Project 261 & 260: Mushroom Risotto Patties

Good thing we like leftovers. Versatile, easy, quick.

You can make anything you can imagine. A favorite use for leftovers is making patties (croquettes, cakes, fritters). I love patties if any kind.

Rice dishes are perfect for this kind of thing. Leftover dal works great too and so do mashed, steamed, boiled, roasted, or baked potatoes. For these risotto patties, I took the left over mushroom risotto S made the night before and added an egg, some homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs, and a shake of this and that for extra flavor. Rice just absorbs flavor into a black hole. After I combined everything, I chilled the mixture so it would be easier to handle. Before forming the patties I rubbed olive oil on my hands. Don't worry, these don't require a great deal of handling. Just pick up a blob of mixture and quickly work to form a patty. Immediately start frying in the pre-heated oil. Brown on both sides to the color you desire. Remember, everything is already cooked. Sure, if you use an egg, you have a raw ingredient. But a fraction of an egg per patty will cook in minutes.

Flip and brown the other side. Then remove form the pan to a cooling rack lined with paper towel. Serve hot.

Black Bean Patties

I'm on a quest to use all of the grains, beans and legumes in the pantry. This is no easy feat. I seem to collect these food items. I had about a cup and a half of dried black beans and knew they would make good burgers. On the other hand, I had a taste for a pilaf type dish. This is when I spotted the quinoa. Actually, I spotted the regular quinoa and the red quinoa. In a moment of whole grain inspiration, I realized I could have my burgers and my pilaf plus hasten my quest to empty the pantry. Not to mention that pairing whole grains with beans (and legumes) is a healthy way to get the most out of the proteins these foods hold.

In the morning I covered the beans with plenty of water. When I got home from work I rinsed them well then put them in a pot and sufficiently covered them in cold water. Brought them to a boil then reduced the heat to a simmer and let them cook until tender but with a slight tooth. You are left with an extremely versatile source of protein and fiber. And they taste good too.

Quinoa cooks up much like rice. Some folks swear by rinsing the quinoa first but I usually don't. I don't encounter the bitterness some claim exists unless you first rinse the off the coating. Take one part quinoa to two parts water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.

Now that your beans and quinoa are cooked, you have the base for great veggie patties. You also have the makings for a great salad, stew or casserole.

For the patties, I made a small dice of onion, garlic, and a jalapeno pepper. Use whatever veggies you have that day. I cooked the veggies in olive oil until they were soft. I seasoned mine with ground cumin and corriander, salt and pepper. While the veggies cooled, I mashed 1/3-1/2 of the black beans with a potato masher. A rough mash. When the veggies were cool I combined beans, quinoa, and veggies with two liquid egg whites and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. I formed patties about four inches across.

In a non-stick pan I cooked the patties until they were dark golen brown on each side. You can use cooking spray or olive oil. You can even bake these on parchment paper. All the ingredients are cooked so you just need to heat the patties through and get some color on them.

Grains and legumes are so easy to use and lend themselves to an endless number of delicious dishes. What are some of your favorites?

Sprouted Chickpea Patties

It was one of those situations in which you are so busy creating something (because you are so hungry) that you pay little attention to how it all happened. But I think I got the basic idea recorded below. If you are open to experimentation with veggie patties, give it a try. Basically, I cooked up some veggies, added lots of seasonings and flavor, and added it to the sprouted chickpeas. I used egg and cheese as a binder and formed patties. So here is what I did:

I started by sprouting chickpeas. The method is the same for when I sprouted lentils. While the chickpeas were sprouting, I gave little thought to what I would make. I just knew I had a taste for chickpeas. A few days later, once I had chickpea sprouts, I grabbed an onion, several garlic cloves, mushrooms, and a bunch of spices and started cooking.

In extra virgin olive oil I sauteed the garlic, onions, and mushrooms until the mushrooms gave off their juices and then the juices evaporated. A heavy dose of salt and pepper and crushed red pepper and homemade sambar powder too. Chickpeas absorb seasonings at an alarming rate so don't be afraid.

I then tossed in all of the sprouted chickpeas and let these cook for about ten minutes. Not completely cooked but not raw. The whole mix then went into the food processor and I pulsed it until it was well combined but still had chunks of chickpeas. Into a large bowl I gently beat two eggs. I added shredded mozzarella and parmesan then the chickpea mix and combined.

I formed patties and dusted them in breadcrumbs then fried them in a thin film of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Dressed like a burger on a toasted bun with ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, onions, and cheese it was delicious. Savory and nutty and very filling.

Earth Burgers Are Easy

After walking all over the sprawling grounds of Flower World we were hungry. On the way back to the highway, the Maltby Cafe in, you guessed it, Maltby, Washington, was calling to us. We opted to sit at the counter in order to sit sooner. It was a good choice. Portions are very generous but we found that out only after we ordered because we saw everyone's lunch leave the kitchen.

Earth Burger
Roasted portebello mushrooms, domestic mushrooms, brown rice, bulghar wheat, mozzarella cheese and much more (made locally for us).

