Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

Sometimes I think that there are more lentil burger recipes out there than there are soup recipes. But of course I am exaggerating a bit.

Still I know of quite a few variations on the theme, so I thought that, for now, I would just post the basic recipe that I tend to use and add some groovy variations later on.

This one came to me via my friend Lilac and I have tweaked it a bit to make it more yummy to my own palate.

These burgers are VERY, VERY filling. I always think that I want two but have problems even finishing one burger with all of the trimmings. :) Thus they are a frugal and inexpensive way to fill people up, and the full feeling lasts for hours.

They are generally liked, even by folks who claim not to like lentil burgers, but I can’t guarantee that it will please everyone sitting round your dinner table. It’s best to try it out first as a specialty lunch item before springing it on people who are drooling ravenously waiting for a hearty wintertime dinner. ;)

As I said, variations abound and you can add almonds, peas, cumin, cayenne…all manner of other flavors in order to spice up your home burger-making.

Basic Lentil Burgers

Ingredients:

½ lb (half bag) Lentils
2 whole cloves garlic
¼ cup rice or dairy milk
½ cup oats
1 medium diced onion
2 egg whites
¼ cup flour
5 leaves fresh Basil (or ½ tsp dried)
¼ tsp Paprika
¼ Curry
1 tsp Salt
½ Pepper
Pot of water

1. Let water cover lentils by one inch, cook until boiling and lower temperature to simmer.

2. Cover pan and allow to cook down until no water remains.

3. Mush cooked lentils together with chopped garlic. *Leave some lentils whole.

4. Add 2 handfuls of uncooked oats, eggs, milk and spices to taste.

5. Cook chopped onion with oil in a hot skillet.

6. Make a thick base of onions in the pan and form the lentils patties on top of them.

7. Cook over medium heat, flipping GENTLY half way through.

8. Cook until warm throughout, the patties will likely not firm up much during cooking.

9. Serve with tomato slices, lettuce, onions, mustard, cheese…whatever you like!

***These are the basic hippie lentil burger but I will add more interesting twists on these burgers at a later date!!!

Papa and Mama have been traveling in the UK for the past couple of weeks and, although we are looking for some place to settle for the next few months, have been hopping from place to place.

We have, thus, also been hopping from kitchen to kitchen…some equipped better than others.

On a recent visit to a small farming community in the English countryside we stayed with rather excessively frugal hosts who had very little of the things that I would normally use to start a soup and lots of things that were several years past date.

I wrestled what I thought might be usable out of their cabinets and set about trying to fashion an edible soup for lunch.

So with a little bit of veggies and a random selection of flavoring ingredients I managed to come up with this little ditty.

Papa actual said it was my second-best soup ever, so there you have it…good soup on the fly.

Travelers Tartan Soup

Ingredients:

1 large tomato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 celery stalks, cut into thin pieces
5-6 sml potatoes, diced
1/2 cup lentils
handful rice
1 lrg carrot, cut into thin coins
5 med-lrg mushrooms, diced
8-10 cups water
2 tblspn yeast extract
2-3 cubes vegetable bullion
1 tblspn salt
1 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
pinch caraway seed
1/8 tsp turmeric
pinch ginger
2 tsp Italian spices (ie. basil, oregano, thyme, etc.)
3 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat water to boiling, add yeast extract and bullion. Allow to dissolve.

2. Fry onions, mushrooms and tomatoes in the olive oil, add to soup pot.

3. Add all other ingredients to soup pot.

4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.

5. Serve with bread, crackers or salad.

*This recipe is designed for alternatives. I made it a couple of days later with parsnips and frozen broad beans as well as some sage and thyme that I pinched fresh from their garden.

Trail mixes are a specialty of mine. The combinations are made up randomly on the spot of whatever I have handy. That is why I call them confetti, whatever colorful scraps of paper are laying around, so to speak.

I like to use some of the same ingredients in each mix, just personal preferences I guess.

Todays mix includes seed and dried fruits, as usual, as well as some groovy spices.

Confetti Trail Mix #1

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 handful of raisins
1 handful dried cranberries
2 tbs dried coconut slivers
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup organic peanuts
1/8 cup dried apples (cut small)
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
drizzle of agave nectar
1/2 tsp shredded ginger

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large ziploc bag or lidded container.

2. Shake profusely to mix.

3. Add wet ingredients (vanilla and agave,) close and shake again.

Have mix, will travel! :D

Papa, Matt and myself went and spent New Year’s Eve with my friend Chuck and his girlfriend Diane. They are both known to be fantastic cooks and that is why I am always more than pleased to accept a dinner invitation to their place.

