Feed Usa, Day 3: Eggplant Veggie Burgers

I’ll do just about anything to avoid eating a ground-beef burger (with a few exceptions – like In-N-Out!). And so when Emily sent us her summertime burger creation, I knew we had to give it a go (be sure to visit her lovely blog for many more delicious recipes.)

The verdict on these burgers – they have a very good flavor. The texture needs a little work though, they lean towards the mushy side of the spectrum. We added a good bit of panko breadcrumbs, and I’m not sure what else you could add that would ‘beef’ up the texture. Emily suggested maybe brown rice… I’m thinking bulgar?

We topped our burgers with lettuce, fresh tomato, and a bit of goat cheese.

And we made our own buns.

Maybe it’s just me, but Whole Foods does not have a great selection of breads. And what they do have is either frozen and expensive or gluten-free. Maybe I missed it? Anyways, much like we were forced to make our own pitas when the store selection was slim, we decided to make our own burger buns.

I followed the recipe here. While I wouldn’t dare call these easy, they were quite good. I’m not sure if I had too much moisture in my dough, they formed some pretty pathetic balls… I’d call them disks. So when we cut them in half each half was a bit thin. Maybe using two buns, one on top, and one on the bottom, for a little more substance.

Homemade buns? Eggplant burgers with goat cheese? I’d call it a successful meal!

Eggplant Veggie Burgers

Makes 6-8 burgers

INGREDIENTS
5-6 Japanese or Italian eggplants, peeled and cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchini, peeled and grated
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
1 egg, beaten
olive oil
6-8 burger buns, homemade or not :)
lettuce
tomato
goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS
Place eggplant cubes in a colander suspended over a large bowl, generously sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, then pat dry with a paper towel.

Meanwhile, drain grated zucchini in a dish towel. Simply gather and squeeze until as much water has been removed as possible. Transfer to a large bowl and season with pepper (easy on the salt, since the eggplant has already been salted).

Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add eggplant and cook approximately 5 minutes. Add a splash of water (1/4 cup or so), and cover. Cook until browned and tender, another 5 minutes or so.

Transfer warm eggplant to food processor, and pulse 2-3 times until just broken down (you don’t want to turn it to liquid.) Add eggplant to zucchini mixture, along with bread crumbs, wheat bran, basil, and beaten egg. Mix well to combine.

Form mixture into patties, approximately the same size as your buns (they will shrink slightly when cooked).

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in large non-stick skillet. Cook patties, a few at a time, 4-6 minutes per side, or until browned.

Assemble burgers, stacking patties, lettuce, tomato, and topping with crumbled goat cheese.

Feed Us, Day 5: Orange-Chipotle Glazed Tofu with Confetti Rice

Last day of our Feed Us challenge. We actually received a few more tempting recipes, ones that came in after we got back from the grocery store. Stay tuned, we might be doing more of those next week. :)

This was a delicious recipe, submitted by Thaxton. We’re always looking for new tofu recipes, and this one is a keeper. Taylor’s easy, feed him anything with Chipotle and he’ll be happy (he eats the stuff out of a can, weirdo). At first glance, the flavors seem a bit odd – chipotle, orange, and maple syrup? But surprisingly, it works, and it works well.

The rice side dish (hooray for an actual side dish rather than eating a sidedish as the main meal), was also a delicious and beautiful companion to the tofu. Don’t skip out and get a red or green bell pepper, you NEED the orange one to experience the full rainbow of rice that is this dish. Seriously. I’m not joking here. The rice (which we could have halved and still had leftovers) is also delicious the next day.

Orange-Chipotle Glazed Tofu

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Vegetarian Times.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. rice vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tsp. minced seeded chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained, plus 2 tsp. adobo sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
2 14-oz. packages extra-firm tofu, drained and patted dry
1 Tbs. vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Whisk together orange juice, maple syrup, vinegar, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, and salt in small bowl. Cover, and chill.

Cut each piece of tofu crosswise into 8 slices, each about 1/2-inch thick. Place tofu in large shallow glass dish. Add 1/2 cup orange juice mixture and oil to tofu, and turn to coat. Cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours, turning from time to time. Reserve remaining orange juice mixture, covered, in refrigerator.

Preheat broiler. Line large baking sheet with foil, and coat with cooking spray. Place tofu on prepared baking sheet. Combine marinade and reserved orange juice mixture in small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook over medium heat 12 to 15 minutes, or until syrupy. Keep warm.

Broil tofu 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until golden, basting occasionally with orange juice mixture. Serve with remaining sauce.

Confetti Rice Salad

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Vegetarian Times.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
1/2 tsp. salt
1 small orange bell pepper, finely chopped (1 cup)
1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large tomato, chopped (11/2 cups)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
2/3 cup chopped green onions (1 bunch)
1/4 cup lime juice
3 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, optional
1/2 avocado, diced, optional

DIRECTIONS
Combine rice, cumin, and 2 cups water in saucepan. Add garlic and salt, cover, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of water is absorbed. Remove from heat, sprinkle bell pepper on top, cover, and cool rice in pan.

Transfer rice to large bowl, and remove garlic clove. Stir in beans, tomato, corn, green onions, lime juice, and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in sunflower seeds and avocado, if desired. Serve at room temperature.