quinoa + white bean burgers with a ramp + chili pesto

I cannot believe that this is the first ramp recipe I am posting this season, since ramps have been on my plate at almost every single meal I've had at home over the past few weeks. Breakfast: side of crispy ramps, lunch: raw ramps in my salad, dinner: ramps any way I can think of. 

Ramps, all day every day. 

I'm hoping you have not been overwhelmed by onslaught of ramp recipes this year .... if you're anything like me, you'll never be sick of ramps. 

But this recipe is not just about the ramps. They're sharing the spotlight with this quinoa burger. If you've been following along here for a while, you know that I have done a few variations of a quinoa burger, shifting ingredients and preparations around each time. This might be my favorite one to date. 

The very first recipe I posted for a quinoa burger went internet famous on me. And by internet famous, I mean it has made it's way around Tumblr (not as exciting as being YouTube internet famous). To be honest, I don't even think it was the burger that was getting all of the love, I think it was the avocado spread.

Because let's face it, when it comes to a veggie-type burger, it is just as much about the sauce as it is the patty. 

And with that, the conversation gets turned back to ramps.

 

I've tried some pretty interesting and awesome ramp preparations this year. There is so much you can do with them. They're great raw, sauteed, pickled, or incorporated into a sauce, like this recipe here. 

Last night I watched my father-in-law chop a few up and mix them into some homemade guacamole (I'm pretty sure he thought it was green onion). It was so good. 

Ramps are a little more pungent and exciting than green onion, but the two can be interchanged in almost any recipe. So if you cannot find ramps where you are, or when their short season is over, then go ahead and sub green onion. 

Okay, back to the burgers. These burgers are super versatile. You can switch up, increase, or leave out pretty much any ingredient listed, including the egg, since I know some of you would prefer a vegan version. In the past, my quinoa burgers were made without egg, however the egg really helps to bind. If you prefer not to use the egg, by all means leave it out. Just be aware that they will be a little more delicate (they fall apart easier). 

You can go crazy with the toppings. For mine, I just added some arugula and some thinly sliced red onion but you can also add avocado, and any other veggie you can think of. If you want a gluten or bread-free option you can leave out the bun and serve it over a salad or in a lettuce wrap. 

The only non-negotiable part is the ramp pesto. You cannot leave out the ramp pesto, it really is the best part.

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breakfast in a jar (to-go!) coconut quinoa + a cherry compote with toasted almonds // gf + vegan

Hi Friends. 

I've been chatting with some of you about what kind of recipes are helpful to you, and it sounds like we are all very busy people. Too busy. Too busy to make breakfast, too busy to make lunch, and too busy (and tired) to come home and make dinner. 

With that in mind, I am trying to include more recipes for busy people so that they can eat homemade + healthy more often. Starting with breakfast. 

My great pal, nutritionist, and fellow health enthusiast, Tiffany, asked for an easy recipe for breakfast on the go. This one right here might take a little effort up front, but it can be made ahead of time and it will last you a good couple of days. As you would expect, it is dairy-free and gluten-free and oh-so delicious. 

Making your breakfast the night or weekend before and putting it in a jar is a great way for you to be able to enjoy a lovely homemade breakfast on the go. Getting into the habit of making breakfast or lunch for yourself at least a few days a week is just one little thing you can do to improve your overall health + might even put a smile on your face.

News flash! You can put anything in a jar and take it with you, not just this recipe. Oatmeal + raisins, muesli + fruit, or maybe even a little yogurt parfait. All you need is 30 or so minutes on a Sunday afternoon, and you have breakfast ready to go for a few days out of your week.

If you do not own a mason jars, you can also make this in whichever travel container you like to use. I love mason jars (who doesn't). They serve so many purposes. The tight lids also offer extra insurance if you are traveling with your breakfast so that you do not end up with it all over your car or handbag. 

Now, of course, if you do not have an office job and you just want to make this for yourself or your boyfriend / husband / girlfriend / stranger, by all means. This recipe is great for that too. 

And remember ... you should never skip breakfast, it really is the most important meal of the day :)

 

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quinoa pancakes with caramelized apples + hazelnuts // gluten-free

For my first recipe of 2013, I hope you weren't expecting a salad or a smoothie. 

Now is probably a good time to tell you that I don't really do resolutions. Not to discourage the cleansers and the dieters - I'm proud of you, yay! - but I do believe that we should be making good decisions to eat healthier all year round, not just in January. 

I do feel it is important to take the time to reflect on the past year and think about what was good and what was maybe not so good and make slight life adjustments accordingly.

If I ate too many pieces of pie last year, maybe I try to not eat so much pie this year. 

If I didn't eat enough kale last year (not really possible), maybe I try to eat more kale this year. 

If I drank one too many glasses of champagne at a christmas party (that may have happened), maybe I try to drink one less next time. 

Cutting things out of your life that you enjoy are only going to make you want them twice as much, at least that is what happens to me. So, I prefer to make little changes in order to create more balance. 

Balance. 

That's what it is all about, isn't it?

Okay, onto pancakes. 

I've been on a bit of a pancake kick lately. More than normal. 

I guess I was feeling like I needed some more pancakes in my life ... you know, to balance things out. 

