I’ve tried many recipes for bean burgers and patties. I like some, I think some are OK, and I hate some. (One time I made chickpea burgers that were so dry that they crumbled when I tried to scrape them off the pan…)

And for a while I’ve laid low on the bean burgers, but I think my subconscious has been telling me to do something amazing with chickpeas, because I bought 3 cans of chickpeas in the past week as well as a can of tahini. And these ingredients were not on my shopping list.

So I looked up recipes for chickpea tahini burgers, and after examining several of them, I settled on this one from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. It has tons of spices in it as well as a few cloves of garlic, so I knew it would be flavorful. Plus, the tahini would give it a subtle hummus undertone as well as provide the moisture many of my chickpea burgers have lacked in the past.

And the recipe was spot on. I’m in love with these patties!

Chickpea-Tahini Patties (Adapted slightly from FatFree Vegan Kitchen)
Prep: 10 mins Cook: 20 mins 

>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• a few shakes of salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• buns or pita pockets for serving (optional — I served them on a bed of lettuce and tomato)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. Alternatively, you can mash them by hand if you don’t have a food processor, but the food processor is key here — it’s easier, and it gives the chickpeas a more even consistency.
3. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder to the food processor. Pulse until well combined, then add the breadcrumbs to the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture is smooth.
4. Test the batter’s stickiness by pressing some between your finger and your thumb. If it holds together without crumbling, you’re good to make them into patties. If it doesn’t hold together, add one tablespoon of water at a time to the food processor and process until the mixture holds together well.
5. Mold the chickpea mixture into 4-6 patties (depending on how big you want them), and place them on the greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown on the bottom.
6. Serve on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes with mayo, or serve as a burger with your favorite toppings.

My Two Cents: Like I said, I was thrilled with how these came out — as bean burgers and patties are usually a hit or a miss.

Hit

And this is a great option if you’re trying to go meatless a few days a week. Chickpeas are surprisingly filling. I brought these to work for lunch the next day. Usually I bring a sandwich and am looking for a snack two hours later, but these held me over until almost dinnertime.

Enjoy!

Cupcakes are little bundles of happiness.

And lemon cream cheese frosting is quite literally the icing on the cake.

My best friends (my bridesmaids) (my old, lovely college roommates) were turning the big 2-5 this past weekend. As is my tradition (and duty) as best friend/food blogger/lover of cake and cupcakes, I volunteered to host the party and provide the treats.

Lemon desserts are a favorite of one of my friends, so I had the idea of pairing lemon with chocolate. After taking a survey of my fridge and cabinets, I found 1 lemon, 1 package of cream cheese, lots of sugar, and 1 package of cake mix.

And, as I often say on this blog, magic happened.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Adapted from Real Simple)
Frosts 12 cupcakes
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese in an electric mixer until the cream cheese is soft.
2. Slowly add the sugar, zest, and juice and beat until creamy, about 3 minutes.

My Two Cents: Look at those sparkles of lemon zest in the frosting That’s real lemon flavor right there.

Everyone at the party was raving about these cupcakes. The lemon in the frosting wasn’t overpowering, and wasn’t too subtle. It was pure perfection.

I used a box chocolate cake mix for this recipe, and there’s no shame in that — especially if you have a killer frosting to go on top. This frosting would also be perfect with vanilla cupcakes or lemon cupcakes.

If your cream cheese is not at room temp when you want to make this, you can defrost it in the microwave for 15 second intervals until it is soft enough to beat.

Beware, though. The frosting only makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes. So double it if you have 24 or if you’re planning on frosting a cake.

Might I also suggest investing in silicone cupcake wrappers? They’re cute, reusable, green, and you’ll never have to buy cupcake wrappers ever again.

Enjoy!

Happy Friday

The other week I was at Park Street and had an hour to kill. One of my friends suggested I check out Thinking Cup on Boylston St right next to the movie theater. There was a big chill in the air, and a hot cocoa did sound like the perfect thing to warm up my nose.

The atmosphere of Thinking Cup is just what its name describes. The lights were dim, giving off a glowing yellow hue to the cafe. And everyone was huddled into a booth or casually slouched in a chair with their laptops, iPads, and books, sipping their tea or cocoa, munching on a cupcake or pastry, fully engrossed in their own worlds, full — and quite content.

The array of sweets laid out at Thinking Cup was extensive. They had whoopie pies, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pie — everything. But I was craving a hot chocolate, so ordered their French Hot Chocolate at the counter. The cashier warned me that it was rich, very rich. But I said I could handle it.

If only he knew my heavy addiction to chocolate…

I took a seat, whipped out The Hunger Games (which, by the way, if you haven’t read yet…you have to. It’s a necessity), and a few minutes later my cocoa was ready. As I walked back to my seat, I noticed they had swirled a heart into my cocoa.

I smiled. It was exactly what I needed after a long, cold day…a stranger swirling a heart into my drink.

Then I took a sip. And I think my heart melted into a chocolate puddle on the floor. Rich, creamy, silky, pure chocolate. I had to drink it slowly, savoring every ounce of chocolate from that cup.

So next time you’re near Park Street and have a few hours to kill, or just want to hang out and chat with a friend, I recommend Thinking Cup.

