Posts Tagged With: burger

The Ultimate Umami Vegan Burger

Posted on September 25, 2017 by leroy watson
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Ultimate Umami Vegan Burger

The ‘Ultimate Umami’ is a special occasion in a bun!  it’s the main event (with a side order of wedges).  I think this burger will be enjoyed by absolutely everyone!  

Most of us now know that veggie burgers can have way much more flavour and texture than a traditional meat burger, we just need to make them right and flavour them up with bold and delicious flavours.  This is where all that ‘umami’ comes into play.  We’ve all had a sub-standard, borderline nightmare, veggie burger experience.  This ain’t it!!  

These are perfect for a late autumn BBQ.  The sun is still hanging on up here in North Wales and there’s that lovely nip in the air.  September and October are two of my favourite months in Snowdonia, winter is well on the way, but we can still squeeze in some BBQ’s and picnics.  The sea is still warm-ish, the moutains take on amazing colours and shades and there is so much local produce to play with. 

Winter is coming in Snowdonia, but we still have a few BBQ’s left in us yet!

I’ve packed these patties with big flavours and the texture is solid (good ‘solid’, not brick like). It’s not going to flake or crumble out on you at the decisive BBQ moment or grill flip.  We enjoyed them down in Ludlow, the night before our cooking demonstration and talk, on a little BBQ sat outside the coolest caravan ever, a ’59 Vintage Airstream in mint condition with a bath outside under the stars.  Lucky, lucky us!! The burger was a highlight, but am outdoor bath at dawn, with the mist rising off the meadows probably just pipped it in the amazing-ness stakes.

Us – Outside the Streamline ’59 Caravan , before the Ludlow Food Festival

INTRODUCING UU!

The ‘Ultimate Umami’ (UU for short) will blow your taste buds away (to somewhere nice, like the coast of Southern Italy, or the Himalayas on a clear and sunny day.  Burgers have that power!) I don’t think I’m exaggerating here!  Name me one person who does not truly get a burger tickle on occasion? (Comments below).

There’s some kind of magic there, but the accompaniments need to be bang on too, it’s a team effort, so we’ve gone to the Med to pick our favourite flavours; basil yoghurt, sweet roasted peppers…..  This burger will also be ideal with any of your favourite sides and sauce; it’s got that deep, savoury, deliciousness that accompanies most things brilliantly.  It’s a launchpad for a burger feast to remember.  

UNIVERSAL VEGAN BURGER LAWS

You need a tasty burger if you want to be a vegan cooking wizard or wizard-ess. It’s one of the universal vegan cooking laws. Those timeless guidelines, set in a block of ancient fossilized tempeh, somewhere high in the hills of Eastern California, by a veg patch and smoothie bar. ‘Thou shall munch on tasty burgers! Then thou shall use a napkin afterwards (it can get a little messy)!’ Other vegans laws include ‘Open mindedness towards tofu’ and ‘When in doubt, blend it!’

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UMAMI?

Umami overload! Not a bad thing. Mushrooms, red rice, balsamic vinegar, yeast extract, caramelised onions, toasted walnuts, miso, smoked paprika……it’s all there. Intense. It’s a bells and whistles burger for sure.

Umami is the fifth flavour and is present naturally in many foods, normally the very tasty ones. Of course, a Japanese scientist isolated it and turned it into MSG. Not good stuff. But umami itself is basically the thing that makes you go MMMMM in savoury dishes.

We hope you get the chance to sit in a garden soon with one of these whoppers and enjoy the late Autumn sun.

Recipe Notes

Don’t mess with veg burger too much. Handle them minimally and gently. Once in/on the pan/grill, just flip them once. Once they are cooked and left to rest, they will firm up some more.

You can make the burger mix beforehand. This works nicely, a night in the fridges and the flavours can really get to know each other better.

This mix will also freeze nicely. Keep for three months max.

We made these into little burger bites at our Home Cooked Happiness Vegan Cooking Retreat, think falafel sized bites.   They can be deep fried if you like, makes them very crispy.

Red rice is a super nutritious and tasty ingredient (see ‘Foodie Fact’ below), but you can substitute it for a wholesome brown rice instead.  In fact, at the cooking retreat, I tried the recipe with red quinoa, which was delicious.