I made these pancakes with a mixture of quinoa flour and white rice flour, which turned out to be a pretty nice gluten-free blend. The only thing I would mention is that they do have a strong quinoa flavor .... so if you you want more of a subtle quinoa taste, feel free to lessen the ratio of quinoa flour. Say more like 3/4 cups of white rice flour and 1/4 cup of quinoa flour. 

If you did make resolutions, I hope that they are ones that you will benefit from all year and bring balance (and maybe some extra pancakes) to your life. 

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sesame crusted quinoa + kale cakes

If you follow my twitter or instagram feed {or if we are real life friends - hi!} you know that I am currently in Beijing. I've been here since Wednesday and we have packed our days with as much site seeing and touring as a person {who does not particularly like site seeing} could handle. We have two more stops after this, Hong Kong + Tokyo. It's my first trip to Asia, and I am so excited I have finally made my way to the other side of the world. 

I will be sharing photos from the trip, but before I do that I wanted to share these quinoa cakes which I made so Michael and I could have a little snack of something homemade and healthy for our 13 hour flight.

If you read 101 cookbooks, you're probably familiar with Heidi's packing and plane food posts. I am not nearly as organized before a long trip as Heidi appears to be. I'm usually scrambling to pack at the very last minute or running off to the store at some ridiculous hour to buy travel size things, so cooking a meal to pack for the plane ride never crossed my mind. However, after reading Heidi's posts on how she makes and packs these delicious little snacks for long plane rides, I was totally inspired and determined to get myself organized to do it for our next long trip. 

I thought about what I would make, what would be easy to take and eat, but most of all what would be the most satisfying. Michael loves these red bean + zucchini cakes, so I knew that I should stay in that direction. Then I thought, I might as well go with Heidi all the way on this and make the quinoa patties she made recently for a trip to London. I've made them before and they were so good, I knew I would be excited to whip them out mid-flight.

I made a few tweaks, mostly being the addition of the sesame seed crust. In case you haven't noticed, I have been on a bit of a sesame seed kick recently. I cannot get enough of them. Being a sauce kind of person, I wanted something to dip these in, taking into consideration that they would not be able to be refrigerated while in-transit. A tamari based sauce was the perfect solution and compliment to these cakes. 

Thank you Heidi for the inspiration. I was not only able to get myself organized + packing slightly before the 11th hour, but Michael and I were so excited to snack on some home cooked food at 30,000ft while watching hours and hours of Mad Men + The Office. 

sesame crusted quinoa + kale cakes
(adapted from the quinoa patty recipe by Heidi Swanson of 101 cookbooks)

makes 
about 12 small cakes

ingredients

2 cups of cooked quinoa, room temperature
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
pepper
1/2 cup of kale, finely chopped
1/4 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
3 shallots, minced
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of garbanzo bean flour
1/4 - 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
2-4 tablespoons of grapseed oil, if you are frying 

tamari dipping sauce: 
2 tablespoons of tamari or low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of brown rice vinegar
1-2 tablespoons of diced green onion 

method

• Pre-heat the oven to 350º.
• In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, eggs, salt, and pepper. Add the kale, cilantro, shallots, garlic, and cumin and stir until everything is combined.
• Then add the baking powder and the garbanzo bean flour. Stir again and set it aside for a few minutes so the moisture can absorb. 
• While the mixture is resting, make the dipping sauce. Whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. 
• At this point, your mixture should hold together well. If it does not, add another egg or maybe a little more flour, but be careful not to add too much flour as you do not want the mixture to be dry. 
• Line a baking sheet with parchment and pour the sesame seeds out onto a small plate. Take about a tablespoon or two of the mixture and roll it between your palms and then flatten it out. The cakes should be about an inch or so in diameter. Press each side into the sesame seeds making sure you get a nice coating of the seeds on each side, and then place them on the baking sheet. 
• Bake for 10 minutes. While they are baking, if you are going to finish them in a pan (which I recommend) heat up a couple of tablespoons of grapeseed oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat (do this about 3 minutes before they are done baking). If you are not going to fry the cakes, leave them in the oven for another 10 minutes until they are cooked through. 
• For frying: Make sure the oil is very hot, then place a couple of cakes in the pan. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. If the oil is not hot you might overcook the cakes and they will be dry. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, just enough to brown the cakes. Continue until all of the cakes are browned. 
• Serve warm with the tamari dipping sauce. They will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. If you are traveling with them, they will be fine in an air-tight container for 12-24 hours.  

pumpkin & beet salad with a carrot ginger dressing

I love Fall. 

We're only a few days in, but I have already began to embrace putting on vest and scarf in the morning to walk the dog, and I am so excited to start to see fall fruits and vegetables make their way to the farmer's markets and grocery stores. 

I planted some pumpkin this summer (note: some = a lot), and I am going to have to have to get very creative with the dozens of pumpkins I am going to have this October. 

Starting with this recipe right here which I created for the fall issue of a beautiful, new online magazine, Delighted. 

There are a few other really good-looking recipes using pumpkin in the issue, and I will likely be trying them all. Go check them out, and be sure to browse all of the other great articles on life and style and tips on setting a beautiful table for the fall season.

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