Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers

Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers ready to go in the oven

I love veggie burgers that are chock full of healthy ingredients instead of loaded with bread crumb filler and I found such a recipe at TheNakedKitchen.com.  I usually make lots of healthy substitutions to recipes but this was so delicious and healthy I only made a few minor changes to this one:

2 cups black beans (see below*)

3 cups cubed sweet potatoes, peeled (about 3 regular sized potatoes)   

3/4 cup sweet corn (organic is best to avoid GMOs)

1/2 med red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (easy, just follow pkg directions)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour (you can also use finely ground rolled oats or almond flour)

2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds

1/4 tsp sea salt

to taste fresh black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)

1 tbsp hot sauce (optional )

*Black Beans  I make my own from dried beans and it is super simple. Rinse the dried beans, soak in water overnight and cook in a crock pot the next day until soft. I always have some on hand in my fridge to add to recipes.

Put sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover and simmer about half an hour.  Drain and cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non stick foil.

Mash potatoes to a mashed, not creamy!, consistency. 

In a large mixing bowl add half of the black beans and mash them with a fork.

Add the rest of the beans and the remaining ingredients.  Stir until just combined.

Form the mixture into 10 burgers about 1/2″ thick

Place each patty on your prepared baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping the burgers over once at 15 minutes.

Serve just as you would a beef burger. 

Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade

Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade 

(prior to slicing into quarters)

I had a tube of polenta in my pantry and I wanted to try a new appetizer for an upcoming dinner party so I tried Delish.com's Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade. Polenta is ground maize that you can make from scratch or buy in tubes. I buy them at Trader Joes or Mom's Organic Market. It is not hard to make polenta from scratch, just time consuming, same thing as buying versus making hummus. 

1 Tube            (16 to 18 oz) prepared polenta (ends trimmed and cut into 12 slices)

2/3 cup         soft sun-dried tomatoes

4 tsp             extra virgin olive oil

1Tbs             lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tsp             rinsed capers

1 small            clove garlic, chopped

1 pinch            freshly ground pepper

Olive Oil Cooking Spray. (my friend, Mike, gave me an awesome gadget, an olive oil mister. You put olive oil in it and pump it so the liquid oil is now aerosol) 

Preheat broiler. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Slice the polenta roll into about 12 pieces, place on the prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Broil in upper third of oven until starting to brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Turn and broil until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, pulse sun-dried tomatoes, oil, parsley, capers, garlic and pepper in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Cut each polenta slice into quarters. Top each quarter with 1/4 teaspoon of the tapenade.

I made this recipe near dinnertime so, instead of having it as an appetizer, I changed it up a bit by adding hammered locally raised pork and my husband and I had it for dinner. It was different (don't like "same old, same old"!) and very good!

I did not make this appetizer for the dinner party because it was too much prep time for someone else's house but I will definitely serve it next time I am serving apps at my house.  In case you are wondering, the appetizer I brought to the Vickie's dinner party was Rock Fish Balls. There were a couple of filets left in my freezer from fall fishing...Yum!

Coconut-Lemon Meltaways

Coconut-Lemon Meltaways, 

the name alone made me hungry for these cookies so I gathered up all the ingredients and made this very easy recipe. AddictedToVeggies.com's pin was delicious so I did not make any changes to these adorable cookies, which is unusual for me because I love the challenge of taking a recipe and adjusting it to make it healthier yet still delicious. 


1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 1/2 cups dried shredded unsweetened Coconut
1/3 cup Coconut Flour
2 big pinches Salt
6 Tbsp Agave
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp melted Coconut Oil

Mix the first four dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine Agave, Lemon Zest, Vanilla and Lemon Juice. Using a mixer, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. While your mixer is on, stream in the melted Coconut Oil. Form the dough into small balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Warm the balls in the oven set at its lowest heat, leaving the door cracked open for one hour (or use a dehydrator). Your finished cookie will be dry on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth moist on the inside. Place your cookies in the fridge after they have cooled down, letting them chill and set before you eat them.
Makes 22 to 24 cookies.