Bean & Beat Burger with Portabello Buns

I actually first made this recipe many months ago... 2nd November 2016 to be exact (I can tell by my camera data!) and it's been sitting in my recipe archive folder waiting to be released to the world- amongst countless other recipes. Crazy, really how they all pile up! 

One of my missions this year is to get back into a regular blog posting schedule. To think when I began this blog in 2011 I was posting around three times a week- sometimes more, and that was when I still had my full time career as an architect. So there is really no excuse! ;-) 

I was reminded of this recipe a recently, as I was coming down from a week-long juice fast and I wanted to make a meal, to celebrate with my boyfriend, the return to normal food. I wanted it to be reasonably light, made mostly with veggies and no wheat or refined ingredients (though there was a little oil on the mushrooms caps). The result was this epic burger platter! (ok it was a little larger than I'd anticipated) ;-)

Portabello mushroom caps make amazing burger buns if you want to avoid bread, and you can really use any veggie burger mix inside. In the iphone photo above is the recipe featured below, but in the other 'pro shots' taken in 2016 I used this vegan meatball mix formed into burger patties instead of balls (both would freeze well too so you can make extra).

Then simply layer the burger up with avocado, hummus, relish, chutney, salad leaves, sprouts as tall as you like!

Recipe: Bean & Beat Burger with Portabello Buns

Serves two (makes approx 4 medium burgers)

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans - drained and mashed with a fork

• 1/2 small beetroot

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 onion

• 1 cup cooked quinoa or rice

• 1 cup gram flour (other flours would probably work)

• 1/2 cup ground walnut (or other ground nuts)

• 1 tbs soy sauce

• 2 heaped tbs chopped herbs (I used parsley and rosemary as I had them to hand)

• 4 large portabello mushroom caps.

• a little olive oil.

Method:

Finely chop the beetroot garlic and onion (I used a food processor for a quick blitz) and then saute for a few minutes in a medium sauce pan until softening. Meanwhile gather all remaining ingredients (other than mushrooms/oil) and then add to the pan. Turn off the heat and stir through in the pan until well mixed and the mix holds together.

Form burger patties with your hands and place on a lined baking sheet. I didn't oil them but you could if desired. Bake at 180 for approx 30 mins ensuring they don't burn.

Meanwhile, wash and pat dry the mushroom caps. Chop the stalk out (you could do this in advance and add to the burger mix to void waste). Lightly brush will oil on both sides then sprinkle with salt and paper.

Once the burgers have been baking for 15-20 mins. Place the mushrooms under a hot grill for approx 5 mins on each side until quite 'sweaty' looking.

Prepare any other toppings and a side salad. (For the 'coleslaw' style salad in the top photo I just used slightly water down hummus to coat)

Assemble the burgers in any way you wish! Enjoy immediately.

Mushroom Bourgingnon (almost alcohol free!) for your festive table!

Last weekend I co-hosted a wonderful festive vegan feast and sound bath with my good friend and incredible opera singer Laura of Namuami  Healing Through Music.

It was a wonderful gathering and an opportunity for self-care, to reflect and connect within during the Christmas rush. I have been feeling very reflective lately as the end of the year hurtles closer... looking back and looking forward at the same time can feel overwhelming!

I was planning lots of recipes in the lead up to the event, looking for ideas that could easily cater for larger numbers, that would be simple to prepare (the kitchen facilities at the venue are basic) and that would taste festive and sumptuous (haven't used that word in a while!)

I settled for a roasted parsnip soup (I will post that recipe another time), a roasted brussel sprout, quinoa, cranberry and almond salad (I used this recipe as a guide) AND a mushroom bourguignon... oh it was good, a rich, smooth and silky 'gravy' just like the photos imply! It all went down a treat and got rave reviews with lots of requests for the recipe! 

The recipes I found were all based on using red wine but I was keen to avoid this in a communal wellbeing setting and so instead of the bottle of red wine I replaced this with a carton of red grape juice and a 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar (yes that does contain a little alcohol but much less overall). It worked a treat!

I used chestnut mushrooms for the slightly nuttier flavour, I also recommend using baby chantenay carrots- the bonus is these don't need peeling either, just a good scrub! Any other veg is up to you. I added green beans, but red peppers or peas would be great too. This recipe from The Veg Space was my original inspiration but there are lots of similar variations. 

This would may a wonderful dish as part of your festive dining experience, or served as a meal on its own with a pile of creamy mashed potato (or mashed root veg combo!) would also be amazing.

