Chili Bean Vegetable Burgers

½c pepper-eggplant-vegetable Ajvar*

3 lg. garlic cloves

cooked mixed-grain rice

1 16oz. can Bush's Hot Chili Beans

1c± mung bean sprouts - optional

1½c quick cooking rolled oats

Put the Ajvar* (or spicy marinara) and garlic in the food processor and process until the garlic is finely minced and well incorporated.  For the rice, combine ¼c rice with ½c+ water in a small pan.  Cover and simmer until water is absorbed.  Rice should be al dente.  If it's not, add a little more water and cook a bit longer.  Add the beans, rice (sprouts?) and process only until well chopped and chunky - not smooth.  Stir in the oats and let everything stand a while to see if more oats are needed to get the consistency burger-like.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes on parchment lined baking sheets.  Serve on a bun or just plate with a couple sides of vegetables. . .Lin

Boneless Barbecued Pork Ribs and Some Amazing Vegetables

My grocery store has a little area for meat that's approaching it's 'expiration' date.  I know that probably sounds gross to many of you, but I've found such great things in this chilly little bin!!  Lamb chops, frozen chicken livers, some nice meaty pork neck bones, side pork - which looks like bacon. . .

Today I'm cooking up 3# of very well seasoned BBQ Boneless Pork Ribs I bought for just over $7.00.  Ribs are always sort of a mystery to me, as to how to keep them meaty and tender.  

Instead of grilling them, which is no longer an option for me since moving and leaving my grill behind, I just put them in my big, old, dark blue speckled turkey roaster, added a little water and am simmering them for a very long time.  To go with them, I  have tiny red potatoes, 5 garlic cloves, some pea and tiny red bean sprouts and a few spears of asparagus.  A little butter, water, salt and pepper and those will simmer-steam quite nicely.

I love dinners like this!  Totally spontaneous, no real plan and if it works, great, if not, well, I'll just not cook this ever again!  I think this will be a really good dinner though.  😉  (It was fabulous!!!)

Be Bold. . .Be Creative. . .Happy Cooking!!. . .Lin

Another Power Salad

1c pea sprouts

1c Northern Waters Kimchi

½c small red bean sprouts

½ med. tomato

½ avocado

3 sliced radishes

1 mini English cucumber

a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Combine everything in a big bowl.  Makes 2-3 small salads or one really big one.  Today, this is Breakfast! . .😊. . Lin

Sprouted Black Bean Breakfast Bake

12oz. breakfast sausage

1 lg. onion - chopped

½ c chopped red pepper

½ bag fresh spinach - chopped

1½ c sprouted black beans

8 lg.-jumbo eggs

¾-1c half & half

a sprinkle of baking soda

a sprinkle of baking powder

1t+ seasoned salt

½ c corn flour

1c flavorful grated cheese

Chop up and brown the breakfast sausage.  Add the vegetables, cover and turn off heat for 7 minutes.  Pour this into a buttered 9"x13" glass pan, or one of a similar size, then cover this with the sprouted black beans.  Whisk the eggs with the ingredients in that group.  Carefully pour over the pan contents.

Bake 20 minutes, at 350°, top with cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes, with the last 5 under the broiler to melt and toast the cheese. . .Lin

Stirred Eggs with Beans, Sprouts and More Beans

These are a combination of 'fancy' French Lentils I bought at our local Whole Foods Co-Op, here in Duluth, MN and plain brown ones from the grocery store.  I liked that the French Lentils were small and such an interesting teal color.  Are they better than the brown ones you buy in the dried bean section of your grocery store?  I don't think so, but it was fun mixing them together to sprout.

I can't say enough good things about Sprouted Lentils!!  They're very high in protein, fiber, they add so much freshness and crunch to everything you serve them in or with!  Their mild, Peppery Flavor is my favorite of all the sprouts.  I put them in tossed salads, vegetable casseroles, mix them into scrambled eggs, a little ground meat-egg-seasoned bread crumbs-cream and spices to make an interesting burger.  SO many ways to use them!

This is another quick, easy high-protein, breakfast-lunch-or-dinner with lots of vegetables.  The red beans, tomatoes and sprouts were first on the plate and warmed in the microwave.  I simmered the frozen, skinny green beans. (then drained the cooking liquid into a bowl to combine with dry food for my dogs later today)  A little butter, salt, pepper and they're ready.  



