Sweet & Sour Lentils

I was skeptical about this recipe...an entire meal with just lentils? Weird. However, it actually turned out quite well and hubby said it was decent. Although he did say it would be better with pork :)

I didn't take a picture because I didn't think it was going to be any good, and it's not very pretty!

The original recipe is from Hillbilly Housewife, and I made very few changes to it. I think next time I would also add pineapple chunks to it, and maybe add a small amount of pork for an 'almost meatless monday' meal. Also, hubby suggested that some roasted peanuts sprinkled on top before eating would add extra tastiness...I love it when hubby has culinary suggestions, often he just gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down, so input is appreciated!!

Ingredients

1 Cup Lentils

2 1/2 Cups Water

2 Beef Bouillon Cubes (Mine are vegetarian due to those being the only gf ones I could find!)

A sprinkle of Bay Leaf Pieces

1/4 Cup Pineapple or Apple Juice

1/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/8 Cup White Vinegar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

2 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1 Tbsp. Oil

1 Red Pepper, Diced (I'm sure other peppers would be just as good, that's just what I had)

1 Large Onion, Diced

2 Cups Rice, Cook as Directed

Pineapple chunks (optional)

Peanuts (optional, obviously leave out if you are nut free!)

Place lentils, water, beef bouillon cubes and bay leaf pieces in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook until tender. Stir occasionally. 

While that is cooking, in a large frying pan, saute onion and pepper in oil, until tender/onion is translucent.

In a small bowl, mix together pineapple/apple juice, apple cider vinegar, vinegar, brown sugar and garlic. (If using pineapple chunks, add them here.)

When lentils are tender (most of the liquid will be absorbed), add them to the frying pan with the cooked onions and peppers. Add the juice mixture and stir to mix. Heat until bubbling and serve hot over rice. (If adding peanuts, add them to the top.)

Gluten Free Penne Carbonara

Gluten Free Organic Quinoa, Amaranth, Brown Rice Penne. Delicious!

Yesterday was meatless Monday...well we went with 'almost meatless Monday' instead. :)

Gluten Free Penne Carbonara

1 lb GF Penne, cook as directed
1 Tbsp. Oil
1 Onion, diced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cup Bacon Bits
1 Tomato, diced
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese (fresh grated, or powdered)
4 Eggs


Cook pasta as directed (if using gf pasta, do NOT overcook, this can happen quickly so it pays to stay close to the stove for the 6-8 minutes it takes to cook!).
Fry onion in oil until translucent, then add garlic and mix together. Add bacon bits and tomato and fry for 1-2 minutes until tomato softens. Remove from heat until pasta is ready.

Lightly beat eggs in a bowl and add heavy cream and parmesan cheese and mix together.

Strain pasta and put back into pot. Add onion mixture. With pot over low heat, slowly add cream and egg mixture. BE PATIENT! If you try to heat it up too quickly by raising the temperature, you will just end up with cooked eggs on pasta! Stir together and slowly heat through, stirring often.
Serve hot.

This was wonderful! I think next time I would add some spinach in at the end too, just to add some colour, but it was great just the way it was too!

I know it has bacon so it's technically not 'meatless', but I think this will make it into our meatless monday rotation on a regular basis!!

Black Bean Burgers

Looking wonderful and tasty and ready to eat!

Hot off the BBQ!

Ready for the BBQ!

These were such a hit for supper last night! Although hubby refuses to call them 'burgers' choosing instead to label them BBQ Bean Patties. Whatever you call them make sure you insert 'yummy' at least once!

I kind of just threw them together so changes will need to be made but here is the preliminary recipe.

Makes 10 patties depending on what size you make them.

Ingredients

6 cups beans, drained (I soak & cook my beans and then freeze them in 3 cup portions (including broth) so I'm not exactly sure how many cups of drained beans I used).
1/2 Large onion (next time I would cook this first or use dehydrated onion)

1 Egg

1 Cup Cheese, shredded

1/2-3/4 Cup Instant Potato Flakes (I don't normally use anything like this but in trying to keep it gf and not use crackers I tried this. It worked but I think I will experiment with ground gf oats or gf breadcrumbs next time just to see if it makes a big difference. Although I will admit that these were super cheap and easy to grab out of the pantry!)
Steak spice, to taste (Maybe 2Tbsp.)

BBQ Sauce, to taste (Maybe 1/4 Cup and more for topping on the BBQ)

Mash the beans in a big bowl using a potato masher. You don't want complete puree but you do want it all mashed.
Add all other ingredients.
Add more potato flakes/bread crumbs as needed.
Shape into patties.
BBQ on medium-medium high heat for about 5 min per side.
Add some BBQ sauce to the top after you flip them, if desired.
Alternately you can pan fry them in 1/4 cup of oil. I knew if I was going to stand a chance to get my hubby to eat them they would have to be on the BBQ!!

Serve hot as you would hamburgers...buns, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, pickles etc. then return to the kitchen and quietly fist pump as you score one for meatless Mondays and are one meal closer to reducing your grocery bill, even a small amount!

Keep in mind that these are NOT the same firmness as beef burgers. They do squish a bit when you bite into them. I thought it would bother hubby but he said it was kind of like bbq sloppy joe or meatloaf. I can live with that!

I'm not sure how well they would freeze, I didn't have a chance to try...maybe next time!

What's On The Table?

Black bean burgers on gluten free hamburger buns!

The consensus from my carniverous family is that these are very tasty :)

Happy meatless Monday!

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Southwest Breakfast Casserole

Finished and ready to eat!

Before baking.

Our meatless Monday's dish...or this week's Meatless Tuesday lol (we had leftovers that needed eating yesterday).

So simple, so tasty and yes so filling...not to mention economical!

Ingredients
(I have tripled the recipe, and it is enough to feed 3 adults, 2 kids and have 2 lunches leftover (and yes, it reheats quite well! And of course I use more cheese then the original recipe because cheese is wonderful!)


3 Cups Cooked Rice
1 1/2 Cups Salsa
2-3 Cups Cooked Beans
Shredded Cheese (a cup or two)
8-9 Eggs

Mix rice and salsa in the bottom of a casserole dish and press flat. Sprinkle some cheese on top. Spread beans on top. Sprinkle more cheese. Dig 'pockets' in the layers for however many eggs you want to put in. I do 8 or 9 depending on how I space the pockets. Crack eggs into pockets. Sometimes I put 2 in the centre if its a bigger hole :)
Bake at 350°F for 30-50 minutes or until egg whites are no longer runny. Baking time depends on your preference of egg...a little runny yolk or fully cooked. Enjoy!