato cauliflower salad. I followed the recipe on Melomeals. I boiled diced potatoes (two large baking potatoes) for two minutes then added cauliflower (about 1/3 of a large head) and boiled for an additional two minutes. I added about 1/2 cup red pepper, 1/2 cup celery, 3 tablespoons of red onion, some dill/black pepper, and paprika to taste. The mayo is actually beans! In the food processor, I combined a tablespoon of garlic, one can of cannellini beans (drained and rinsed), 5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (next time I would probably add less), 1 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon of champagne dill mustard (recipe called for dijon), 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoons sugar, and then slowly added 1/8 cup olive oil (recipe called for 1/4 cup).

We wanted to try a new recipe for burgers to go with it. We followed "Morgan's Veggie Patties" on the Food Network. We sauteed 3 tablespoons onion (we used white because I already had some chopped but recipe called for red), a handful of black olives , 2 tablespoons of red peppers, 1/2 of a jalapeno, and 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic in olive oil. Let it cool. In the food processor, I combined 1/2 cup black beans, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1/2 cup white beans, 3/4 cup quick oats, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning (recipe called for sage but I didn't have any), 2 tablespoons bread crumbs (we used panko), and an egg. The recipe also called for artichokes but I didn't have any. Mix in the veggies. My hubby fried them up and then topped them with sautéed mushrooms that were simmered in local red wine, avocado, spinach, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and cilantro.

My hubby, daughter, and I all really liked the potato/cauliflower salad. My son isn't big on potato salad period so his vote doesn't count. Ha. I can't believe the beans actually work as a dressing. How fun! The burgers turned out great. This is our new favorite burger recipe!