The eggs were cracked into some hot butter in a pan, stirred, seasoned with Trader Joe's Chili Lime Seasoning, flipped and plated.  All ready within 10 minutes.  Be Creative!  Do a little kitchen prep, and you'll always have ingredients for Quick Healthy Meals anytime you want them 😉. . .Lin

Sprouting Mung (Moong) Beans

Red and Green Organic Mung Beans

Day One - Thursday Morning

½ c organic green mung beans

½ c organic red moong beans

a large glass sprouting jar

fresh, cold, filtered water

time 

When Sprouting - Size Matters!

Think Uniformity. . .  You wouldn't want to sprout garbanzos with alfalfa seeds!  Smaller seeds such as alfalfa, broccoli and radish go well together.  Whole brown or green lentils are wonderfully rich and peppery all by themselves, but also combine well with very tiny mung beans.  The larger ones such as black beans and red aduki beans are good together.  That's usually as big as I go, but any dried bean, potentially, can be sprouted.  The small seeds sprout VERY quickly, usually in a couple days.  The larger the seed or bean, the longer it will take.  So match you seeds according to flavor and size.

Friday Morning

Baby Sprouts!!  Sunday Morning

Put the beans in a strainer and sort through them, making sure there are no small stones or bad beans.  Rinse them and put them in the sprouting jar.  Fill the jar ½ full with water.  Let stand on the countertop 24 hours.

Drain (Mix this water with your dog's food, use it to water your plants, or add it to your 'soup stock' bucket in the freezer - It's FILLED with wonderful nutrients!)

Now the waiting begins. . .After the 24 hour soak, rinse the seeds and turn the jar strainer-side-down, for an hour or so, to drain any excess water.  Roll the seeds around the jar a bit, so they're not all on top of each other, then lay the jar on its side, on the counter.  Rinse and repeat this process every day until the seeds are fully sprouted.  At that time, rinse, dry and bag the sprouts.  They'll keep a few days in the fridge.  Once you start using them, it's hard to stop!  Their unique, peppery-freshness and crunch wins you over!! 😉

Day 6 - Ready To Use - Tuesday Morning

Put them on salads, add them to tuna or egg salad, put them in chili, add them at the end of cooking time to a recipe of Rice Pilaf, chop them up and mix them with spices, egg, onion, garlic, rice or quinoa and form them into some yummy Sprout Burgers.  Fry fast in olive oil or butter and serve.  See how many other ways you can think to use them.  On a commercial level, there are companies that grind sprouted grains to make wonderful gluten-free 'flours.'  Think outside your comfort zone!

Be Bold - Be Creative, but most of all Have Fun In Your Kitchen 😀. . . Lin

Peppery Sprout Side Salad

Sprouted lentils and mung beans
avocado, tomato, cucumber

Combine a couple big handfuls of sprouts with chopped avocado, tomato and cucumber.  Toss and dress with a little Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing or your favorite Lemony Vinaigrette.   The fresh, slight bitterness of this salad would cut the richness of something like a Pasta Alfredo and pair well together. . .Lin

A Big Salad with Beans & Sprouts

When I reach for one of my big silver bowls, I know I'm having a serious salad craving. It's just a touch smaller than my 2½ qt. Pyrex mixing bowl! It's not for the faint of heart or someone who dabbles in small side salads. So, if you too are a Big Salad lover, you might want to try this one.

1  Big handful of salad mix

½ tomato

½ perfect not-to-ripe avocado

1  mini-English cucumber

1  Big handful of fresh lentil sprouts

1-2oz fresh shaved, real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

½ can of rinsed and well drained red beans

This may sound too complicated, but with a little pre-planning and always having a container of lettuce mix in the 'fridge and your other favorite salad ingredients in the house, it goes together in about 5 minutes!

Today my lettuce mix was a red Boston (butter) lettuce, a green frieze lettuce, fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced red cabbage and sliced onion. Gently toss everything in the bowl, top with your favorite dressing - and - have at it! Yup, Salad Days are here. . .Lin

Spout and Quiche' Breakfast Salad

This breakfast idea combines the recent Quiche' recipe (Hodag-Country-Fest Breakfast), the Dill-Garlic Dressing, and the post on Sprouting. Often we eat leftovers the same way they were originally served.

Sometimes with a new ingredient or two, it can be revamped into something entirely different.

Here I heated the quiche, added a little avocado, tomato, dressing and a clump of lentil sprouts. Now, include coffee, NPR, my dogs wrestling on the floor - and - I have a nice way to start the day. . .Lin