WIAW: Spicy Black Bean Burgers and Cilantro-Lime Cabbage Slaw

What a beautiful sunrise to wake up to! I feel so blessed to be two blocks from this amazing view!

  

Its Wednesday, and you know what that means...

Thanks Jenn!

My day started out amazing all around. My husband made coffee before he left for work, so I came downstairs to a cuppa java (not pictured).

If you've been following along, you may have read that things had been getting pretty stressful for me. Things have completely calmed down and I'm enjoying summer, fresh lilacs blooming next to our deck, and those beautiful sunrises!

After my cup of coffee, I visited with a friend and her new baby. We shared Leanne's Strawberry-Cinnamon Shortcake Sandwiches. I made the coconut cream, but cheated on the strawberry filling. I just marinated fresh strawberries in a little bit of sweetener, lemon juice, and a touch of balsamic vinegar. My picture didn't turn out as pretty as hers, but they tasted amazing. A++. 

In the afternoon, I made some fridge-pickles. These are patiently sitting in the back of my fridge. Keep your fingers crossed, this was my first time making them!

 I seem to have been on a roll with Leanne's recipes. I made a HUGE batch of her Vegan Sour Cream and Chive Kale Chips. I used a leek instead of the chives because thats what I had, and I just skipped her version of "bacon" all together. Oh my gosh. This took my love of kale chips to a whole new level. I ate them all in one sitting. That's two large batches of kale. For lunch. 

For dinner we had Spicy Black Bean Burgers, topped with freshly sprouted clover seed, avocado, and Cilantro-Lime Cabbage Slaw on Un-Muffins.

The un-muffins weren't really working for me as a sandwich bun, but my husband gave it a thumbs up. I ended up eating mine open faced, with just one half of the un-muffin. I think I'll need to work on coming up with something a little less dense for next time.

 Spicy Black Bean Burgers:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 egg

1 tbsp chili powder

1tbsp cumin

1 teas hot sauce

1/2 cup almond flour**

In medium bowl, mash beans with fork (or hands) until thick and pasty and most beans are mostly mashed. In food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic (careful not to over-process, you want it to still be kinda chunky). Add to the beans. In small bowl, stir together egg, cumin, chili powder and hot sauce. Stir egg mixture into beans. Mix in almond flour until mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four parts, forming burgers with your hands. 

Grill or cook burgers (375 degrees for 8-10 minutes on each side).

These burgers hold together better if they are frozen first. No need to thaw before cooking.

**almond flour can easily be substituted for any type GF flour or GF bread crumbs. You may need to alter the amount slightly until you get a consistency that is sticky and will hold together to form patties.

Cilantro-Lime Cabbage Slaw:

1/2 head red cabbage, chopped

2 carrots, shredded

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 heaping tbsp tahini

2 tbsp mayo or veganaise

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp lime juice

Combine chopped cabbage and shredded carrots in a bowl. In food processor or blender, combine jalapeno, cilantro, tahini, mayo, vinegar, and lime juice. Add contents of blender to cabbage/carrot. Best if marinated for 2 hours, serve chilled. 

I topped my burger with red clover seeds that I had just sprouted, avocado, and the cabbage slaw and had a little more on the side. Such a good combination!

These recipes were included in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Curry Tahini Slaw

My husband does not like Indian Food or anything that even hints of Indian curry. This was almost a deal breaker, but I haven't yet given up hope. Since we've been together he's gone from a vegetable-weary, meat-itarian to a vegetable-loving, organic flexitarian (new favorite word). In the process he learned to love Thai curry..... so I think Indian food still stands a chance (fingers crossed). That being said, I have to plan my Indian and Nepali cooking to times when I'm dining solo. 

I've had a curry recipe on my mind for a few days now after getting the idea for it here. Since we still had some Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad left over, I didn't have to feel bad about enjoying my Tahini Slaw while he starved in abandonment (we are waaaaay overdue for getting groceries, Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad is ALL we had). This is a super easy recipe, comes together in minutes if you can get your hands on a food processor. 

My mom always told us: EAT YOUR COLORS!

Ingredients: 
2 carrots
1/2 head of purple cabbage
1 garlic clove
2-3 dates, chopped
1/3 cup hemp seeds

Dressing:

2 heaping tablespoons of tahini

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon curry

1/2 tablespoon agave or honey (optional)


Put 2 carrots (peeled), 1/2 small head of purple cabbage, and 1 garlic clove into your food processor until chopped. Careful not to make it too fine. I love the way the purple and orange look next to each other in the bowl. I grew up with my mom always telling us to "eat the colors of the rainbow" so something about brightly colored food brings out my sentimental side. Oh, moms. :)

Mix together ingredients for the dressing. I save empty jam jars for this purpose. Put everything in a jar, close the lid, and shake-what-yo-mama-gave-you until it's all mixed together. The tahini (sesame seed butter) takes an extra bit of shaking to get it blended. Pour dressing over the carrot/cabbage and mix it up. Add the dates and the hemp seeds. Dig in now, or chill in the fridge and dig in later (update: much better chilled). But while you're munching, let me tell you all the wonderful ways each bite is making your cells happy.....

The Milk Myth

boooo!

Thanks to some clever advertising, many people (mistakenly) believe that milk is the only and best source of calcium. Not true. In fact, dairy products can do more harm than good when it comes to calcium in our bones. Dairy is slightly acidic, but has even greater impact on the acidity of the blood stream. When our bodies absorb the lactic acid in milk, it affects the pH level of our blood by making it acidic too. Thankfully, our bodies know what to do to keep blood acidity at a safe level. But this is not without cost. If you keep drinking milk, and your body keeps having to balance the acidity levels, the result is loss of calcium in our bones.


Our bodies do the best they can to counter blood acidity by taking alkalinity (opposite of acidity, i.e. calcium) from our bones.... but that leaves our bones brittle (which is better than acidic blood. Acidic blood = death). What happens is people who think that milk "does a body good" are increasing their chances for osteoporosis, along with other issues that come from an acidic system. Truthfully, the  best source of calcium is from leafy greens, but sesame seeds really pack a wallop too (I just said pack a wallop... my grandpa would be so proud). Did you know that 100 grams of milk contains 118mg of calcium, but the same amount of sesame seeds contains 1160mg of calcium? Doesn't that make that bite of tahini slaw taste even better! And don't even get me going on how awesome hemp seeds are for you.... we'll have to save that for another post.


Here's a video that helps explain how alkaline and acidic foods can affect our health:

Happy Eating. Happy Easter!

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor (but my husband is), all opinions shared are my own based on my personal view of health and experiences. For specific questions regarding your diet and exercise, please consult your Wellness Chiropractor. 

This recipe was included in Gluten Free Wednesday, Meatless Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Real Food Weekly and Seasonal Sunday