Chuck is Greek and has been commanded by his grandmother to feed everybody, a goal which he takes seriously and therefore always puts on a fantastic spread.

Diane is very much into ethnic foods, collecting chopsticks, saki sets and all manner of beautiful serving dishes. She likes to do tapas, creative appetizers and Greek dishes. A woman after my own heart, she is very good at coming up with a tasty dish at short notice with whatever is around the kitchen. (And she once saved my bum with a quick last-minute apple birthday cake for my roommate.)

Last night one of the multiple appetizers that she had laid out was some cute, diamond shaped pieces of homemade baklava. Oddly enough, whenever I have had baklava from a Greek restaurant or at parties I have not been very impressed with it. In fact, I thought that I didn’t like baklava.

To be polite I ate a piece of Diane’s baklava last night and was amazed! I loved it! I wanted to eat all of it and Diane was nice enough to send me home with the last two pieces and the recipe. :)

Papa and Chuck had a brief conversation about the ethnic origins of baklava. Of course it is Greek, but Papa remembers fondly how it was one of the popular foods sold at the beach in Crimea, when he lived in Ukraine.

So, whether you are going to the beach or having a New Years Eve party, here is Diane’s Scrumptious Baklava recipe…

Diane’s Scrumptious Baklava

Ingredients:

Pastry-

1-2 packages prepared Phyllo dough
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of walnuts
2 cups of almonds
1 cup sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

Syrup-

1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon (cut into quarters)
1 cup orange blossom honey
1/2 cup of water

1. Grind or chop the nuts finely and mix them with the cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar.

2. In a cake pan or casserole dish, butter the bottom and layer 6 layers of phyllo dough for the base.

3. Brush lightly with butter and press in approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the nut mixture.

4. Top with 4 layers of phyllo, butter lightly and then add another 1/8 or 1/4 inch layer of nuts.

5. Add 4 layers of phyllo, butter lightly and then another nut layer.

6. Repeat the process until you have 4-5 layers, ending with a thicker nut layer and a phyllo layer on top.

7. Cut half way through the layers in a diamond pattern (this makes it easier to cut to shape after baking.)

8. Bake for 1 hour at 325 or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. To make the syrup for glazing, mix syrup ingredients and boil for 15 minutes.

10. Remove baklava from oven, glaze with syrup, cover the pan and let sit on the counter for 2-5 days.

11. Finish cutting through the layers to form diamond-shaped pieces before serving.

***NEVER REFRIGERATE BAKLAVA, IT RUINS THE FLAKY LAYERS AND BECOMES RUBBERY***

The first time that I ever had Swedish Meatballs was at a New Years Party held by one of my Mum’s friends when I was about 5 years old. His mother was an elderly lady who loved to cook and she whipped up a whole Crockpot full of the little beauties.

They’ve been a personal favorite ever since, though they remained a rare but delicious occurrence in my life.

Making Swedish Meatballs can be a little time consuming as it is a multi-step process, but well worth the effort.

If you don’t have access to the main ingredient, Lightlife Gimme Lean, than you could try some Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) but I am not sure how the flavor would turn out.

Serve finished meatballs over linguine, egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

This recipe makes enough for five to six people to really stuff themselves. Expect leftovers.

Just for fun, you can see a video of the Muppets Swedish Chef serving Swedish meatballs.

Vegan Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 package Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style
1 package Gimme Lean Sausage Style
2 large onions (diced small)
4 medium portabello mushrooms (diced very small)
1.5 cups dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup rice or soy milk
2 cups soy creamer (ie. Silk)
4 tblspn olive oil
3-4 tblspn corn starch or flour
1.75 cups homemade No-chicken broth*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp sea salt

* No-chicken broth
4 tblspn nutritional yeast
1.75 cups filtered water
1 tblspn sea salt

1. In one bowl soak the bread crumbs with the rice milk and mix to soften.

2. Add half of the chopped onions, both types of Gimme Lean, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon.

3. Form into small 1 or 1.5 inch balls by rolling between your palms.

4. Brown the meatballs on all sides in a skillet with the olive oil.

5. Return meatballs to a large casserole dish or skillet (depends on whether you choose to bake or boil the sauce.)

6. In a separate sauce pan heat olive oil and fry the other half of the onions to soften them.

7. Add mushrooms and saute for two minutes.

8. Add soy cream and corn starch to thicken. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

9. Add No-Chicken Broth, a pinch of nutmeg, salt & pepper. Allow to thicken again.

10. Add to meatballs and simmer or bake for 15-20 minutes on low to medium-low heat.

11. Ladle over noodles and serve.