CHICKPEA SENSATION PATTIES AND BETTER BANANA NUT MUFFINS

Yesterday I Made:

CHICKPEA SENSATION PATTIES for DINNER.

Recipe from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan by DREENA BURTON.

These patties are made up of a blend of chickpeas ( garbanzo ), brown rice, oats, onions, celery, capers, and a few other seasonings.

Served inside a whole wheat pita, with heirloom lettuce, sliced cucumbers, and lime and salt marianated red onions.

This was a perfect recipe to use up a few ingredients I bought for other recipes.

*Capers- Veganomicon's Cesar Salad

*Vegan Worcestershire Sauce-Karina's Kitchen- Spicy Vegetable Soup with Lime

*Tamari-can't remember for what.

The process for making the patties is simple enough:

-Saute the onions, celery, salt and pepper.

-Process the chickpeas and garlic and a few other ingredients.

-Add the sautee veggies and pulse to incorporate.

-Add brown rice and pulse until just combined.

-Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Form into patties and fry in a pan with a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil and cook each side 5 minutes or until golden brown.

You can serve them alone with what ever sauce you want or serve them in a pita like I did.

The BETTER BANANA NUT MUFFINS were eaten this morning for breakfast.

Recipe from MY SWEET VEGAN by Hannah Kaminsky.

Bananas nut muffins topped with oats, sugar, and cinnamon.

So what makes these muffins so special?

DRIED BANANA SLICES!!!

Traditional banana nut muffins usually call for only mashed bananas.

This recipe utilizes dried and mashed bananas.

I made 2 substitutions:

-whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose.

-walnuts instead off pecans.

Goes perfect with a steaming cup of morning coffee.

Next time, I might made this recipe into a loaf instead of muffins.

So I can slice, toast and spread with Earth Balance.

GARDEN PATTIES,GRATED RAW BEET SALAD, AND BROCCOLI

Today I Made:

GARDEN PATTIES, GRATED RAW BEET SALAD WITH JICAMA AND GRAPEFRUIT, and BROCCOLI WITH VEGENAISE SHOYU DIPPING SAUCE.

The garden patties are literally filled with vegetables,grains, and nuts.

Millet, quinoa, onions, red bell pepper, carrots, celery, spinach and tons and tons of nuts:

Almonds, pumpkin seeds, and cashews, and spices.

Overall, they turned out delicious, but they fall apart easily.

I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, with one exception, I used cashews instead of sunflower seeds.

Once all the ingredients were combined, I ended up having to add vegetable broth to make it more pliable, because it was just too dry to come together.

I also refrigerated the patties for an hour, so they wouldn't fall apart on the skillet.

They turned out really tasty.

Savory, crispy, and crunchy.

I described them to my husband as being similar to a trail mix bar but savory.

I topped them with my mom's homemade salsa.

The raw beet salad added even more crunch to the mix.

Julienned raw beets, jicama, grapefruit sections, chopped cilantro, and a grapefruit dressing.

The original name for this recipe is GRATED RAW BEET SALAD WITH JICAMA, AVOCADO, AND ORANGE, from this month's VEGETARIAN TIMES.

But, I didn't have any avocado, oranges, or orange juice concentrate.

Even though, it was delicious, refreshing and very memorable.

The broccoli dipping sauce was actually a vegan adaptation of a sauce my mother-in-law introduced me to years ago.

Mayonnaise, shoyu ( Japanese for Soy Sauce ), and ground sesame seeds.

While busting my head trying to figure out how to serve this amazing broccoli from the Pasadena Farmer's Market, I realized that I could veganize my mother-in-laws dipping sauce by just using Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise.

Turned out just the same and even better since it was cholesterol free.

This entire dinner was made even more special because we bought all this week's produce from the farmers at the Pasadena Farmers market this weekend.

The quality of the produce bought at the farmer's market compared to what you get at Whole Foods or even a regular market is so much more superior.

Unfortunately, the market is on Saturdays and it's 25 minutes from our house.

It's also too hard to get up early on Saturday mornings.

So, this week's produce is a total treat for us.

BBQ BLACK BEAN PATTIES, GUACAMOLE, AND PLANTAIN

Today I Made:

BLACK BEAN PATTIES WITH BBQ SAUCE, PLANTAINS, GUACAMOLE, AND BROWN RICE.

Patty and BBQ recipes from THE CANDLE CAFE COOKBOOK.

I'm noticing a pattern here.

I LOVE PATTIES!!!

On a bun or without, it really doesn't matter.

Oh, and I also LOVE plantains.

Just scroll down the page and you'll understand.

This patty is made with black beans, carrots, red bell peppers, yellow pepper, cornmeal, chickpea flour, cilantro, and spices.

It's moist, but crunchy because of all the vegetables.

It's totally worth making your own homemade vegan patties.

Forget the frozen stuff.

The BBQ sauce was so easy to make and so delicious.

Canned chipotles, hot water, garlic, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, molasses, mustard, and spices.

After making this recipe, I will never buy a store bought sauce.

The patty with the BBQ, a match made in heaven.

But wait, add some guacamole, and now you have one if the most amazing mix of flavors ever!

The plantains were especially made for my husband who loves them.

Round out the meal with some brown rice and BON APPETITE!!!