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Introducing The ‘UU’ – Ultimate Umami Burger

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The ‘Ultimate Umami’ Vegan Burger (Gluten-free)

The Bits – For 4 

Burger

100g red rice

50g green/ brown lentils 

240g red kidney beans (cooked)

 

400g mushrooms (diced)

1 large onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

 

80g toasted walnuts (ground to a rough crumb in blender)

3 teas brown miso 

2 tbs onion marmalade

1 tbs yeast extract 

60g bread crumbs (gluten-free is fine)

 

Roast Potato & Carrot Wedges

300g carrots (cut into thick batons)

500g potatoes (cut into wedges)

1 teas smoked paprika

1 teas thyme

1 teas cumin seeds

Salt

 

Basil Yoghurt

350ml unsweetened soya yoghurt

10g basil leaves (one big handful)

¼ lemon (juice)

1 garlic clove

Pinch salt

 

4 tbs white flour

 

Serve

Roasted Med Veg (your favourite selection, I used onions, peppers and aubergine)

Salad leaves/ Rocket

Onion Marmalade (see our recipe for Onion & Chilli Marmalade here.)

 

Do It

Burgers

In a small sauce pan, wash and drain the rice and lentils, then cover with 1.5 cm water, bring to boil, pop lid on, cook for 30 minutes on low heat.  Leave to cool. 

In a frying pan, add 1 tbs cooking oil and add the mushroom, fry for around 12 minutes, until they are caramelised and all their liquid is cooked off. Set aside. Add more oil and fry the onion until golden, add the garlic and balsamic, stir and cook until the balsamic vinegar has evaporated, five minute-ish.  Leave to cool. 

In a large bowl, mix and mash together all the other ingredients. Combine well.  You’re looking for most of the beans to be mashed but a few whole, for texture. Refrigerate. The mix is best used straight from the fridge, but it’s not essential.

Form the mix into burger patties, roughly 10cm wide, 1.5cm deep. This is easiest done with slightly wet hands.  Scatter the flour onto a plate. Place the patties in the flour and give a light coating all over.

Warm 1 tbs oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat. When warm, fry off two burgers at a time. Cook for 4-5 minutes each side, until a little charred. Place them on a lined baking tray and repeat.

When ready to serve, place the burgers in an oven, 200oC for 10-12 minutes, making sure they are warmed through.  

 

Wedges

On a baking tray lined with parchment (stops the wedges sticking to the tray), toss the potatoes and carrots in the oil, paprika, thyme, salt and cumin seeds.

Preheat a fan oven to 200oc and bake the wedges for 30 minutes, turning them gently at least once to ensure even cooking.

 

Yoghurt

Place all in a blender and blitz until smooth. Check seasoning.

 

Serve

In your favourite buns/ rolls with a little side salad, relish and loads of Autumn sunshine.

The bounty of autumn. A cooks paradise:)

Foodie Fact

Red rice is normally unhulled and has a lovely nutty flavour as well as loads of healthy properties.  Red rice is normally a little more expensive than other white or brown rices, it is more scarce and also has a much lower yield.

Red rice has a stronger flavour and when cooked, will share its bright red colour with other ingredients.  In these burgers, the rice adds a full flavour, loads of fibre and is the perfect ‘binder’ to help keep the burger together when being cooked and nibbled.

There is a good amount of protein in red rice and plenty of minerals like zinc and especially iron and magnesium.  You’ll also find Vitamin B1, B6 and B2, calcium, plus plenty of anti-oxidants.

During our cooking demo at the Ludlow Food Festival (I’m holding an imaginary cauliflower, it’s a long story……;)

If you try the ‘Ultimate Umami’ Burgers, let us know below in the comments.  We love to hear from you!!

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Come and say hello in London soon!  We’ll be at Vegfest 2017 and cooking at our Global Vegan event in Brixton.  

Can’t wait!

