veggie burgers + lessons in the kitchen

About a year or so ago, Sally and I decided we needed to be documenting our attempts at making things. We always start off with high aspirations, a two hour Walmart trip to gather supplies, and sometimes a bottle of wine - for when we're really trying to get those creative juices flowing. Food, art, home decor...it doesn't really matter what we're making, it usually begins something like that. Unfortunately, a lot of times those crafts that we begin with such vigor don't get finished...or the baked goods intended for girls weekends or co-workers get fed to the two-year-old because they look like she actually made them. We've got random creative disasters and half-way-finished projects stashed away all over the place, and photographs of some kitchen experiments in an iPhoto album that I named 'blog' and planned on showing off sharing as soon as we became bloggers.

We've also had some creative successes, which are worth sharing at some point as well, but my almost success in the kitchen last night inspired me to get our 'what I tried to make / what I actually made' section of the blog going - and share a yummy, easy, AND healthy recipe.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture to document, but I followed this recipe by Andie of Can You Stay For Dinner with only a few small changes and the addition of a veggie topping, and mine actually turned out looking just how it was supposed to. So just envision this:

photo by Andie

QuinoaVeggie Burgers with Avocado Topping
adapted from Can You Stay For Dinner

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 carrot, diced
• 3 tbs onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 15 oz can of black beans
• 1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• cheddar cheese (optional)

Topping

• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced 
• 1 orange sweet pepper, diced
• ~3 tbs. tzatziki 

Burger Patties
In a small pot, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook approximately 12-14 minutes or until liquid is absorbed, and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse carrot until finely chopped. Add cooked quinoa, onion, garlic, beans, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin, salt, and pepper. I accidentally threw the oil in on this step but I think it was a happy accident because it helped it all stay together without being fragile or hard to flip; pulse until combined but still a little chunky.

Form mixture into 4-6 patties. In a large nonstick skillet, heat a little oil over medium; cook burgers until browned, about 6-8 minutes per side. Melt cheddar cheese on top before removing from heat.

Acocado Topping
Combine the diced avocado, cucumber, tomato and pepper in a serving bowl. Spoon in tzatziki and stir until thoroughly mixed. This can be served as a topping or a side salad.

serves 4-6

Yum! These were delicious - Mom grilled turkey burgers for the boys in case they weren't feeling the veggie patties, but those were left untouched on the platter because these were man-friendly, too! Turkey chili may or may not have been added to the top of theirs, but hey, this goes down as a success in the kitchen.

Of course, my domestic efforts rarely go off without a hitch. Before we sat down to eat, I washed most of the dishes and cleaned off some counter space. When rinsing plates after we were through, the sink wouldn't drain. Turns out, you shouldn't put avocado peels down the disposal. Fortunately, I live with my parents and my dad's a really handy guy who was able to take apart something under the sink and get it going again. You win some, you lose some.

I'm giving us a mark under the 'what I tried to make column' on this one, but stay tuned to see some pretty hilarious attempts at being crafty and domestic that didn't turn out so well.