Peanut Butter and Julie

Indian Spiced Vegetable Burgers

There are some foods that were never destined to be more than a flash in the pan, no matter how many millions of marketing dollars were invested in them.  McDonald's has had a few flops that come to mind: McRib, Arch Deluxe, the Michael Jordan Burger, and of course the ill-fated McDLT, with its separate sides for hot and cold ingredients.  Huh?  Remember the green and purple colored ketchup, which I'm guessing was meant to be "fun?"  It wasn't.  All this product did was send your taste buds signals that you should be tasting grape or lime on your fries, not tomato.  Yes, good times.  And then there's the granddaddy of them all, New Coke (which, after it flopped, was replaced by Coke Classic, a.k.a. Old Coke.)  Folks, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On the other end of the spectrum lies the chickpea, or garbanzo bean, whatever you prefer to call it.  Doing a little research for today's post (believe it or not, I don't make this stuff up,) I learned that 7,500 year old remains of these legumes have been discovered in the Middle East.  Now that's a food that stands the test of time.  I mean, how many other foods can you name from the Neolithic era?  It must be, as Martha would say, a good thing.

I've loved garbanzo beans ever since I had my first taste of hummus.  I love their buttery smooth flavor and their superfood-worthy nutritional profile.  Chickpeas are high in protein, fiber, folate, iron, zinc, and the list goes on and on.  Because they are so filling, these beans are a perfect substitution for meat in salads, soups, stews, and in this case, burgers.  With their crisp exterior and creamy center, these Indian cuisine-inspired veggie burgers are part potato pancake and part falafel.  Best served in a pita pocket, so they won't fall apart, the patties are very filling, but low-fat.  Dress them up however you like, but they really don't need more than a little dollop of chutney--and certainly no purple ketchup!  Here are some extra tips for these bean based burgers:

• Do not try to cook these burgers without chilling the mixture first.  Chilling allows the mixture to bind, and the patties will fall apart otherwise.
• Garam Masala is a spice blend, which is very common in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking.  You should be able to find it in your grocery store's spice section.  You can replace the Garam Masala with curry powder, if desired, but it won't have quite the same toasty, spicy flavor.
• Make smaller portions of the burger and serve a few as an appetizer or as hors d'oeuvres for a cocktail party.  Top each patty with some chutney for serving.
• Instead of regular breadcrumbs, you can also use panko, or Japanese breadcrumbs, which are a little bit lighter.

Indian Spiced Vegetable Burgers

Makes 8

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 jalapeno, seeded and quartered

2 pounds red potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 2/3 cup baby spinach, arugula, or mixed greens

4 whole wheat pitas, halved

Sliced red onion

Mango Chutney (optional)

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, cilantro, carrot, Garam Masala, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, and jalapeno.  Process the mixture until it is finely chopped.

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover it with water.  Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes for 12 minutes.  Add the onion, and cook for 3 more minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Drain; cool for 10 minutes.  Place the potato mixture in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork.  Stir in the garbanzo bean mixture and breadcrumbs.  Cover the mixture and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

Divide the mixture into 8 portions, shaping each portion into a 1/2-inch thick patty.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 4 of the patties to the pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until browned and heated through.  Repeat the procedure with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and patties.  Place about 1/3 cup spinach or arugula in each pita half and top with 1 patty, red onion, and some mango chutney.

Healthy Pumpkin Harvest Muffins

Starting around the end of September through the holidays, my kitchen has a constant pumpkin-spice aroma to it.  This is not because I've blown my savings on one of those large Yankee Candles (you have to admit, they are overpriced,) but because I absolutely adore pumpkin flavored foods.  From ravioli and risotto to pancakes and pies, I'll attempt almost any recipe with a pumpkin twist.  At then end of December, however, the pumpkin parade tends to come to an end, simply because the season is considered to be over, and I guess I feel like I'm supposed to move on to other ingredients.

Today's recipe I dedicate to Boston based blogger (and July 12 bride!) Tina of Carrots and Cake.   As a food blogger, it is inevitable that you become familiar with the content of your fellow foodies in the blogosphere (that sentence sounds a bit nerdy, doesn't it?).  Through food-themed message boards and photo sharing sites, you can easily see what other chefs around the world are creating on a daily basis.  Yesterday, I found Tina's delectable looking post for (lowfat) Pumpkin Coconut Date Bars--originally posted in MAY!  I had been resisting my craving for healthy pumpkin muffins, simply because they weren't "in season," but Tina snapped me out of that silliness via her mouthwatering photos.  So, thanks, Tina.  I wish that I could send you one of the muffins, but Boston is a bit far.  I'll just eat one while watching the Red Sox game, in your honor.

