Recipes

So very, very easy. 

The other week Clarissa expressed an interest in Vegetarian Burgers. Honestly, she'd liked 'em for a while, but I hadn't gotten my ass in gear to make 'em, so, here it is. The recipe is fairly basic and easy to do. The main bit is soaking the beans over night. The rest of the ingredients can be substituted. Clarissa hates onions, so the bulk of this meal was black beans, sweetcorn, egg and flour to bind. Then you fry for a few minutes, insert into a bread bun (chef's choice), tomato, lettuce and e voila, veggie burgers! Not bad at all, even for a lifelong fan on the meaty variety.

Tonight I shall mostly be making Chickpea Curry, loosely based on what I tasted regularly while working at the Filmhouse Cafe/Bar-Edinburgh and recipes I perused on't 'tinter-web'! Fingers crossed.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.