Favorite Veggie Burger

Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy a boca burger now and then, but the best veggie burger my mom and I have ever had is at Honey Cafe in downtown Glen Ellyn. http://honeycafe.net/ I love this place, because of it's great atmosphere and delicious, locally grown food. Our rendition of the Honey veggie burger was not as good as the real thing, but it still tasted really good and I'd make it again.... so here goes!

Here are the ingredients we used:

2 Sweet Potatoes

1 Banana Squash

1 Zucchini 

1 Carrot

1 Tomato

3 Green Onions

 1/2 cup Breadcrumbs

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

Salt and Peppa

French's French Fried Onions (Very Important! :)

Wheat buns

Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Fries

3/4 cup Mayonaise

1 Teaspoon Harissa (Found at Mediterranean Oasis store)

2 Teaspoons Heinz Chili Sauce

Vegetable Oil

At Honey they have this 'Harissa Mayo' they serve on the burger and with the fries as a dipping sauce that is... amazing... but we have not been able to successfully recreate it (but we still like the version we made). Also, Harissa is somewhat hard to find, my mom found it at a Mediterranean grocery store.

Now, before you start, it is VERY important that you have a 1980's food processor. One from the 2000's just will not do.

First, peel the two sweet potatoes. Chop the sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and zucchini into 2 inch pieces and shred in the food processor. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, add in finely chopped green onions, minced garlic, salt and peppa. 

Now, add a few teaspoons of vegetable oil to a large pan on medium heat. Saute the vegetable mixture, mixing it periodically for about 6-7 minutes. Then allow the mixture to cool. 

Mix in the breadcrumbs, yo. Hand-pack the mixture into 4 large patties and carefully place onto a plate. Refrigerate for 1 hour to cool down the little babies and help them keep their form.

Now rinse out your large pan and add some mo' vegetable oil to it. Time to cook the burgers! Cook until each side is golden brown. Be careful when you flip them because they are very... mushy (for lack of a better word) and have trouble keeping their shape.

When they are done, they should look something like this...or else you really messed up. Just kidding.

To make the harissa mayo, simply mix the mayo, harissa and chili sauce in a small bowl. The sweet potato fries are easy to make- just follow the directions on the bag and bake for about 20 minutes. Toast the buns and place about a tablespoon of mayo on the top bun with a bunch of french fried onions. Place your burger on the other bun with a slice of tomato (if you like them).

Position the plate so that your food looks like a face (necessary step) and enjoy!

Simple Vegetarian Tacos

"How do you get your protein?" This is often the first question I am asked when someone finds out I am vegetarian. While my favorite protein-rich food is black beans, I also enjoy some of the 'fake meat' products that you can buy. Some of the ones I like are Boca Original Vegan burgers, Traders Joe's Meatless Meatballs and Smart Ground Original Veggie Protein Crumbles.

Smart Ground crumbles have the same appearance and texture as cooked ground beef and take on the taste of foods that are heavily spiced. I love them in tacos and chili. *They also have 12 g of protein per 1/3 cup serving*

Simple Vegetarian Tacos


Here is a list of the ingredients I used:

Trader Joe's Taco Shells
Smart Ground Original Veggie Protein Crumbles (located in the produce section at Jewel or Meijer)
Lawry's Taco Seasoning 
2/3 cup of Water
Small Velveeta Cheese + Can of Rotel
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

I know Velveeta is not... real cheese and is terrible for you, but microwaving a small brick of Velveeta with 3/4 a can of drained Rotel is one of my guilty pleasures. And when it's only Tuesday and it feels like it needs to be Friday.. Bring on the Velveeta! I made this before the tacos so that I could snack on it with chips while the Smart Ground is cooking. :)

To cook the Smart Ground, pour about a tablespoon of vegetable oil into a large skillet and turn it up to medium heat. Pour the bag of veggie crumbles into the skillet, break it apart with a fork, and let it cook for 6-8 minutes until browned (it starts out brown so... more brown? haha), stirring occasionally. Once it's browned, add 2/3 cup of water and the Lawry's seasoning packet and mix thoroughly. That's it! Simple, no?

Now it's time to load up your tacos however you like! I like to load mine in the following order... sour cream at the bottom, then veggie crumbles, velveeta dip and cheddar cheese. Then I microwave them for 20 seconds to make the cheese melt and the hard shells a little chewy! (Rocket science, I know). 

