A 'Wolverine' Worthy Meal

M. and I decided on Sunday morning that we would go see The Wolverine that afternoon. Problem is, we wouldn't be home until 6pm and despite the XL popcorn dripping in butter that we couldn't wait to consume, we knew we would be starving and I didn't want the junk-food-train to follow us home. So, what's an easy recipe that you can start in the morning and finish off in the afternoon? That's right folks; burgers! Nothing like good ol' burgers on a Sunday afternoon... even if you don't own a grill. That's okay! Work with what you got is what I always say. You end up surprising yourself.

Best part about this burger recipe that I am about to share is that not only are they vegan but also gluten-free! Bonus marks!

I also wanted some mint iced tea like M. and I tried out when we went to Integrity farms a few weeks back. Needless to say, the mint, kale and cucumbers that I picked up from the River Heights Farmers' Market this past Friday will help me round out this Sunday night meal quite nicely.

Sure enough, the movie was awesome (not a X-men fan but the movie was really great) and making dinner took less than 30 mins to prepare when we got home since I made the burger patties in the morning.

Voila!

Cucumbers with salt and pepper, black bean with corn burgers, kale chips and steamed cauliflower. To drink, iced mint tea with agave syrup. 

For the mint iced tea, all you need to do is pick up some fresh mint, put a handful of leaves in a large tea kettle and make tea. Simple! You can put as much or as little amount of leaves as you wish as it depends how strong you like it. I tasted the tea (when it was still hot) and added leaves after it steeped for 10 minutes until I was happy. I let the tea cool over night. The next day, I added 3 tablespoons of natural agave syrup until I achieved the amount of sweetness that I liked. You really need to play with it.

Now, onto the burgers! (Are you salivating yet?)

Corn and Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• Package of Yves Ground Veggie Beef
• 1 14oz can of Black Beans
• 1 tbsp of vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp of Liquid Smoke
• 1tbsp of Tamari
• 1 cup of Panko (there are gluten-free options)
• 2 tbsps of Whole Wheat Flour (or all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup of canned or frozen Corn
• 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 tsp of Cumin
• 1/4 tsp of Celery Salt

Directions:

• You require a large bowl to mix all of the ingredients.
• First, take the veggie ground beef and black beans and smash them together. It's okay to leave a few black beans in tact.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixture. 
• Mix well- use your hands!
• Take about a 1/4 cup of the mixture and form them into patties.
• You should get about 8 or 9 patties depending how large you make them. 
• You can use a frying pan or cast iron pan (like I did).
• Set the stove top element to medium high and add 2 tbsp of canola/ vegetable oil to your pan.
• Once the oil is warm (crackling, not smoking- you can test this with water droplets) add your patties and cook them for approximately 5- 7 mins on each side. I like mine crunchy on the outside so I let them sit closer to 7 mins each side.

Here are some shots from the prep to the final product:

How to make the kale chips you ask? Well...

Grab some kale and de-vine it and then clean thoroughly and spread it out on a cookie sheet:

 (picture of it pre-cooked)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the oven rack to the centre. 

For this recipe, I added some garlic powder, salt and pepper. Put a small quantity of each at first (I would start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper) because you can always add more after it's in chip form. I then drizzled olive oil on top and then took tongs and turned the kale to get an even coat on all the leaves. 

Once the oven is preheated, put the kale in the oven and check on it every two minutes. It can burn easily. Once you notice it is wilting (as if you sauteed it) and it's starting to crisp up on the edges, then change your oven setting to broil. If you notice that the kale is sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a bit more olive oil and evenly coat the kale again. 

To check out the final product, take a look at this picture again! Don't they look deletable? Because they were! I never make enough. 

Actually, tonight, M. and I were still craving kale chips (obviously there weren't any left last night) that I decided to make some kale chips to go with our avocado and quinoa sushi!

Does this look familiar? I shared this sushi recipe a couple months ago. Click here for the recipe. 

Aw man! Looking at this recipe makes me want to make more... if you don't know about the health benefits of kale- check out a previous post, by clicking here.

I think Wolverine would approve of my meals since there is high protein and low carbs with nutrient rich veggies. 

How did your burgers and kale chips turn out?