 

 

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan, veganism, Wales | Tags: , , , | 17 Comments

Portobello Pecan Burger with Pumpkin Wedges – Original Recipe from Peace and Parsnips

Posted on May 27, 2016 by leroy watson

THE MIGHTY ONE!!
In honour of Peace&Parsnips being released in the U.S. (31st May – wahooooo!) we’re going to share a few of our favourite #recipes with you lovely folk. Here’s a real whopper to get started with!
This is probably (almost definitely) my favourite burger. Its utterly packed with flavour and is actually quite sophisticated, not your average patty! Let’s face it, you can’t beat a burger in a sunny garden with a chilled cucumber mojito.
I don’t mess around with burgers, there is a whole chapter dedicated to them, along with sausages, chorizo etc, in Peace and Parsnips and they are all at least this size and tastiness;)
Enjoy!!:)

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Source: Portobello Pecan Burger with Pumpkin Wedges – Original Recipe from Peace and Parsnips

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Portobello Pecan Burger with Pumpkin Wedges – Original Recipe from Peace and Parsnips

Posted on June 5, 2015 by leroy watson

 

Portobello Pecan Burger (Original recipe from Peace and Parsnips)

This is no ordinary veggie burger, this a proper whopper!  Perfect for every summer BBQ and a vegan burger for all (even rampant carnivores!)

A beast of a burger taken from ‘Peace and Parsnips’ our new vegan cookbook which is storming a technicolour, vibrant veggie, food trail around the UK at the moment.  Jane and I are super chuffed with its success and so happy that people are enjoying the food and positive vibe of the book.  We’ve had such a great response on The Beach House Kitchen, as well as Twitter and Facebook.

In fact, Jane and I are really getting out and about this summer and have plenty of book signings, cooking demo’s, supper clubs and festival appearances lined up.  2015 is going to be a veggie riot!  The best way to keep up with all of this is on Twitter of course, but we’ll try and keep the BHK up to date and ever crammed with gorgeous vegan deliciousness.

There are a few recipes floating around the internet from Peace and Parsnips and we thought we’d share one of our fav’s with our beloved Beach Houser’s.  Thanks to the good folk at the Happy Foodie for posting this originally.  They also voted Peace and Parsnips in their ‘Top 5 Cookbook Debuts of 2015’ and the Beetroot Fritters in their ‘Top 5 Vegetarian Dishes of 2015’.  I love these guys!!!!

If you haven’t quite got around to getting a copy of the book, we’ll be running a competition very soon, giving away a free copy.  Watch this space.

So here we go, the

‘Here we have a burger that is rich, with a deep flavour from the mushrooms and miso. It is packed with heavy umami flavours, with the seaweed, pecans and miso working their potent charms. Sun-blushed tomatoes can be found in most delis nowadays and ooze fragrant tomato all over this burger. If you are struggling to find them, I know some fantastic people on the Isle of Wight who can sort you out. This burger mix will keep very well in the fridge, 5 days easy. Try making it into ‘meatballs’, with a tomato sauce and pasta. Gluten-free option: just cook 25g more rice and omit the breadcrumbs.’
Like so many vegan dishes, this burger is super delicious and super healthy.  What a sensational combo!

The Bits – Makes 6–8 mammoth burgers

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 350g Portobello mushrooms, cut into cubes
  • 1 aubergine, chopped into 2cm pieces
  • a large pinch of sea salt and black pepper
  • 3 tbsp fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 celery stalks, finely diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 20g dried seaweed, cut into very fine ribbons
  • 175g flageolet beans, soaked overnight, then cooked with ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and cooled, or 1½ x 400g tins
  • 120g toasted pecans
  • 100g red or brown rice, cooked and cooled
  • 2 heaped tbsp brown miso
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 100g fine wholewheat breadcrumbs (you can also use gluten free breadcrumbs)
  • For the Pumpkin wedges –
  • 750g pumpkin, scrubbed, seeded and cut into 5cm wedges
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • a large pinch of sea salt
  • To serve –
  • 8 seeded wholewheat rolls, halved (for gluen-free aternative, use your favourite GF bread)
  • 1 big handful sun-blushed tomatoes
  • buttery lettuce leaves (something like oak-leaf)

Do It

To make the pumpkin wedges, preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Put the pumpkin on a baking tray, toss with the oil and salt, and roast for 30 minutes, turning over once. The pumpkin should be tender and nicely coloured.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy frying pan on a medium-low heat and add the mushrooms and aubergines. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the salt and pepper. Cook for a further 5 minutes, until the aubergine is soft. Stir in the oregano leaves and set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil on a medium-high heat and cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and seaweed and cook for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and combine with the aubergines and mushrooms.

In a food processor, combine half the beans, pecans, aubergine mix and rice with the miso, sifting in the bicarbonate of soda. Blitz to a thick paste. Add the breadcrumbs and the rest of the beans, rice and aubergine mix, along with the rest of the pecans. Pulse until a chunky mix forms, coarse in texture but finely chopped. Check the seasoning – the miso is quite salty. Transfer the mix to a bowl, combining it all well with your hands. Form the mix into 6–8 fat burgers. Put them into the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Pop an ovenproof frying pan on a medium-high heat and lightly oil it. Cook each burger for 5 minutes per side, until beautifully light brown. If they lose shape and are unruly in the pan, press them down using the back of a spatula. Veggie burgers are sensitive and need to be handled with soft hands (and spatulas).

Put all the burgers into a warm oven, 150°C/gas mark 2, for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Cut your bread rolls in half and put them into the warm oven for 5 minutes.

Serve

On the base of each warm roll, scatter sun-blushed tomatoes (with a little of their oil) and top with a lettuce leaf, the burger and a good topping of macadamia tarragon aioli (recipe in the book). With the warm pumpkin wedges.

Foodie Fact

Pecans are a real treat for us.  We don’t use them all the time but when we do, we make them count!  Nuts are little nutritional powerhouses, packed with all kinds of anti-oxidants and friendly fats.  A handful a day, keeps the grim reaper at bay!  In fact, I write a whole section about NUTS in Peace and Parsnips called ‘Nuts about Nuts’!

Pecans are especially nutritious, loads of good mono-unsaturated fats and very high in Vitamin E and some important vitamin B’s.  They also happen to be loaded with all sorts of minerals.

 

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Peace and Parsnips, photography, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Murcian Sweet Potato & Rosemary Burgers with Aubergine Buns

Posted on November 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Happy day at the Sunday market (with backpack full of good stuff), Puerto Mazzaron, Spain

Hola from Murca, Spain!  We’ve moved here for a few months, following the sun!

It’s been a while beloved Beach Houser’s, too long, but we’re back with a bang and a massive burger treat.  The search for the tastiest veggie burger is a quest to be taken very seriously.  These are at the very least, a contender, with Aubergine for buns and a nice cheesy chilli kick.

Cracking burgers these with inspiration straight from the local markets of Puerto Mazzaron, Murica (a region known as the ‘garden of Spain’ or ‘veggie produce heaven’).  It’s not hard to be inspired in Murcia, the air smells of rosemary and herbs with tomatoes, lemons and almonds growing freely all over the place.

The local Puerto Mazzaron Sunday market is full of old time geezers and their wives selling their wares, mostly out of the backs of dilapidated jollopy type vans.  There is at least some organic produce here, but it’s never marked, we just pick the most misshapen, curly, funky looking varieties and this seems to work.  The flavours are amazing, a humble pepper can fill me with so much joy.

Mazzaron market is a real feast for the senses and like all markets in the world, I feel in my element,  free to sniff out the finest produce and really get to grips with a culture and place.  The market is the beating heart of a town, the fact they are dying out is a huge shame.  Food says alot about us and in Murcia they sell it whilst swigging cold beers, potent coffees and doughnuts dipped in thick hot chocolate all washed down with ham, ham and more ham.  This can only mean more veggies for us.  Buena Suerte!

We didn’t fancy any salt in these burgers, so the olives were a great local addition.  Packing loads of flavour and decent hit of salty tanginess.  The olive counter at the market is a large row of buckets with a mind boggling number of varieties.  We love the fat little green manzanilla’s, the spicy gazpacho mix and the sweet red peppery ones.  You can get olives anyway you like here, stuffed with lemon or even a whole chilli!

Jane on the mountain top behind our little casa – Isla Plana, Murcia.

Manchengo comes in various guises and I normally like the cured option, slightly saltier and harder, on the way to a pecorino.  Jane opted for the semi-cured variety this time which was a real surprise.  After munching much cheese in France, this Spanish stuff is really decent.   Semi-cured manchengo is very creamy and light, perfect for a tasty burger, adding a load of richness.  Add to that the local organic hot paprika, rosemary from the rambla (one of the dried river that runs below us) and the smells and flavours of Murcia are all here, in burger form!

