It’s Meatless Tuesday! Okay so most days are meatless around here right now but I know many of you are incorporating a meatless meal or two each week with your own food plan. With the cost of meat going up it’s a great way to stretch your food dollar and still eat healthy. As you might imagine with “chorizo” in the title of this recipe, these patties have some heat and some spice to them. The P.S. stands for plant strong – there is no meat in these patties but you won’t miss it.
This recipe comes from my newest cookbook My Beef With Meat by Rip Esselstyn and it includes 140 new plant based recipes. Last week I made the Adonis Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. It was as good as it sounds. Not an everyday food of course but a wonderful occasional treat. Most of the recipes sound amazing and I can’t wait to try more. I have two more recipes on the menu for today – reviews to come. I highly recommend this book – it’s a great way to get started with a plant based food plan or to use as a reference to add some meatless meals to your menu.
You could go all Southwest and adorn the chorizo patties with avocado and salsa or they are equally as tasty with traditional ketchup, mustard, lettuce and pickle. Mmmm – good!
The recipe called for black quinoa which I didn’t have so I used Trader Joe’s Organic Tricolor Quinoa, subbed smoked paprika for regular and used Chile Ancho Powder instead of regular chili powder. Low and behold I didn’t have any fresh cilantro but the recipe only called for 1/4 cup so I didn’t think a trip to the store for one item was necessary. The patties had plenty of flavor without it but next time I will surely add cilantro since it’s a flavor we enjoy. I so wish I had doubled this recipe so I would have extras for the freezer. These will be going on the regular menu rotation when we need something spicy!
I like to tuck my veggie-bean burgers into half a whole wheat pita bread with greens and I happen to be on a mustard kick right now. The recipe said it made 4-6 patties but I found that it made 8 good size burgers. Any bigger and they wouldn’t fit on a bun or in a pita! If you are feeding guys take note that hubby Tom usually eats two veggie burgers at a meal. I find one to be quite filling.
P.S. Chorizo Patties
My changes are in red
- 1 cup black or tri color quinoa and 2 cups water or 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons low sodium tamari sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1 teaspoon paprika – or smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon chili powder or Chile Ancho Powder
- Dash of ground cinnamon
- 2-3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke – skip if using smoked paprika
- one 15 ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1/2 –1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- Hot Sauce to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
If using uncooked quinoa, in a sauce pan combine the quinoa, water, vinegar, tamari granulated garlic, granulated onion, paprika, oregano,chili powder, cinnamon, ketchup or tomato paste, and mustard, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, cooking until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. If using add the liquid smoke, stir to combine and let cool for 15 minutes.
If using already cooked 2 cups of quinoa, in a medium saucepan over medium low heat add quinoa, vinegar, granulated garlic, granulated onion, oregano, chili powder, cinnamon, ketchup or tomato paste and mustard, stir to combine. Add liquid smoke is using and let mixture cool for 15 minutes.
In a food processor, pulse the beans – don’t puree leave them kind of chunky for texture. Transfer to a bowl and add rolled oats and quinoa mixture, mix well. Add the garlic granules, cumin, chipotle powder, chili powder, hot sauce and cilantro. From into 8 patties.
In a non stick frying pan over medium heat cook each side of patties for about 3-4 minutes or until they are nicely browned.
Yield: 8 patties
Serving Size: 1 patty
Nutritional Information
Per Serving: 165 calories, 2.3 g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 164.1 mg Sodium, 31.2 g Carbs, 6.3 g Fiber, 7.7 g Protein WWPP 4
Recipe from My Beef With Meat by Rip Esselstyn
Nutmeg Notes
We had an action packed weekend here. It all started Friday night with dinner at our favorite Vegan restaurant then on to see the new Star Trek movie. It was actually really good! Saturday we got up super early and headed for a morning hike. We explored a new trail and managed to get our 9 1/2 mile hike done by noon. It was a good thing too as it was a hot day.
On the way home we stopped at a street fair in a small town and walked around looking at the car show. There were hundreds of restored vehicles on display – we were too tired to look at all of them but enjoyed what we saw. Once we got back home we showered and ate a huge salad for lunch. We met up with the rest of the family for dinner at PF Changs to celebrate hubby Tom’s birthday. They do have some vegetarian options and brown rice so it’s pretty easy to eat there and stay on plan. I also enjoyed a few bites of some chicken entrees – staying with in my 10 % of animal products for the day. Of course I think the sodium level is quite high but that’s restaurant food for you.
Sunday we got up and went for a morning bike ride. My muscles were sore from the hike the day before so I couldn’t make it up this huge hill we were trying to climb. I hate defeat but had to get off my bike and walk it to the top. Next time I hope to conquer the hill! We decided to have lunch at Chipotle – another high sodium restaurant meal but it tastes so good. Since changing our food plan and cutting back on sodium we have become very sensitive to salt. I love the new sofritas Chipotle offers, it’s a marinated shredded soy product that is really spicy. I think it’s only available in Norther CA right now but it seems to be quite popular here so hopefully they will roll it out nationwide.