(And someone please tell me how to make one of those heart swirls…)

Gimme a G!
Gimme a U!
Gimme an A!
Gimme a C!
What do you get?
GUAC.

I’m featuring this on Whip it up today because you all need some good party dips in your repertoire. And more importantly you need dips you can make quickly. And most importantly this needs to be guacamole.

Guacamole is good any time of the year, for any occasion, for anyone, any age. It tingles the taste buds. It improves any mood. It pairs well with your favorite tortilla chips. Heck. It even pairs well with just your spoon and your mouth.

Let’s just get to the point.

Homemade Guacamole (From my average brain after many years of making guac)
Serves little, some, or many, depending on if they are big or little dippers

Ingredients:

• 4 medium ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Mash the avocados in a large bowl. Stir in the tomato, onion, and lime juice. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings according to your taste.

My Two Cents: This made more guacamole than is shown in this bowl.

The lime is essential here for two reasons: a.) taste b.) prevents the avocados from turning a nasty (poop) shade of brown. Though no matter what, after a few hours, the oxygen in the air will find its way to the avocados and the guac (if there’s any left) will be brown.

But don’t be afraid to eat it, even then.

Never be afraid to eat more guacamole.

Also, I’m fairly certain this could also sub as dinner…if it came to that

Enjoy!

Does anyone else have the problem of going to the grocery store and then scratch your head at the price of your loot when you get to the register? I factor enough money into my budget to allow me to splurge a little on food, especially for certain ingredients for the blog.

So I’m not going to go into debt anytime soon.

But it’s becoming a problem. I love to stock up, sometimes too much I think. My cabinets are packed with pasta, sauces, nuts, crackers, canned goods — my freezer loaded with veggies and meat — my fridge brimming with fresh veggies and cheeses for the week.

Essentially, we wouldn’t go hungry for weeks. And food continues to be my weakness when I’m shopping. I can easily resist buying a new dress, replenishing my makeup, or even getting a haircut.

This is what blogging has done to me.

So besides food shopping, the best part of my Sundays are those that involve my crock pot…

…and Star Trek…and good books…

I bookmarked this recipe for crock pot chicken tacos a few weeks ago. After making this shredded BBQ chicken in the crock pot, I knew that shredded chicken with taco seasoning would taste just as wonderful.

I also made homemade taco seasoning for the first time. So I really must make this simple meal again soon.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos (Adapted slightly from Prevention RD)
Makes 5-6 soft-shelled tacos
>> Click here for printable recipe 

Homemade Taco Seasoning:
Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp minced dried onion flakes
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp parika
• 1 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all the spices together and store in an air tight container for up to one year. (2 1/2 tbsp is equivalent to one store-bought packet of taco seasoning)

Chicken Tacos:
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tbsp taco seasoning mix, or 1 packet of store-bought taco seasoning
• 15 oz low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 (4 oz) can diced chile peppers
• Your favorite taco toppings (tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc.)
• soft-shelled tacos, warmed

Directions:

1. In a 2 cup measuring cup, measure out the chicken broth and whisk in the taco seasoning.
2. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Pour the diced tomatoes at the bottom of the crock pot. Lay the chicken breasts on top of the tomatoes and pour the broth and seasoning over the top. Then pour the chile peppers on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on Low for 6-10 hours.
3. Remove the chicken from the crock pot and place it in a large bowl — shred with two forks. There will be a lot of liquid left in the slow cooker. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the liquid over the shredded chicken — the shredded chicken will re-absorb some of the liquid. Once it is saturated, fill the warmed taco shells with the chicken and toppings. Roll up and enjoy!

My Two Cents: This recipe is foolproof. And it’s great for either a lazy Sunday or a busy work day.

Looking forward to the leftovers for tomorrow

Let me make yet another confession about my experiences with food.

I’ve never cooked tofu before this meal.

When I was younger tofu weirded me out. It was just this icky, slimy, white-ish sponge, that was food? To me, it was something only vegetarians ate, and if you were a meat eater, fah-get-it.

But then I got over my pure disgust with the food and actually ate tofu. And I fell in love with it. It’s healthy. It marries well with any flavor. If cooked right, it’s got a slight crunch on the outside, and since it is so spongy — a burst of flavor when you bite into it.

That being said, I’ve mostly had tofu in stir fries in Asian dishes, and I never even bothered to try and prepare the white mass by myself. I didn’t grow up with it in my repertoire of recipes, and I guess you could say I was a bit timid to dice it up into cubes and throw it in a stir fry — because I was afraid it wouldn’t come out the right way.

But at 8:30 in the morning, while shopping in peace (for once) at Trader Joe’s last Sunday, I came across the packages of tofu. Without hesitation — like some strange force from within was pushing out my hand — I grabbed a package and threw it into my cart, not knowing what I would even do with it.

But I found something (of course), and of course it involved goat cheese. It was elementary enough for a novice tofu preparer like me to make it, and it turned out simply wonderful.

The original recipe made this mixture a tofu taco mixture, but since I didn’t have any tortilla wraps, I decided to add a bit more salsa and turn this into a topping for your favorite pasta. Dolloped with goat cheese, you’ve got a great meal in front of you.

Tofu, Spinach, and Goat Cheese over Pasta (Adapted from Monica Nelson Fitness)
>> Click here for printable recipe << 

Serves 5-6

Ingredients: