Recipe: Best Beet Burger Ever!

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I have to share this with you. In the recent months, I’ve been obsessing over beet burgers, thanks to Ground Control 😉 They make an awesome beet burger! And I have, for the absolute longest, been testing out ingredients, trying to put together a really, really great recipe… One that has the best of everything — healthy, tasty, hearty and more. This recipe has it all. Add a little red onion on top and you’re good to go! AND/OR, some melted Chao (yumm…), cilantro or avocado (to die for!). Hope that you enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 3 large red beets (about 1 pound)
  • 1/2 cup brown rice (not cooked)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup brown rice crips cereal (rice crispy-like cereal)
  • 2 cans black beans
  • 1/4 cup dates, chopped into small pieces.
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons brown mustard
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 flax egg
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Cook’n the beets – Heat the oven to 400°F. Wrap the beets in foil and roast for about 50 to 60 minutes (until fork tender). Set aside to cool.
  2. Cook’n the rice – Bring a 2-quart pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add rice. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until it’s a bit beyond al dente. About 35 to 40 minutes.
  3. Sauté’n the onions – Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a bit of salt. Cook until golden brown and charred around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in cider vinegar. Continue to simmer until the cider has evaporated and the pan is nearly dry again. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  4. Process’n the oats – oats in food processor until reduced to a fine flour. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
    veggieluvDrain and rinse one of the cans of beans -and transfer the beans to the food processor. Scatter the dates on top. Pulse in bursts until the beans are roughly chopped. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl. Drain and rinse the second can of beans and add the whole beans to the mixing bowl.
  5. Grate’n the roasted beets – Scrape the skins off the cooled roasted beets with the edge of a spoon. Grate the peeled beets on the largest holes of a grater. Transfer the beet gratings to a strainer set over sink. Press and squeeze the gratings to remove as much liquid as possible from the beets (or save juice for other fun recipe). Combine’n the veggie burger mix – Transfer the squeezed beets, cooked rice, and sautéed onions to the bowl with the beans. Sprinkle the olive oil, brown mustard, 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, and thyme over the top of the mixture. Mix all the ingredients until combined. Taste the mixture and add salt, pepper to taste. Finally, add the oatmeal flour, cereal and flax egg and mix until you no longer see any dry oatmeal or flax egg.
  6. Refrigerate’n the burger mix for 2 hours, or up to 3 days – Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the mixture to a refrigerator container, and refrigerate. Best case burger scenario, let it sit in the frig overnight.
  7. Shape’n the burgers – When ready to cook the burgers, first shape them into burgers. Scoop up about a scant cup of the burger mixture and shape it between your palms into a thick patty the size of your hamburger buns. You should end up with about 6 large patties.
  8. Cook’n the burgers – Heat a skillet over high heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to completely coat the bottom of the pan.
    Cook the patties for 2 minutes on each side. Should see a nice crust. Then cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 4 more minutes until the patties are warmed through.

The Best Guide to Finding Fresh, Organic Produce (during the bitter cold, winter months…)

Organic
Hi All! Whether we like it or not, winter is in full-effect. 😉 I cannot believe that we find ourselves in December! December!! How fast does time fly?! Better yet, how fast did this year fly by?! We are just weeks away from 2015. Wowza! I recently ran across an excellent quote for December…this being the last month of the year… “You have one month to finish the book of 2014. Make the last chapter the best one yet.” Pretty powerful, right?! Let’s make December a great one!
In efforts to continue eating healthy and fresh (which can be pretty difficult when the cold weather hits us), as well as continuing a diet free of the ‘not-so-great’ pesticides, processed foods and GMOs, I discovered this really amazing link (Your Guide to Obtaining Fresh, Organic Produce in The Middle of Winter). Easy guide to finding produce in the winter (right now!) and it does not have to be expensive nor difficult. And not all fruits and veggies need to be organic — anyone know about the clean 15?? This guide is the best! Hope that you enjoy! 🙂

The Bill Gates-backed company that’s reinventing meat

The Bill Gates-backed company that’s reinventing meat

BeyondMeat logoBeing the true innovator that he is, Bill Gates has found another cutting edge investment opportunity. Beyond Meat®. Beyond Meat® is teaming up with Bill Gates and they have a plan to take over the market with the development and introduction of new plant protein products. With someone like Bill Gates on your side, it’ll be hard not to prosper and grow astronomically.  “We need more options for producing meat without depleting our resources,” Gates wrote on his blog. He’s all about the preservation of natural resources and we all know that it takes much more fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein than it does to make one calorie from plant protein (11 times more, to be exact).