My dad always said my mom’s best meals were the ones she made when, supposedly, there was “nothing to eat in the house.” My mother is the Queen of Something From Nothing. I try to emulate her tactics using wholesome ingredients.
I blog each week about whichever meal I’ve created from “nothing.” When it’s the night before grocery day and I’ve got a bunch of leftovers, it’s time to throw something easy and quick together. I hope these meal ideas keep you from resorting to that can o’ condensed soup casserole or, even worse, fast food!
Remember: Grain+Veggie(s)+Protein=Meal!
The photos are really the meals I cooked; I just may edit them for bad lighting 😉
This week’s meal:
Fridge-Freeing Veggie Burgers
A casserole, or as my MidWestern friends may say, a “hot dish,” is a tried-and-true way to clear out your refrigerator and turn random ingredients into magic. But casseroles remind me of 1970’s Corningware and I’m just not into that. 😉
So, I present to you, my equivalent: the veggie burger. If you’ve got a single carrot here, half an onion there, can o’ beans in the cupboard, you can create something yummy.
Here’s what I did this week:
Homemade Veggie Burgers Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 one onion
- 1 fennel bulb hard white center removed, roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper
- 1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 2 c. cooked quinoa
- 1/2 c. bread crumbs or more if necessary
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- 1-2 T. of cumin
Instructions
- Throw all ingredients into a food processor. Process until almost smooth, but still having a little texture.
- Shape into patties.
- Heat a pan on medium heat with 1 T. of oil and cook patties until browned on each side.
- Freeze leftovers for another meal!
I served these topped with a yogurt sauce (plain yogurt, lime juice, cayenne, salt) and a side of corn.
Get creative with the burgers. Use whatever veggies you have on hand (mushrooms are delicious in these) so long as they aren’t too watery, like tomatoes or cucumbers.
I’d love to hear about your combinations!
AAAAGGGGHHHH! You make these look so easy! I am kitchen- and cooking-deficient. Truly. It terrifies me to go in there for any length of time because of what might come out. But you make this sound so easy, I think I will go try it. One dumb newbie question first: when you say “bread crumbs,” do you mean to literally take a piece of bread and make crumbs out of it, or are they croutons, or are there pre-packaged things you can buy somewhere called, “Bread Crumbs?” (Told you I’m a kitchen noob).
I like to crumble/food process the heels of my (homemade) bread loaves. I keep the crumbs in the freezer 🙂
I would love to make my own veggie burgers. I have never cooked with fennel though. Not sure which ones to buy, or where to buy.
You don’t have to use fennel! You could use celery or omit it all together. The beauty here is that you can just throw anything into them 🙂
Quinoa….raw or cooked?
Nice catch, Julie! –cooked!