This is another one of those recipes that’s not really a recipe – it’s so easy! It only has three ingredients and takes 15 minutes to make. If you have kids — or anyone in your family — that loves jam, you HAVE to try chia jam! It’s a yummy, healthier alternative. Don’t get me wrong, jelly and jam still have a place on our house, but this is a great addition to our rotation. Try it today!
healthy recipe
Meatless Monday: Roasted Fennel and Carrots
There are some vegetables that just shout farmers market or CSA to me. Mustard Greens. Garlic Scapes. Kohlrabi. Fennel.
I know, I know – fennel isn’t JUST from farmers markets and CSAs, but that’s literally the only time I ever end up getting it, meaning I hardly ever know what to do with it. Last year, I ended up keeping the fennel raw and preparing a Tomato, Fennel and Avocado Salad. It was good, but B didn’t like it that much – he didn’t like the texture of the fennel raw so I ended up eating most of his salad. (#winning!)
This year, week 9 of our Fresh Fork farm share came and once again we were faced with another bulb of fennel. I was determined to prepare it differently, in a way even B would enjoy. Enter, roasted fennel and carrots. Oh. Em. Gee. I may be overreacting, or just a little too excited, but I am super in love with preparing fennel this way. Even B tried it and liked it! The fennel softens and the strong anise-type flavor softens somewhat. I can’t wait to make this again!
Roasted Fennel & Carrots
Here’s what you need:
- One fennel bulb (without the stalks, but save the fronds), chopped into 1/2 inch slices
- four large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Here’s what you do:
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Toss sliced fennel and carrots with olive oil.
- Place fennel and carrots in a small casserole dish. Toss with fennel seeds and add minced garlic, salt and pepper. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until carrots and fennel are tender.
- For added fennel taste, save the fronds and sprinkle 1-2 tsp. of the leaves on top.
- Enjoy! Makes 2 side dishes or one large vegetarian main dish. For a vegetarian main dish, serve with a protein-rich grain like freekeh or quinoa, and/or a side of beans like lentils. Yum!
fresh out of the oven!
Some questions for you:
- What food or ingredient do you think of when you think of CSAs or farmers markets?
- Do you enjoy fennel? How do you eat it – raw or cooked?
- Do you eat your friend/significant other/child/roommate’s food if they don’t like it? I’m not judging!
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Spicy Black Bean Burgers
You may have noticed I’ve been on a veggie burger and vegetable-kick lately. I have have been looking for new recipes for my meat-loving husband to try and challenging myself to find the occasional meatless (or semi-meatless) recipe for him and I to enjoy! Don’t get me wrong – I’m not becoming a vegetarian (far from it), but am trying to learn to cook veggies in ways that I don’t normally try to. And these burgers take the cake – they’re B’s favorite vegetarian thing I’ve made this year so far.
Spicy Black Bean Burgers (adapted from Eat Live Run)
Here’s what you need:
- 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp flaxseed meal
- ½ medium red onion
- 1 tbsp cumin
- ½ fresh tomato, diced
- ½ c panko breadcrumbs
- ½ c canned corn
Here’s what you do:
- Chop jalapenos in half and remove seeds.
- Add de-seeded jalapeno and garlic cloves to a food processor and mince finely.
- Add chopped onion to food processor and continue to dice.
- Add one of the cans of beans and flaxseed to the food processor and combine with jalapeno and garlic mixture.
- Add cumin and mix until the mixture is has a texture that is similar to that of an oatmeal cookie.
- Using a spatula, stir in panko bread crumbs and mix well.
- Stir in chopped tomato, canned corn and remaining can of beans.
- Form mixture into small burger patties. Mine made about 10 patties.
- OPTIONAL PRE-COOKING STEP: Pop in the freezer for a little while to help patties harden. This isn’t necessary but definitely helps the texture since the patties are very mushy and crumbly when they cook. Since they made 10 patties, I made mine over the weekend and froze them ahead of time and only took out 4 to cook the evening of (2 for B, 1 for me for dinner and 1 for me for lunch the next day).
- Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium. Fry black bean burgers on each side: if fresh, 5 min per side will do, if frozen you will want to cook longer, 10 min on each side or until completely defrosted and crusty and golden on each side.
- Enjoy how you like your burgers! I enjoyed mine with avocado and sriracha on an English muffin.
For me the recipe made 10 medium size burgers.
Make ahead and freeze! I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and foil and put in tupperware.
burgers before cooking
How I ate my burger – with a side salad, cooked spinach and topped with avocado and sriracha
I Crashed The Web 