With the addition of the tart cranberries, spices, and toasted nuts, these muffins do indeed taste like Fall.  The dates add some natural sweetness, which allows for the sugar to be cut, compared to the ample amount present in most muffin recipes.  With a light, moist texture, these muffins have no need for butter or jam, and they come together in minutes.  Here are a few extra tips for these figure-friendly muffins:

• Feel free to improvise in terms of the nuts and fruits that you add to the muffin batter.  Golden raisins, chopped dried cherries, chopped figs or apricots, hazelnuts, almonds, or walnuts would all be nice additions.
• After the muffins have baked and cooled, freeze them in a zip-top bag for up to one month.  Let muffins thaw at room temperature and then warm in the oven or microwave just before serving.
• Be sure to use canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened and contains spices.
• If you don't happen to have buttermilk, you can always make your own version.  Mix 1/2  cup of milk with 1/2  teaspoon of vinegar and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before adding to the batter.

Healthy Pumpkin Harvest Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons canola or safflower oil

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup lightly toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the flours, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cloves; whisk to blend.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, and egg; whisk until very well blended.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until just combined.  Fold in the cranberries, dates, and pecans.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and coat the liners with cooking spray.  Spoon the batter evenly into the cups.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin emerges clean.  Transfer the muffins to a wire rack and cool completely.

Grilled Summer Vegetable Gazpacho

I'll admit it; I'm a bit of a magazine junkie, and the marketers have caught on to my addiction.  Like many people who are passionate about cooking, baking, and food in general, I started out subscribing to only a few: Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart.  Coincidentally, then came the offers for a year of Gourmet and Saveur at an unheard of cost.   I bit.  Cooking Light, Food and Wine, and various others all followed, so that at any given time, I have a stack of magazines several inches deep on my night stand. 

I don't look at these monthly publications as mere reading material, but as research and education (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) My general routine involves going through the magazine from start to finish and dog-earing any stories or recipes that I find appealing.  At the end of the month, I re-evaluate the recipes that I selected (I could have just been really hungry at the time,) to determine if they are something that I would truly prepare at some point.  Then, I either tear them out or print them from the magazine's web site, and I file them in my increasingly large archive.  Some poor recipes have been sitting in those files for years, untouched, like those articles of clothing that you haven't worn since college, but are convinced that you will need someday.  It's just hard to let go sometimes.

Every few weeks, I'll go through the recipes and select several that I want to use as inspiration for new dishes.  My most recent picks include a vegetable gazpacho made with grilled vegetables, courtesy of the creatively talented, occasional Food Network chef, Kerry Simon of Las Vegas and L.A.    I actually forgot about this recipe until last Friday, when Eric and I tried Chef Simon's new restaurant, Simon Kitchen, and the gazpacho was on the menu.  The soup was deliciously thick, fresh, and slightly smoky tasting, and I felt like I'd hit the jackpot, knowing that I had the recipe waiting for me in a folder at home.   I didn't waste much time putting a slightly changed version of it together, and let's just say that I am looking forward to dinner tonight!  Now if only I had Chef Simon's recipe for his Watermelon Margaritas and Chocolate Pizza....  Here are some tips for this chilled summer soup:

• If you cannot find the orange peppers, then just use two yellow peppers.  I do not recommend substituting green peppers, as they tend to have a slightly bitter taste to them.
• This is a fairly thick gazpacho, so if you want to thin out the texture, add extra tomato juice and an additional splash of orange juice.
• The gazpacho will keep, chilled and tightly covered, for up to 4 days.  The flavors start to blend and improve over time.
• The 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper makes the gazpacho a bit spicy.  Feel free to reduce or increase the amount based on personal taste.
• For an easy method of removing the corn kernels from the cob, invert a small bowl inside a large bowl.   Stand the corn cob upright on the small bowl and cut the kernels off using a serrated knife.  The kernels should fall directly into the large bowl as opposed to all over the counter.

Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 large red bell peppers, cored and quartered

1 large yellow bell pepper, cored and quartered

1 large orange bell pepper, cored and quartered

2 zucchini, halved lengthwise

1 large red onion, slice 1/2-inch thick

2 ears of sweet corn, husked

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

1 scant teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 cups tomato juice

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (not from concentrate)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Diced cucumber, diced avocado, diced red onion, and charred corn kernels for garnish

Light a grill or heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Thread the garlic cloves onto a skewer.  Brush the garlic, peppers, zucchini, onion, and corn with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill the vegetables, turning frequently, until lightly charred and crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.  Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the garlic cloves from the skewers, peel them, and transfer them to a large bowl.  Using a serrated knife, cut the charred corn kernels into the bowl.  Peel the peppers and then add them to the bowl along with the zucchini, onion, cumin, crushed red pepper, tomato juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and vinegar.

Using an immersion blender, regular blender, or a food processor, puree the vegetable mixture.  Pour the gazpacho into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.  Just before serving, stir the cilantro into the gazpacho.  Ladle into bowls and garnish with cucumber, avocado, onion, and corn kernels, if desired.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Glazed Marble Pound Cake

A trip to the local ice cream parlor was always a special treat when I was growing up, but I was always faced with the dilemma of which flavor to choose.  At JANN'S Sweet Shop in Pennington, New Jersey, (named for its owners: Jen, Amy, Norman, Norman, and Sue,) containers of homemade ice cream were swirled with everything from raspberries to rum-raisin.  At "The Dock" in Sunapee, New Hampshire, aptly named due to its proximity to, you guessed it, a boat dock on Lake Sunapee, a dozen little windows displayed different colors of jimmies for coating your soft serve cone.  Even now, when I stop by Golden Spoon for frozen yogurt, there are more than 10 tempting options for me consider.

Never really the type of girl to stick with just one flavor, I always try to look for ways to fit as many as I can into one serving.  At JANN'S, this meant choosing the Neopolitan, thus getting three flavors for the price of one.  My strategy at The Dock was to ask that my cone be coated on one side with pink jimmies and on the other side with purple, or whatever my favorite color combo was during that particular summer.  Just yesterday, the incredibly tolerant teen behind the counter at Golden Spoon obliged me by squeezing Peanut Butter, Fudgesicle, Cake Batter, and Vanilla Malt neatly into a quart container (yes, I tipped him.)  Even at restaurants, I'm often drawn to dishes described with words like "trio" or "sampler," so I'm not forced to settle on just one item.

Marble cake is perfect for someone like me, who, when faced with the option of chocolate or vanilla, says "both please."  It's the cake equivalent of a soft serve swirl, and its presentation, with the drastic color contrast, is so much prettier than the monochromatic variety.  This pound cake recipe pairs a bittersweet chocolate cake with a lighter vanilla flavor.  This cake is not as dense as some more traditional pound cakes (which are made with just flour, eggs, butter, and sugar,) but it is still very rich, especially when coated with the decadent chocolate glaze. Top a slice with some fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream, or Neopolitan if you can't settle on one flavor.  Here are my tips for this swirled sweet treat:

• If you prefer a white chocolate glaze, then just substitute a good quality white chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate.
• Room temperature eggs work better as far as adding volume to the recipe.  To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, simply submerge them in warm water for a few minutes.
• Be careful not to overswirl the chocolate and vanilla batters when you are running a knife through the two; the marbling won't turn out as nicely if you overdo it!
• After baking, the cake can be kept at room temperature, in an air--tight container, for up to three days.
• Try adapting this recipe to smaller sized loaf pans or even cupcake sized pound cakes.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Glazed Marble Pound Cake

Makes one 9X5-inch loaf

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons boiling water

For bittersweet chocolate glaze

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons half-and-half, cream, or whole milk

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.  Coat a 9X5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray; set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy, 5 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Mix in the vanilla.  Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour.  Mix until well incorporated and then set aside one-third of the batter in a small bowl.

In a bowl or measuring cup, mix together the cocoa and the boiling water with a rubber spatula until smooth.  Add the cocoa mixture to the reserved cake batter; stir until well combined.

Spoon the batters into the prepared pan in two layers, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a checkerboard.  To create marbling, run a knife through the batters in a swirling motion.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean.  Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Prepare the glaze:  In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and the half-and half.  Add the melted chocolate and whisk until the glaze is smooth.  If it is too thin, add more sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.  If it is too thick, add more half-and-half, 1 teaspoon at a time.

Pour the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.  Let set for 30 minutes and then serve.