After lunch we headed to the mall to get a new food processor. It will come as no surprise that I adore kitchen appliances. When you cook as much as I do it’s nice to have appliances that make things easier. I do enjoy hand chopping veggies – it’s like therapy to me – relaxing and fun but some recipes are just too big for doing by hand. This thing is huge with a giant 16 cup work bowl, it also has a 13 cup bowl and 4 1/2 cup work bowl so all bases are covered. It is a work horse with so much power. Perfect for making all the veggie based recipes we are enjoying. I can’t wait to try the shredding disks. I’m off to the farmer’s market this morning in search of some veggies that need a little processing!
Hope you are having a fantastic week!
Tami
Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.
What was the last kitchen appliance/gadget you got?
The veggie burgers sound good. I have not found a veggie burger I totally love, so I may have to give this one a try! Love your food processor! And the hike does sound amazing! Glad you are having a great summer!
Hi Jane! I have tried many veggie burger recipes as of late and we have enjoyed most of them. Only one veggie burger recipe was a flop! I think my favorite ones include beans, corn and cumin – I just love that combination of flavors. Hope your summer is going well. 🙂
The burgers sound very good! I have a quinoa-based burger recipe, but I like all the different spices in yours!
Sounds like you had a nice, active weekend! Happy Birthday to hubby!
I like Chipotle but have always found their food extremely salty (and when I looked up the sodium content, it was shockingly high). I really wish they cut the salt in their food…
I only have a mini food processor, but I know I need a bigger one. Like you, I make a lot of veggie-based dishes, and sometimes the chopping is just too much… Enjoy your new food processor!
This recipe is so flavorful Andrea – but of course you can cut back and keep them tame for the little ones! Yes, the sodium content at Chipotle and other restaurants is crazy. I guess that is what appeals the majority of people who eat there. I too have a mini food processor and wouldn’t give it up for anything – its great for small jobs. Happy Summer!
Gosh, I can’t remember the last kitchen appliance I bought! Maybe the immersion blender that I’ve used 2-3 times in 2 years? Oh well, it was a $5 Black Friday special, so nothing lost really. 🙂
Hey Cammy, that $5 Black Friday special was a good deal. I don’t very often use my immersion blender – I seem to make a mess when I try to use it? There must be a trick to using it and not splattering everything within 5 feet! 🙂
I stopped by to check your recipes and see that I have missed something. Have you become a vegetarian? The recipes sound really good. My daughter has been a vegetarian for over 20 years now; I will definitely send it along to her!
Hi Mary, we are flexitarian- eating a plant strong diet these days. It’s just been since March I guess. I’m trying to lower my bad cholesterol and just be healthier in general. We strive for eating 90% plant based meals and if we choose to use a little animal products it must fall within just 10% of our daily calories. Most of the time we don’t use it, but sometimes when eating out it’s good to have that little bit of flexibility. It’s a new way of eating and cooking. I have been enjoying trying new recipes and foods.
Have you started blogging again? I so miss your writing and the stories you told. It’s always a treat to see that you have left a comment. Take care. 🙂
I see lots of new recipes coming with that book! 😉
What a weekend & fun too! We saw Star Trek & liked it as well – very enjoyable! KAHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! 😉
How is the foot?
Hi Jody! Glad you like Star Trek too! 🙂 Before we went to Minnesota I was having a terrible time with pain and swelling but now I think my foot is starting to get better. Still have swelling everyday but less pain. I have gone back to wearing my motion control athletic shoes in the house as we have hard wood kitchen floors and they hurt my feet as I spend so much time standing in the kitchen. The shoes give me pretty good support and I think it’s helping with the swelling and pain. It just takes along time to heal and the journey isn’t a straight line! Thanks for asking. 🙂
I had no idea the Cuisinart came in that size. Very neat. Mine’s 11 or 14 cup (I don’t remember). I know it’ll be really handy with all the new veggie meals you’re making. The weekend sounds really full of fun and exercise. Glad you had so much fun. I think I’d be dead after that hike 🙂
I found the 16 cup Cuisinart at William Sonoma – so far so good! I like that it has 3 different size work bowls. Since hubby Tom doesn’t have time to “play” during the week we try to pack the weekend full of exercise type fun adventures. Then come Monday I have a ton of household chores to do. It works for us. The body does adapt to the hiking and after a few weeks of good hikes we are less sore and stiff the day after. The same is true for the bike riding but we would be better off if we biked several times a week and not just once or twice.
It’s great to hear from you Janine. Hope all is well with you and your family. 🙂