OMG, a recipe! I'm a little rusty, friends...so let's ease into this. I'm tired of feeling guilty every time a new recipe of mine goes unposted! Yes, I've been cooking and not sharing. My bad. Super selfish, I know! Don't get me wrong....most of our weekly menus have consisted of taco nights, pizza nights...the usual. My creative touch has been thrown in there from time to time, but maybeeeee not as much as it used to. Turns out that trying to mom, wife and school counselor (all verbs in this case) at the same time is very time consuming. Time consuming. Energy draining. Rewarding (duh). Did I say anything that indicates I'm tired yet? Oh hey there, I'm tired. Yes, all of these things.
I'm nowhere near being on my "A-Game"....living moment to moment has been a means of survival around here for a while now. Hubby and I are nailing it (in my opinion) but it's a mess. An all over the place, mess. Love it, but mamma is tired. Hubs is too....but I couldn't do it without my other half! He rocks...and this is the time of year that he is seriously carrying the team! Okay, you feel me. Turns out the struggle IS real, but we've got this. I'll be over here enjoying the journey, and sharing when possible!
Soooooooo, here it is! You might be thinking...."where is the meat at, Steph?" Lately we've been doing A LOT of meatless meals for a lot of reasons:
1. It's easier to not have to deal with that part of the meal - it's just a whole thing and frankly my meatless meals take much less time to prepare.
2. I was trying to do some more budget friendly meals, and while working lots of beans and grains into the rotation it just sort of happened.
3. I love the idea of a plant based diet. I see us fading meat out more and more...maybe not completely...but it has been happening for a while now.
There's a new restaurant that opened up in my town, and "YAY" is all I could say. So fresh, so yummy and SO up my alley. They have a salad that is my absolute fave, and inspired this fun little dinner right here.
I literally have NO measurements so this is a total estimate but you can't mess this up, at least I don't think you can.
(*Just because I changed the name of my blog, doesn't mean that I changed....it's still going to always be - Never The Same Spice Twice).
Black Bean Burgers
2 cans of Black Beans drained and rinsed (I used a can and about 2-ish cups of black beans that I made in the crock pot which I'd say probably equals about 2 cans)
1.5 cups of cooked quinoa
1 cup of whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
*Mix all of the ingredients together until the beans are slightly mushed up - but still about 40% whole (how is that for precision?) - add more bread crumbs if you feel like you need it to stick together better. Make burger patties and then grill them in some olive oil on medium heat until slightly browned.
Salad
Greens (I used romaine lettuce and baby kale that I had on hand but use whatevs)
Diced Avocado
Diced Tomato
Diced Cucumber
Red Onion
Sliced Red Bell Pepper
Sliced Red Bell Pepper
*Assemble in the typical way one would put together a salad. You've got this.
Dressing
Red Wine Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I usually do more olive oil than red wine vinegar)
Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
*Whisk it all together and mix it in with the salad.
**Throw that yummy "burger" on top and you're done! But wait.......
Sriracha Mayo
BONUS - not pictured, but it definitely happened when I went back inside to join the family after taking food photos. Mayo mixed with as much sriracha as you could handle! OMGGGG, drizzle it over the burger....crazy good!
Can you still call this a recipe? I'm going to say "yes" and still pat myself on the back for this one. It's good, it's easy and you can't really mess it up - I promise! Enjoy!
