Red Beans & Rice Burger

Red Beans & Rice Burger (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 4, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 (15 oz.) can no-salt-added red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
·         ½ cup finely chopped onion
·         ¼ cup finely chopped celery
·         ¼ cup rolled oats
·         1 clove garlic, minced
·         ½ tsp. dried oregano, crushed
·         ½ tsp. ground cumin
·         ¼ tsp. salt
·         ¼ tsp. black pepper
·         ¾ cup cooked brown rice

Directions

1.)    In a medium bowl coarsely mash beans with a potato masher or fork. Stir in onion, celery, oats, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Stir in rice.
2.)    Shape the bean mixture into four ½ -inch-thick patties.
3.)    Preheat a grill pan or large skillet over medium heat. Add patties to pan or skillet. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through, turning patties once.
4.)    Serve burgers on toasted hamburger buns with desired accompaniments.

First of all, I used rolled oats instead of the breadcrumbs called for in the original recipe; I also omitted cilantro (as called for in the original).  I made these changes for my own taste and health preferences.  I had an issue with these burgers binding – there was not enough moisture in the mix and I do not believe that the changes I made had an impact on this.  The taste of the burger was good – a little on the “Mexican” side with the cumin, but the consistency was not right for a burger.  The onion and celery add a little crunch to the mashed beans, oats, and rice, which is quite a nice surprise when biting into the “burger”.  On the health side, these are pretty high in calories for just the burger, but good on fiber and protein.  Once you add a bun and accompaniments – watch out!  I served mine with no bun (because I feel that there are more than enough carbs in there with the oats and rice) but with a sprinkle of Mexican cheese and salsa.  The salsa gives it the much-needed moisture that it needs.

Overall, this is OK, but I don’t think that I’ll make it again.

Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice

Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice (adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 5-6, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 package Morningstar Farms Sausage Links, thawed, sliced

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) kidney beans, drained, rinsed

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

·         2 tsp. chili powder

·         2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

·         6 oz.  VELVEETA® 2%, cut up

Directions

1.      Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

2.      Add beans, tomatoes and chili powder; mix well.

3.      Stir in 2 cups water. Bring to boil.

4.      Stir in rice and VELVEETA; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 15 minutes or until water is almost absorbed. Stir until VELVEETA is completely melted.

A simple dish that provides a lot on flavor.  This is not spicy, so my husband likes it, but has a nice Mexican flavor from the green chilies and chili powder.  The beans cook through during the process, they are still firm, but not overly hard.  The recipe above doubles the cooking time for the rice because I have found that the original recipe’s time (5-7 minutes) gets nowhere close to absorbing the liquid or cooking the rice.  The Velveeta adds a creaminess to the dish, but you could also use Taco or Mexican shredded cheese.  A tasty dish that I will make again and again.

Cajun Red Beans and Corncakes

Cajun Red Beans and Corncakes (5-6 servings, Total Time: 4 hours, 45 minutes)

(adapted from AllRecipes.com and Runner’s World)

Original Recipe on Allrecipes called for Creole Seasoning, which I didn’t have, so I used Cajun Seasoning.  Awesome decision!  Good spice mix and kick to the beans.  I also used canned kidney beans to make this dish, and the substitution worked out just fine.  Since I used canned beans, I omitted the salt called for in the original recipe.  No need to add sodium when you don’t need it!

Cajun Red Beans

Ingredients

·  2 cans red kidney beans

·  1 green bell pepper, chopped

·  1 onion, chopped

·  4 stalks celery, chopped

·  2 Tbsp. ground black pepper

·  2 Tbsp. Cajon seasoning

·  3 cloves garlic, minced

·  1 package Morningstar Farm sausage links, chopped

Directions

1.     In a crockpot, combine beans, bell pepper, onion, celery, black pepper, Cajun seasoning, and garlic.

2.     Cook on low for 4 hours.

3.     Mix sausage into the beans; cook an additional 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The day I was planning to make this dish, I saw the recipe for Corncakes and decided to use that in lieu of rice.  Another great decision. 

Corncakes (4-6 servings, depending on size of cakes; Total Time: 20-30 min.)

(from RunnersWorld.com)

Ingredients

1 can (14.75 oz.) creamed corn

1 cup yellow cornmeal, divided in half

½ cup water

2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for griddle

1 large egg

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

Directions

·  Heat creamed corn in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cornmeal. Whisk in the water, then oil, then egg. 

·  In a bowl, mix remaining 1/2 cup cornmeal with flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. 

·  Heat a griddle over medium heat; brush lightly with oil. 

·  Working in batches, drop batter in generous ¼ cup portions onto hot griddle. Cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about five minutes. 

For the cakes, I would use less cornmeal in the future – by themselves, you can taste the cornmeal consistency.  However, they do a great job at sopping up the additional sauce from the beans.  This dish was one that I just wanted more and more of.  The meal has great protein, fiber, and carb content, which is an added bonus to its delicious taste.  The vegetables stayed crisp in the crockpot and the varied consistency between them and the beans and corncakes was a nice addition to the meal.  The beans were slightly spicy, but the corncakes dulled the kick a little, making this pleasing to my husband’s palette as well as to mine.  I will definitely be making this in the future.