Aubergine buns!?  Why not.  Tastier than bread and a healthier option.  Feel free to pop them into a proper bun if you fancy.  The only thing was, our burgers were way too big for our buns (never a bad thing), so we were forced to improvise and make it into something resembling an aubergine bruschetta.

These are burgers to crack out when you are in carnivore territory and you need something packed with flavour and filling. This is no flimsy veggie option, this is one for big eaters and lovers of rich food.  Ideal for barbecues.

We have no internet in our casa, so we hope to connect again soon, but who knows!?  Rest assured, we’ll be eating our way through the ‘garden of Spain’ and thinking of you all.  Watch this space for more BHK Espana antics.

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The Bits – For 4 big ones

1 medium sweet potato (cut into 1cm cubes), 1 ½ cup brown lentils, 1 yellow pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 1 aubergine (cut into 4 large wedges for the buns), 100g Vegan Parmesan Cheese (chopped fine), 20 plump green olives (mas o menos, chopped fine), 2 heaped teaspoons hot paprika (add ½ teas cayenne pepper if you don’t have hot paprika), 1 heaped teas Dijon mustard (when in Spain!), 2 teas balsamic vinegar, 2 teas fresh rosemary (chopped fine), lots of cracked black pepper, your favourite oil for frying (we used a nice sunflower)

Topping – Sweet Red Piquillos (red peppers, roasted and marinated in olive oil), thin slices of good tomato.

Do It

Cover your lentils with water, 1 inch above, add 3 bay leaves and a little sea salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes until tender.  Drain well (keep the juices for soup or stew.  Yum!) and set aside.

Fry off your onions and pepper on medium heat in a good glug of oil until they are nice and golden, soft and sweet.  Set aside, cover and wipe out pan with some kitchen paper.

Add your little cubes of sweet potato and cook briskly and stir well until soft and getting caremelised, 10 minutes more or less, add your garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, then add your onion  mix and paprika, rosemary, pepper and mustard, cook for a few minutes on a low heat then add your chopped cheese and olives.  Stir well and combine your 2 cups of cooked lentils. Set aside.

Pop the oven on, 200oC.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Get a masher and give the mix a thorough mash up.  Some chunks are allowed, all adds to the texture.  Grab a baking tray, get it oiled up (use some tin foil if you prefer), form large balls of the mix in your hands, it’s going to be sticky but that’s where the fun lies!  They should be a real cupped handful per burger (you may need to lick your fingers afterwards, this is encouraged).  Drop the balls in a neat(ish) fashion onto your tray, making four large balls.

Add your 4 hefty chunks of aubergine to the tray and drizzle/coat all with some nice oil.   Your burgers need to be formed, use a spoon to push and level out your burgers, make them thick and roundish, use the curve of your hand here.  You should be left four fat half pounders.

Top with a little cracker pepper and into then into the oven for 30 minutes (check them after 20 mins).

They may char slightly, the sweet potatoes caramelising, this is good and will be great for the flavour.

When handling the burgers take care, you need to have good spatula skills here.  They may fall apart unless handled with love.

Serve

If your burgers fit in your aubergines (you have huge aubergines!) then make a classic burger, topped with some gorgeously piquant, sweet piquillos and a few slices of tomato and Parmesan.   A green salad would be nice too.

We Love It!

Very, very tasty burgers.   The cheese inside makes them really rich and the effort put into crafting them is well worth it.  The roasted aubergines are a find, crisp and juicy, perfect with this sort of dense veggie burger.

Foodie Fact

Aubergine, Eggplant, Brinjal, whatever you want to call it, it tastes good and does you good.  Aubergine is low calorie, high fibre, full of the vitamin B’s and some Brazilian scientists have said that it can help control blood cholesterol.

Categories: Dinner, Recipes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

King Quinoa Burger (Vegan)

Posted on February 26, 2012 by leroy watson

I love quinoa.  The Incas ate it!  It has a full, nutty taste and is super healthy.  I thought it would make an interesting burger/ falafel/ patty……etc…whichever shape you fancy.

The terminology of veggie food can be so mis-leading and unneccessary.  It’s a grey area.  Is something shaped like a burger, really a burger?  Mos people would say no?  We can buy sausages, burgers (that are a field mushroom or lumps of roasted peppers), bacon (made of god knows what?) etc.  Do vegetarians really want to eat bacon?  Things that taste like meat?  I don’t.