I'd love to hear what dishes will be adorning your Christmas table?

if you haven't yet tried it... I highly recommend my mini Christmas pudding porridge. It's a winner- promise! :-)
 

Recipe: Mushroom Bourgingnon

Serves approx 6-8 (half the recipe I orginally made- feel free to halve again)

Ingredients:

• 5 shallots - coarsley chopped

• a bag of baby carrots- approx 10-12 - sliced

• a pack of green beans- approx 2 handfuls

• 3 garlic cloves - crushed

• 400g chestnut mushrooms

• 400ml red grape juice

• approx 2 tbs red wine vinegar

• 250ml veg stock

• 3 tbs tomato puree

• 1 heaped tbs vegan gravy powder (or cornflower, as the Bisto powder I used was mainly cornflower)

• a handful of fresh herbs- I used rosemary, sage and thyme.

Method:

And the garlic, carrots and shallots to a large pan with 2 teaspoons of oil of choice and cook for approx. 3 minutes. Cut the mushrooms into quarters, add to the pan along with the green ebans (and any other veg) and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the gravy powder/cornflower in a small bowl with a little of the grape juice to form a thick smooth paste. Add this to the pan along with the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil and then cook until it looks thickened and 'glossy'- approx 10 minutes. Add some finely chopped fresh herbs in the final five minutes of cook time- reserve some to sprinkle to serve if desired.

Serve immediately with mashed potato or alongside other dishes. A wedge of crusty bread would be great too!

Note: I ate leftovers the next day and it tasted amazing, the flavours seemed even richer. Therefore, I think this would also be a great prep-the-day-before dish! 

These were the other savoury delights from the event... I also created a new flavour of 'bliss ball' for the after sound bath treat along with some warmed spiced apple juice.
 

These were ginger, orange, goji and turmeric bliss balls. Deliciously festive! I will get this on the blog soon... but if you want to give them a go, use any basic bliss ball recipe (dates and ground nuts) and add a few goji berries, ground ginger ground turmeric and orange zest to taste. 

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Chocolate, Carrot & Mushroom (yep!) Porridge... for World Porridge Day!

It's World Porridge Day today... and in order to celebrate, I am sharing a porridge recipe with a chocolatey theme for some extra celebratory indulgence!

What's World Porridge Day all about?

Taken from Mary's Meals website, "In Malawi and Liberia, where we have our largest school feeding programmes, the children receive vitamin-enriched maize porridge every school day. World Porridge Day celebrates the huge difference this daily mug of porridge makes to the lives of chronically hungry children." 

Head over to their website to find out how you can help support the project and share your #PorridgeSmiles (see my entry down below!)

I'm also sharing the love for RealFoodSource who have just launched a new range of amazing porridge blends full of chunky goodness and free from refined sugars. I was sent some samples last week for recipe testing and I am seriously so impressed, I will be sharing the results with you soon!

Back to my recipe! This ticks all my boxes- oats, veg and a 'booster' this time in the form of medicinal mushroom powder... my new best friend!

Adding medicinal mushrooms to anything chocolatey is great as it compliments the earthy flavour. It also works fantastically in a latte style drink with chai spices or of course a hot chocolate. I made a chocolate pudding with it here. 

I use a blend of organic chaga, reishi and cordyceps (I buy as separate small packs and mix them together in a tub ready to use as it was cheaper to do it that way) but any medicinal mushroom powder would work.

Porridge is not just perfect for breakfast, on this occasion I think it was lunch (or maybe brunch) whilst I was working (yep I went for the in-situ shot for a change) and I topped it with some dark choc chunks and a few small bliss balls I'd made that were left over from an event. 

In this recipe, I used finely grated carrot, but I could have used courgette or sweet potato for equally great results.

If that wasn't enough, for even more porridge recipes... click here for my porridge ebook (or scroll down and click the front cover pic) and for the rest of this month as a tribute to #Worldporridgeday grab yourself a 20% discount when you buy the book and quote PORRIDGEDAY20 at the checkout!

Enjoy getting all porridged up! :-)

 Recipe: Chocolate, Carrot & Mushroom Porridge

Serves 1 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup porridge oats

• 1 cup non-dairy milk of choice

• 1 small carrot- finely grated

• 1 heaped tsp medicinal mushroom powder

• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder/paste

• approx 1 tbs syrup of choice or coconut sugar to taste

• 2 tbs raw cacao

• for optional decoration- dark chocolate chunks, bliss balls, turmeric dusted coconut.

Method: 

Add all ingredients except the medicinal mushroom powder to a small pan on the stove. Simmer for about five minutes, until cooked. Take off the head and add a little extra liquid if desired to achieve desired texture and stir through the medicinal mushroom powder just before serving to retain the maximum nutritional benefit. Add any toppings of choice or a drizzle of extra sweetness and serve.

Grab my ebook here... for the rest of October I am offering 20% discount when you buy the book and quote PORRIDGEDAY20 at the checkout!