Spinach Swiss and Gruyere Quiche

Let me start out by saying, cooks that say it takes 35 minutes to cook a quiche are dirty liars... or maybe they just have a better oven than me, because it took FOREVER to cook. And by forever I mean 55 minutes (that's pretty much forever in quiche-years, right?).

For this dish, I made a variation of a Paula Dean dish. In her's she used just swiss cheese and also added bacon. She also made the crust from scratch and that... was not going to happen. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/spinach-and-bacon-quiche-recipe/index.html

Here are the ingredients I used:

6 Large Organic Cage-Free Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

A dash of Salt and Peppa

1 bag of fresh Baby Spinach (no toddler spinach)

1 bag of Trader Joes shredded Swiss and Gruyere mixed cheese

Trader Joes frozen folded pie crust

Spinach Swiss and Gruyere Quiche

If you buy the TJ's crust, you have to let it thaw for 30 minutes. Then you can unfold it into a metal pie pan. Mine basically cracked into two pieces when I tried to do this because I am terribly un-delicate with anything you have to mold with your hands (you should see my college ceramics projects). Anyways, lay it down in the pan, press it up against the sides and smooth out any cracks or gaps.

As you can see, the pie pan recently crash dieted and her outfit is too big. Take a knife and trim off any extra crust that is overlapping the edge. Then go around the edge and press it down with a fork.

Now to prepare the spinach... oh, the spinach. sigh. Boil a medium-sized pot of water. Once it's boiling, pour the bag of baby spinach in it and cook it for about 20 seconds to 'blanche' it (look at me using these terms). Then pour the spinach into a strainer and run it under very cold water to stop it from further cooking. 

Now is the part where you will be simply amazed by how much water spinach is able to hold. Using your hands, squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach... until your hands fall off. The large bag of fluffy spinach, then turns into a baby patty of green, nutritious love.

Chop this patty up into slightly smaller pieces. Now you can open your bag of cheese and fill up the pie crust about halfway (or 98% of the way if you get overzealous with the cheese, like me) with cheese and spinach pieces. 

Now it's time to make the liquid mixture, which was surprisingly easy. In a blender, combine the eggs, cream, salt and peppa (the 1990's female R&B group... oh wait, no?) Blend it for two minutes. Then pour your mixture evenly over the cheese until it reaches the edge. Discard the rest. 

Turn on the over to 375 degrees and cook FOREVER. The End. Just kidding, guys. It's supposed to take 35-45 minutes, but like I said, it took mine almost an hour. You know it's done cooking when it doesn't jiggle when you shake it, and a toothpick test in the middle comes out clean. 

Here is a picture of my quiche saying, "Hey look at me, I look like I should be done cooking, but I'm going to stress you out and take another 20 minutes."

When it is done, if it ever gets done, take it out and cut it into 8 slices. Besides the stress of making sure the quiche was full cooked so that I didn't give my whole family food poisoning, this dish was relatively easy to make and it tasted really good!

Banana Yogurt Muffins

I began my day by taking a trip to Trader Joes, which was enjoyable since the workers there always seem to be in a good mood. I was able to get all of my ingredients there, and for very good prices... AND I got to have an awkward conversation about my New Years plans with the cashier. Bonus.

Banana Yogurt Muffins
I found this recipe on this website: http://justjennrecipes.com
I followed most of it exactly, but was unable to find the yogurt she used, so I used vanilla instead, which worked out great.

These are the ingredients you will need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 eggs
4 ounces banana yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
brown sugar to sprinkle


Begin by preheating the over to 350 degrees and filling a pan with liners (it makes about 18). 
I used easter themed liners to give the muffins some personality, I think they appreciated this.


Now, wisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. This includes the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. 

I recommend using heart-shaped measuring spoons. It makes your food feel more loved.

Then mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, vanilla). I highly recommend mashing the bananas with your own *clean* hands... I found this much easier and fun than using a fork.... and, let's face it, I'm kind of a rebel.

Now mix the bowl of wet ingredients into the dry bowl. You are then ready to fill each of your muffin liners about 3/4 of the way... like I said, when I did it, I was able to make 18. Finally, sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on top of each one before placing it in the oven. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, until wa-la (technical term)! They are finished!

Now all you need to do is find a way to present them....

....and hope that no monkeys riding elephants come to steal them before your guests arrive.