Chickpea & Brown Rice Veggie Burger

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Anyone eat anything extra amazing during the Super Bowl?  Or have a favorite commercial?  Or actually watch the game and have something sports-like to say?  I liked the Chrysler commercial with Clint Eastwood cause I'm from Michigan and have a soft spot for Detroit.  Budweiser did some good ones too!  As far as the actual football... ah, who am I kidding.. let's get back to food. 

 I've been experimenting with meals minus meat lately, but hamburgers are a little tricky.  I love a great big cheeseburger, and it's tough to beat.  However, if you go into eating this meal with the knowledge it won't compare, it's really good.  Really good, and really good for you!  I love the fresh veggies, and the texture is crunchy and delicious.

Mash 2 cups of cooked and drained chickpeas with 1 cup cooked brown rice until a paste forms. 

Stir in the shallot, garlic clove and chopped parsley.

Season with salt and pepper and stir in 1 whisked egg.

Form into four 1/2 inch thick patties.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add patties and cook until golden brown on both sides.

Spread with toppings of your choice.  I used red onion, tomato, red pepper and spinach.  These didn't hold well together, it kind of ended up looking like a salad, but it's still super tasty.  I made this for lunch for a few days in a row and still was not tired of it.  It's surprisingly flavorful, and the fresh veggies leaving you feeling full and refreshed.  Enjoy!

Chickpea & Brown Rice Veggie Burger

Serves 4

Adapted from Whole Living

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg, whisked

red onion

roasted red pepper

tomato

spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Mash the chickpeas and brown rice together until it's a thick paste.

Stir in the shallot, garlic clove, ad fresh parsley.

Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in whisked egg.

Form into 4 1/2 inch thick patties.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

Add patties and cook until golden brown on both sides.

Garnish with fresh veggies.

Easy Fried Rice

I found this recipe on accident.  I was typing in some of the ingredients I had into google search and this recipe came up.  It's actually a weight watchers recipe, which made it even more appealing to me.  I made this as a meal, but it could easily be used as a side.  I thought it was a great meatless meal, that I had a few nights in a row and still wasn't tired of eating!

Begin by cooking rice, I used whole grain brown rice, but you can use whatever you have in the house.  When it's finished cooking, set aside.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray.  Warm pan over medium high heat, and add eggs.  Tilt the pan so the eggs cover the bottom.  When the eggs start to set, break them up into pieces with a wooden spoon.  Cook until eggs and cooked through, and then remove from the skillet and set aside.

Off heat, re coat the same skillet with cooking spray, and set back over medium high heat.  Add onions and all but two tablespoons scallions.  Saute until they become tender, about 2-3 minutes.

Stir in cooked rice and peas.

Stir in the soy sauce and cook until heated through.  Gently stir in cooked egg and remaining scallions, heat through and serve.  

I cut the recipe in half and it still made a ton!  You could easily add chicken or shrimp and make this more of a main dish, but I had no problem eating it as a main dish just as it was.  It was quick, basic and a great way to use up some of the vegetables you have in your fridge!   If you're a WW person, it's only 4 points!  For the rest of us, it's good for you.  Yes, I know, very to the point! :)

Easy Fried Rice

Serves 6

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup chopped onions

2 cup scallions, sliced and divided

3 cups brown rice cooked

1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and warm over medium high heat.

Add eggs and tilt pan so the eggs cover the bottom.

When eggs start to set, break up with a wooden spoon.

Cook until eggs and cooked through, remove from skillet and set aside.

Off heat, re coat the same pan with cooking spray.

Set over medium high heat and add onions and all but two tablespoons of scallions.

Saute until they begin to soften.

Stir in cooked rice, peas and soy sauce and cook until heated through.

Gently stir in the cooked egg and remaining scallions until heated through.  

Serve and enjoy!

Caramelized Scallops

I began really enjoying scallops when I worked in a very nice restaurant in college and they had them on the menu.  They were served with a asparagus risotto that was to die for!  I realize now that I was a bit spoiled.  Not all scallops taste that good, some are grainy, and you just never really know what you're going to get.  I picked these up from Central Market and was very pleased with them.  They tasted smooth and were very large.  I thought this recipe would be a perfect introduction to cooking scallops for me and I was right, it's pretty simple and doesn't take a lot of prep.

Heat butter on medium high in a large pan.  I love this picture, looks like the butter is running away from me, or from the heat maybe?

Wash and pat the scallops dry.  I had around six scallops, and that was plenty for two people.  The recipe makes 12, so I cut everything in half.  I was nervous three each wouldn't fill us up, but with the brown rice it was perfect.

Season both sides of the scallops with salt and pepper.  Spread sugar on a plate and dip one side of each scallop in the sugar before placing it in the heated pan.

Before you start cooking the scallops make sure you zest and squeeze the juice out of one lemon and have that ready to put into the pan.

Also chop one tablespoon of parsley.  Set aside.

Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.

Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until scallops are nicely seared.

Add the wine and lemon juice.  Reduce the sauce by half.

Serve scallops topped with pan sauce, lemon zest, and parsley.  I served over brown rice, and thought the wine and lemon reduction tasted awesome as the sauce.  Like I said, this is a very simple dish to make and it the outcome looks and tastes amazing.  C doesn't really like scallops but did say this was one of the best he's tasted, so I was pretty proud of that!  They taste a little sweet because of the sugar, and one side of the scallop caramelizes which creates some texture as you eat them.  Enjoy!

Caramelized Scallops

Adapted from The Foodie Bride

Serves 12 *I cut in half

12 large scallops

pinch of kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup white wine

1 lemon, zested and squeezed

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Heat butter over medium heat in a large pan.

Pat scallops dry, and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Spread sugar on a plate and dip one side of each scallop into the sugar.

Place in the saute pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until nicely seared.

Add the wine and lemon juice and reduce by half.

Serve topped with pan sauce, lemon zest and parsley.