What a flavor. Rich and hearty and, best of all, moist. A nice, meaty mouth-feel texture. I asked for jalapenos and onions too. Unless I see the word or hear the word, thousand island dressing doesn't even exist to me. It's just something I never ever have in my brain. But it was already on the bun so I left it and I enjoyed it on the sandwich. I've got to find out who makes these for the cafe. Just really tasty. Opted for the side salad which was really fresh. I was given oil and vinegar so I dressed it myself with the addition of salt and pepper.

OK, so not part of the healthy eating I try to follow (and blog about) but permit us this indulgence. The giant cinnamon roll is, indeed, giant. Now, cinnamon rolls are not at all a temptation for me. They are, however, hard to resist for S. But I should mention that she has resisted one for a looooooooong time. According to her, it's been years. Considering her birthday was only hours away at this point, why the hell not, right? We had no idea it was so big, though the price should have tipped us off. Really, we just didn't put the two together. The waitress brought out the plate and the sight of it stopped us cold in our conversation. She laughed. She noticed my camera and offered to take our picture with it. I declined, stating that I didn't want proof that we ate it! It's spilt into four large cinnamon rolls and I did have a couple bites and some extra frosting. S took care of the rest of one piece. The remaining 3/4 went home and went into the freezer for future endulgences.

Tofu & Red Rice "Meatballs"

The best laid plans...

But when life hands you tofu burger mix that won't burgerfy, make meatballs. The mix tastes great but it wasn't keeping it's shape as a burger. I was able to dust with breadcrumbs and gently flip three patties but I knew I wouldn't want to do that for a whole big bowl of mix. Those patties, by the way, made a great scramble! I might make this mix again but leave everything in bigger pieces and just scramble it all.

The mix did make meatballs that held together so I dusted those with breadcrumbs and baked them in a muffin tin that I lightly greased with olive oil. This one was a real experiment but the results taste great. These meatballs will be served with a big salad for a complete meal. You can top them with any kind of sauce you like, or dip them, or just eat them plain.

1 cup bhutanese red rice
1 mushroom boullion cube
1 package firm tofu, drained and pressed
3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
1 onion, diced
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 carrot, diced
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp dried rosemary, ground with mortal & pestle
almost 1 tbsp fennel seed, smashed a bit with mortar & pestle
coarse salt
pepper
couple dashes of ground cumin
2 tsp black bean sauce
few dashes Roland's Balsamic Pepper Sauce
2 eggs
breadcrumbs

Cook the rice and the boullion cube in 1 1/2 cups water until soft. In the meantime, saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrots until there is a nice browness about them. Season this sauteed mix with all of the herbs and spices. Crumble the tofu into a very large bowl. Add the cooled rice. Add the cooled veggie mix. Sprinkle about 1/4 breadcrumbs. Crack in two eggs. Mix with wooden spoon just to incorporate the eggs. Form into balls, lightly dust with breadcrumbs and plop into a muffin tin. Bake until you see some browning on top in an oven pre-heated to 425.

Leftover Somethings

I hate wasting food. I believe there is an obligation to plan well and use the food I buy and grow. So I don't at all mind leftovers. I love them and I love finding ways to refreshen the ingredients to create a whole new dish.

What to do with left over canned garbanzo beans and left over cooked oatmeal? Experiment, of course.

I opened the can of garbanzo beans for a salad. They keep well enough in the fridge for a while. I made oatmeal for breakfast a few days ago. I don't mean instant, I mean real oatmeal that you buy in bulk and cook on the stove. Nope, not quick cook either. It took a whole 5 minutes, this did. Whew! Saved myself alot of time on that choice. Anyway, what would I do with these two items that were taunting me every time I opened the fridge? Well, I knew it would be something savory and I knew it would be a patty or a ball or something along those lines. I took the basic idea from the Lentil Patties and went from there.

While a cup of red lentils were cooking, I blended the leftover oatmeal and garbanzo beans in the food processor.

I diced a large onion and a large carrot and sauteed in olive oil. To this I added the rest of the toasted and ground panch phoron from the dal and a healthy dose of ground cumin, some garlic powder and salt. Into this I added some roughly chopped almonds. Once the veggies were cooked to my liking, I added the blended oatmeal-garbanzo mixture to the pan and mashed it up to combine. Then it all went into the food processor until blended. I could have blended slightly less. Next time. I put the mixture into the fridge for a while to firm up so it would be easier to handle.

I cooked this lentil-bean-oatmeal mix in two different ways. First, I sprayed a muffin tin with cooking spray and filled each space with lentil-bean-oatmeal mix. Then I baked it until the tops were a nice shade of brown. I've had success with this method when cooking falafel, a mixture of similar texture. Much lighter and healthier than deep frying. The lentil-bean-oatmeal mix didn't get terribly firm but after a night in the fridge they did. Still not firm like a burger but they held the muffin shape nicely. I wrapped these and froze them for the future. Upon thawing a batch, I noticed that they retained their shape but as soon as you touched them with a fork they were soft. Still, they tasted great. A great fiber and protein source for a vegetarian wrap. Slather a couple of these "muffins" on a tortilla and dress like you would a burrito. Really tasty.

The other method of cooking was to lightly oil my hands, form patties, lightly dust with breadcrumbs then pan fry in just enough olive oil to moisten the pan. This worked just fine. Again, not as firm as the lentil patties. But so delicious. Hell, you don't have to form shapes or patties at all. You could use it as tortilla filler form the get-go or use like hummus. Get creative. Waste less.