Baby steps

It may not sound like a big deal, but last night I went out, drank, came home and went to bed. Without late-night eating. It’s not necessarily the alcohol that always does it, but when you eat dinner at a normal hour and then get home at 1 or 2, you’re sometimes actually hungry. And even if I’m not, I usually just want a little something. Last night though, I knew no matter what I’d come home and go to bed. And I did. And I’m proud of myself.

Yesterday my new food processor came and of course I had to try it out. I was so excited to try out the black bean burger recipe I had seen. Because I had gone to the food store earlier without the recipe in hand, I only remembered to get 2 things I needed, so I improvised. And it worked out fabulously.

The first thing I did was grate 2 carrots. Never tried this before, but I like the consistency that came out of it.

Then I started by grinding a 1/2 cup oats with flax seed (didn’t have pumpkin seeds, so used these instead). Next up I added the carrots, 3/4 of the beans and the spices I had. Original recipe below called for coriander and cayenne, which I didn’t have but it tasted fine without. The only part where I sorta went wrong, is that the recipe was too big for my 4-cup processor. I had so sorta scoop some out, then grind, then add back in, etc. Next time maybe I’ll do it in 2 parts or 1/2 the recipe.

Once the mixture was done, I made 6 patties.

How pertyy is my processor.

Then I baked them at 300. Recipe said 40 min, but they weren’t quite ready so it more like 50-55.

Paired 1 of these bad boys, with this

Perfection.

And yes, I finally rented Food, Inc. Started watching and already amazed. Will definitely have a full report once I finish. Oh, and I brought back the green monster earlier in the day.

Mmm. Black bean original Front Burner blog recipe below.

Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)

• 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

To Prepare:  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Next, add the oats and pepitas to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky).  Let it run for roughly 10 seconds.  Grate the carrots, and then add to your mixture in the food processor.  Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil.  Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whir and mix it all together.

Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans.  Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties.  Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle.  If you want to grill these, pre-bake them for 30 minutes at 300, and then throw them on the grill to reheat and get a little extra browning.