I think the global veggie community should get together and re-brand all of these dishes.  Come up with some new, interesting terminology.  Leave the burgers for the mincemeat crowd.  I like the name ‘chunk’.

Whatever we call this, it is very tasty, satisfying and healthy.  This is the King of veggie burgers!  Even better, it’s vegan and gluten-free also.

We were having a ‘date night’ in the Beach House (there aren’t many places to go around here, so we have in-house dates) so I went all out on the accompaniments.

This is a hearty burger, packed with chickpeas and the sweetness from the potatoes.  This recipe will make at least 6 big burgers/ patties and many little falafels.  The only difference between these is how you want to form them with your hands.  Whichever size fit.  Be gentle here, you don’t want to play with them to much.  Quick dip in flour, patted into a nice shape and straight into the hot oil.  The one quick, clean flip.  This will ensure a nice burger, that doesn’t fall apart.  It will turn out nice and crispy on the outside and creamy in the middle.  YUM!

The Bits

2 cups of cooked quinoa (1 cup dry quinoa), 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of cooked chickpeas (or one can), 1 cup of chopped and roasted sweet potatoes, 1 red onion (chopped), 3 tbs chickpea (gram) flour, 1 1/2 teas smoked paprika, 1 teas ground cumin,  3 cloves of chopped garlic,  2 inch ginger (chopped finely), 1 lemon zest (finely chopped), 2 teas mixed herbs (or preferably fresh and chopped rosemary and thyme), 1/2 cup of chickpea (gram) flour (for dusting), 1 small glug Linghams sweet chilli sauce (optional), 3 tbs olive oil, s +p.

You may want to go all out with this one, add a couple of handfuls of grated cheddar cheese.  But beware, that will be a mega-burger!  Not for the faint hearted.

Do It

Soak and cook off your chickpeas (or open the can), pan fry your chopped sweet potatoes until nicely coloured, set aside.  Cook quinoa. Boil a kettle and pour water over until covered by 2cm of water (cover and leave for 10 minutes).  Put all of these and the rest of the ingredients in a blender, add oil last.  Pulse blend for a few burst, you want around half smooth, half chunky.  Put into a bowl and stir.

Get a plate and cover it with a good layer of chickpea flour.  Warm a pan on medium heat, oil should be just about smoking, make sure the base of the pan is well covered with oil.

Take the required amount of mix in your hand and fashion a burger/ patty/ falafel.  Give it a good covering of flour, dust of excess and drop into the pan.  Work quickly and gently, get them all in the pan at a similar time (it’s easier that way).  Use a flat spatula, this will mean easier flipping and less battering to the burgers.

Fry for around five minutes per side, until golden and crispy.  Remove and place on kitchen paper to remove excess oil, cover and keep warm until serving.  For a normal shaped frying pan, you’ll need a couple of batches here.  The falafels will take lot of work, it would be easier to deep fry them.  That would be amazing!

The mix keeps well in the fridge and will be better and easier to work with if prepared the day before.

Serve

We had ours with homemade hummus, onion marmalade, wilted swiss chard and spinach (with a drop of garlic) and pan-fried potatoes with Jerusalem artichokes (pinch of paprika).  It all went a little restaurant-y.

You could have it in bread (or flat bread for the falafels) with a nice relish or yoghurt dressing and salad.  Maybe even some chips (American friends, this means french fries)!

We Love It

Date nights are ace!  Our food, music, atmosphere and no taxis afterwards!  Packed full of goodness, this is a super tasty burger-type creation.

Foodie Fact

Once called the ‘gold of the Incas’  quinoa gives ‘complete protein’, meaning all of your amino acids.  It’s also full of lysine, which helps tissue growth and repair.  Quinoa has unusually high amounts of manganese and magnesium, the list goes on here.  Quinoa is a real deal superfood!

Pickled Part

We drank a light, young Primitivo, which was full of sweet berries.  It went down a treat with the sweetness of the potatoes and chickpeas and wasn’t over powered by the spices or hummus.  Make sure your wine isn’t too light, especially when dealing with spicy or creamy dishes.  You need good acidity and fruit to conquer these strong flavours.  A medium white would have been fantastic, something like Pinot Gris or Gewurztraminer.  I love German wine, especially with spicy foods.

Categories: Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegan, Wine and Booze | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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