P.s do you like my carrot cake tabby cat I made for breakfast this morning for my Mary's Meals #PorridgeSmiles...

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Chocolate Avocado Pudding (with medicinal mushrooms!)

I have been adding medicinal mushroom powder to everything recently- well mainly anything chocolatey as the colour and flavours are perfect masked!

I bought a selection of organic medicinal mushroom powders from here and mixed them together into one blend tub which I keep in the fridge. I like to have a teaspoon a day in a chocolatey dessert or as hot drink with some cocoa and/or vanilla bean.

medicinal mushroom powder ready to mix into chocolatey porridge

There are many reported benefits of medicinal mushrooms... I was first intrigued by the articles I read up on how mushrooms could help with focus (something I really struggle with as my creative brain fires off on all tangents!) I had also been aware of them at many health food shows but hadn't really explored them at that point. 

There are estimated to be over 5 million different species of mushrooms, yet only 270 are currently classified as ‘medicinal’ with their potent anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and immune-enhancing qualities. Some of the most popular are reishi, chaga and cordyceps- which are the three types I have.

This pudding recipe is a spin on a classic avocado chocolate pudding, and in putting this post together I realised I didn't actually have any other form of avocado pudding on this blog - every vegan food blogger has an avocado pudding!! ;-) (Now I do too!)

This recipe serves one (or two smaller servings), but I have also tried it with great success by multiplying and making a huge batch of pudding mix then freezing in muffin cups- perfect pudding portions at the ready!

You could mix other mild favoured superfood powders in if your preferred- such as maca or baobab or leave them out all together.

Bonus- this recipe only takes two minutes to blend up!

Recipe: Chocolate Avocado Pudding with medicinal mushrooms

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

• 1 medium ripe avocado

• 1/2 cup medjool dates (approx 3-4)

• 3 tbs raw cacao (or cocoa powder)

• 1 heaped tsp cashew or macadamia butter*

• 1/2 cup water*

• 1/2 - 1 tsp medicinal mushroom powder (optional)

• Tiny pinch of sea salt

• Approx. 1 tsp maple syrup - only if needed

* You could also substitute the nut butter and water with 1/2 cup coconut milk.

Method:

Blitz all together in a small food processor/blender until super smooth. Taste and add a tiny drop of maple syrup if extra sweetness is desired. Spoon into a serving bowl and allow to chill a little to set if desired. 

I served mine with crushed frozen raspberry pieces and desiccated coconut. You could also add an extra layer of fruit at the bottom of the serving bowl.

Speedy tahini pea and mushroom soup

It seems that every recipe i post at the moment has the '1-minute' or '5-minute' status!

it seems an indication of the direction my life is going...high speed...non stop. I still haven't mastered the art of slooowing down.

I'm still very much enjoying the creativity of recipe development, it's simply that I haven't got the luxury of time to spend longer than about 10 minutes in the actual cooking process. Most ideas swim around my head for a while, collected and pinned amongst various notes on Evernote and only then do they make it into the kitchen- it's the kitchen part where I struggle for time.

My days are pretty hectic at the moment, studying two courses, producing packs of Wholeplus products amongst the work I do with other companies too. 

So, this soup has been a lifesaver, it's flexible- so throw in any small fridge/freezer veg and it tastes so simple and good I've got quite addicted! If you follow my Instagram you'll note I posted varitions on the theme quite a few times... I just didn't get round to photographing it in the daylight!

Well finally I have captured it on camera! Like I say the ingredients are fairly flexible- as long as they are chopped small however I would encourage you to use either frozen endamame beans or peas and mushrooms as the base (ideally chestnut mushrooms for a slightly nuttier flavour). Being someone you has never liked cooked mushrooms this is a big milestone for me and I think the key is the fact that they are only minimally cooked so don't have the slimy texture that I've never liked! Also, if you use noodles- make sure they are the type that cook within approx 5 mins to match the timings I have listed. 

Go and get to it!

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup veg broth

• 2 tsp tahini

• splash of soy sauce to taste 

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• 1 cup frozen peas or endgame

• approx. 2cm circumference brown rice noodles or soba noodles (5 min cook time max.)

• 1 small leek- finely sliced in circles

• 1 cup sliced mushrooms

• 1 cup packed spinach

• Note: other finely cut ingredients optional- i.e. sliced cabbage, sliced peppers...

Method

Whisk wet ingredients together add peas and noodles and bring to the boil. Slice the leek add that, slice the mushrooms and add those for the final 2 minutes cook time. Add spinach (if using) in the final minute.

If using other ingredients (my photos shw red cabbage add those as along with the frozen peas beans).

Serve immediately.