lentil burgers

you may have received a recipe for these burgers in the mail. if you can't find canned lentils, which my d&w only started carrying recently, you can get some dried lentils and use 2 cooked cups.

here's a microlentil burger that joe made me a while ago. it's a little blurry, but still just as cute.

pancakes

the best part about these pancakes is that you likely have the ingredients on hand already. that makes an impromptu pancake meal very possible.

just watch for the bubbles to form and be sure to spray the pan between each pancake. if you're feeling really ambitious, add something into the batter (blueberries/choc chips) or make a tofu scramble to keep salt cravings at bay. even better, make some tempeh bacon and eat that on toast. whatever you do, just enjoy some easy pancakes.

black bean & mango salsa

when avocados and mangos go on 10 for 10 at meijer, it's surely a week for salsas and dips. today's lunch was guacamole and this black bean and mango salsa. i adjusted a recipe i found to include the foods i have on hand right now.

just mix all the ingredients and let the salad rest in the fridge for some flavor melding time

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 mango, diced into little pieces

2 green onions, sliced end to end

1/2 red pepper, diced into small pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

lime juice, to taste (i used quite a bit)

a bit of cilantro (i used dried)

salt & pepper

cayenne (because my jalapeno went missing)

dip this alongside of some guac on you chip for extra delight.

fEASTER

i love to use a holiday to show off the abundance of the vegan diet (and enjoy some delicious food).  joe's masterfully prepared plate, in clockwise order from 12:00, shows off bread spread with earth balance, chickpea cutlets from veganomicon, roasted roots (made by grandma judy), corn, bean salad, and garlic mashed potatoes with cashew gravy.

lentil chili

with the unfortunate resurgence of winter, it's good to have some hearty chili on hand.  i followed a recipe, but added chickpeas, extra spice, and added an additional can of creamed corn (an disappointing label change from about a year ago).  i found that more time was needed to get the lentils to fully soften, so plan in extra time.  in total, the recipe recommends 45 minutes of cooking, but give yourself at least an hour for cooking.  in the mean time, see if there are any good movies playing on tbs.

rice krispie treats

i initially wasn't planning on blogging about this one because it's probably really bad for you, but joe raved about it being the best sweet snack i've ever made. with a review like that, how could i not post it?

these rice krispie treats are very easy, but for some reason mine got really hard after they cooled. next time, as a precaution, i will cut them into squares while they are still warm so they're easier to get apart. about 15 seconds in the microwave was enough to get them soft again. the recipe called for plain rice krispies, but why not enjoy some chocolate with your treat? i used chocolate rice krispies to make these even better.

here's what you need

1 C sugar

1 C peanut butter

1 C corn syrup

6 C rice krispies

here's what to do

mix the sugar, peanut butter, and corn syrup in a sauce pan over low heat until they're well combined. increase the heat and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. boil the mixture for 3 minutes. toss the syrupy mixture with the rice krispies and press them into a greased 9x13 pan.

cheesy sauce

this is one for the vegans to try. cheese eaters probably won't be convinced, but joe and i thought this was great. it was ready before our pasta finished cooking, so get that started first. we wanted our wheat noodles to be extra cheesy, so we made a double batch, which is what i am posting here.

1/2 C flour

1/2 C nutritional yeast

2 C water

2-3 T earth balance

s&p

paprika

cayenne

i'm not sure how much of each spice we added, but it was quite a bit. just test after each addition.