Chickpea minis

May 4, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Around this time last year a popular fast food chain started advertising tiny chicken sandwiches called chicken minis. Once in a while my husband would treat our son to some chicken minis. He really took a liking to them. I really didn’t like the idea of him eating fast food (or chicken for that matter) so I took matters into my own hands and made my own version. I introduce to you… Chickpea Minis!

Makes: 8 slider patties

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, liquid reserved
1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup reserved liquid
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Dredging

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp garlic powder
lots of freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.
In a measuring cup, combine the reserved liquid and cornstarch. Whisk until cornstarch is fully dissolved. Set aside.
In a food processor, combine panko, poultry seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Pulse a few times. Dump in a large mixing bowl.
Add the chickpeas to the food processor. Process until there are no whole chickpeas. Add the celery, onion, and garlic. Process for about a minute. Dump the chickpea mixture into the bowl with the panko mixture.
Add the reserved liquid (add a little more if the mixture feels too dry). Mix well. Form patties using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Dredge in flour mixture.
Lightly fry patties in a skillet lightly coated with olive oil on medium-high heat until golden brown on each side (about 1–2 minutes on each side).
Transfer patties to a baking sheet. Continue cooking in the oven for about 10 minutes.
To assemble the sliders, add some Vegenaise to 8 slider rolls, top with chickpea patty, lettuce, and 2 dill pickle chips. Enjoy!

I really wanted to post this recipe last year. I had a friend try it out, I took some photos, and I was ready to go. But life sort of got in the way. The fast food chain doesn’t even carry this item anymore (at least I don’t think they do?). Who knows? Maybe a few non-vegans missing the chicken minis might enjoy this version more? I know my 7 year old can’t tell the difference. He thinks they’re chicken minis!

Just a few notes. I didn’t specify an exact amount of pepper because everyone is different. My husband says the chicken minis are rather peppery. So I tend to add LOTS of pepper. If you’re not into pepper, add less or skip it all together. I’m told the texture is a bit softer than the real deal, but that’s to be expected.

Many thanks to Danielle Vance for trying this recipe out for me over a year ago (lol) and suggesting the use of cornstarch.

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Spinach Florentine Ravioli

April 23, 2012 | 4 Comments »

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One day while walking through the frozen foods section of Whole Foods I spotted a package of this wonderful looking 365 brand Organic Spinach Florentine Ravioli. I grabbed a package and brought it home not knowing exactly how to prepare something like this. It seemed too fancy to just throw some marinara sauce on top and call it a meal. I wondered how it would taste with some slow roasted grape tomatoes — similar to the Shells With Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes I made last year. I took the container of slow roasted grape tomatoes out of the fridge, combined it with some butter, and the Spinach Florentine Ravioli and was blown away at how amazingly delicious it was. I’m so not kidding. This is probably one of the tastiest things I’ve EVER eaten. And it’s so simple to throw together. Here’s what I did…

What you need

1 package 365 brand Organic Spinach Florentine Ravioli
1 container grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 medium(ish) shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Start off by preheating your oven to 250°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Wash your grape tomatoes and then slice them in half lengthwise. When you’re finished with that place the tomatoes on the baking sheet cut side up.

Chop up the shallot and mince the garlic. Sprinkle over the tomatoes. Spray a little more cooking spray over the tomatoes/shallots/garlic. Add a little salt and pepper if using then pop in the oven and cook for about 3–4 hours. Keep an eye on the tomatoes to make sure they don’t turn too dark. The original recipe I followed to slow roast tomatoes called for 6–8 hours in a 200° oven. I decided to speed up the process a bit.

Once the tomatoes are done cooking, remove them from the oven and set aside. Cook the ravioli according to instructions on the back of the package. Drain and set aside.

Using the same pot, melt the 2 tbsp of butter. Add the tomatoes/shallots/garlic, 1 tsp of oregano, and mix until well combined. Add the ravioli and stir until evenly coated and heated through (about 3–5 minutes).

Now you may proceed to nom the heck out of it.

This recipe makes 2 servings. The nutrition info below was entered into my MyFitnessPal account and does NOT include salt/pepper.

Calories: 337 Fat: 6 g Sugar: 16 g Sodium: 496 mg Protein: 13 g Iron: 22%

I like to stock up on the Spinach Florentine Ravioli because this really is a quick and easy meal to throw together. It might seem like a lot because of the slow roasting, but really once you pop the tomatoes in the oven you can just go about your day. The ravioli doesn’t take long to cook either. I swear, it only looks and tastes like I’ve fussed over this dish all day long.

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MidwestVeg gets a makeover

April 11, 2012 | 8 Comments »

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As you can see I’ve been pretty busy this past week. I’ve been wanting to fix up MidwestVeg for quite some time now. I guess you can call it a bit of a Spring cleaning. I’m pretty excited about the new look. My best friend Echo from Echoia.com made me the most awesome logo ever. *points to the upper left hand corner* If you’re in the market for a logo yourself, send her an email. The woman does wonders! And Sarah of OneStarryNight.com helped me with a few WordPress related issues. Notice the excerpts at the bottom of this post. And a cool new plugin to change the font in my headers. My other plugins were severely outdated. Anyway, take a look around and tell me what you think. There will be LOTS more changes to come in the near future. Now onto some less boring stuff. Like cupcakes!

Ok so the cupcakes have nothing to do with this post. Except they kind of do. Hopefully Echo likes them as much as I do. Cherry Ski cupcakes in a jar! Nom!

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