It’s been a while since I have posted; life has been busy.
I am super excited to share with you all an awesome veggie burger that I made for Steve and I last night. I stumbled upon this recipe while playing on my phone trying to wake up Monday morning.
As soon, as I read that the burger used beets, I clicked away. If you have read some of my previous posts you will know that I have been loving beets this year. Once scrolling through the recipe, I was happy to read that I had most of the ingredients and just a short, quick trip to the store was necessary after work.
The Ultimate Veggie Burger is a recipe created by Ana from The Awesome Green. This was my first time visiting her blog and it is absolutely beautiful! I look forward to scrolling through her beautiful pictures and trying other fabulous recipes.
I followed this recipe to a “t” except for a couple tweaks:
– used Naan (Indian flat bread instead of whole wheat bun); I had Naan that needed to get eaten
-Omitted the coconut oil; didn’t have any on hand and my patties were moist
-instead of wholemeal bread crumbs used panko bread crumbs
– didn’t place the sweet potatoes on the burger; tossed the slices in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked at 350F for about 30 minutes or until tender
The burgers were flavorful just by themselves, but the avocado dressing is out of this world. It was creamy, salty, and fatty all at the same time.
The burgers were tender and moist, but held together nicely. I was a little worried when forming the patties that they were going to fall apart, but the baking process really helped hold them together. The texture was perfect, the softness from the beets and quinoa matched perfectly with the crunch from the flax seed and onion.
Note: Make sure to spray baking pan generously with cooking spray to avoid sticking. I had some sticking on a couple, but the clean up was really easy.
I was really happy that Steve loved the burger and gave me the thumbs up to make it again. 🙂
This recipe is a definite try! I just wish my pictures were half as beautiful as Ana’s.
Enjoy! Let me know if you make it and what you think.
Last night, I met up with my dear friend Nancy for dinner. We had been trying to meet up for about a month, but our schedules have been crazy. So, we finally put a date on the calendar and stuck with it.
Since, we both are foodies and work in the food industry, we always want to go to a new and trendy restaurant around the Twin Cities. Yesterday, we were at The Third Bird, located near The Basilica of St. Mary and Loring Park. If you are familiar with where Joe’s Garage use to be by Cafe Lurcat… it’s right there.
We parked our car, paid for parking, and headed to the door… as I opened the door, we read a decoy saying (not exact wording) “we would like you to please use our door in the alley”. I thought to myself, really, it’s cold, I am hungry and halfway into the restaurant and you want me to walk back outside and around the building just to go in another door… I don’t think so, in we went. Maybe when it’s not cold and the sun is shining I would be more willing to walk through the alley, because I am sure there is an aesthetic piece to it.
We were nicely greeted by the hostess, and she showed us to our table for two by the window. Nancy and I stopped for a second, looked at eachother with the same thought, you want us to sit here? The table was cramped. On one side a couple was eating and the other side a pillar. So, I walked back to the hostess politely asking for the table two down, where there was clearly more room, she happy obliged.
(please forgive the picture quality, the restaurant was really dark and the lighting was making bad shadowing in all my pictures, so I did what I could)
Once seated, we took in the atmosphere and after a while were greeted by a cheerful waiter. The decor was industrial, with modern classic touches. And, we thought it was cool to see there was an upstairs.
On to the food…
We wanted to order a few items off the menu to get a good perspective of the menu, so we decided on an appetizer, two vegetable sides and an entree.
The bacon and cheddar popcorn came out first. I was disappointed by the presentation, but it was popcorn- which I am a huge fan of, so naturally I was excited!
My first bite, I was overwhelmed with smoked bacon fat flavor, which I didn’t care for, but as I kept eating the smoke flavor mellowed and the cheddar started to come through. The flavors built nicely together and I ended up being happy with the dish. The portions size was just the right amount too.
After a long while, our two vegetable sides and entree arrived.
I was excited about the beets a)because I have gotten into beets this year, and looking for any excuses to try them b) the flavors sounded good to me- more on the sweet side which I thought would be nice with the bitterness beets can have sometimes.
We both were slightly disappointed. The menu described the dish as having burnt cinnamon, which was a little overwhelming, with the other flavors being underwhelming. The beets were nice and tender and beautifully presented.
roasted carrots, glazed with coffee, buttermilk curd, hazelnuts
This was the dish Nancy was excited about, me not so much because I wasn’t sure what to expect with the coffee glaze, but I am always open to try. I have to tell you, this was my favorite of the three! The carrots were tender, with a light sweetness and a hint of coffee flavor. The glaze wasn’t to thick, just a nice coating. The hazelnuts were a perfect texture crunch with the carrots. I would definitely order this dish again!
And, our entree… when the dish was place on our table, I couldn’t believe how small the portion was for a $12 entree. There were only 6 tortellini pieces. I took a tortellini piece and instantly was overwhelmed by salt. My second piece was better. The tortellini was tender and perfect bite size. When we got to the bottom of the plate the beautiful hibiscus color peeked through, which I would have loved to seen drizzled on the plate or on the tortellini themselves. Overall, I didn’t find this dish flavorful.
Yes, Nancy and I were excited about trying a new restaurant with trendy foods and we left slightly disappointed, but the main purpose for our night out, was to catch up and that’s exactly what we got to do.
I would give The Third Bird 3 out of 5 tables. The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, company and conversation were great, but the food was ok and service was friendly, but slow.
Have you been to The Third Bird? Comment below and let me know what you thought.
Since I am on a beet kick, I was thinking of other ways to cook with beets besides just salads. When looking through my fridge I realized that I still had some russet potatoes from Thanksgiving. So, instantly my mind went to a baked potato topped with beets.
I was cooking for one, since my husband was working late. So, adapt the recipe idea to fit how many people you are serving.
1 small russet potato
Butter (desired amount)
Salt and Pepper (desired amount)
Goat cheese (from Trader Joe’s)
Beets, chopped (Trader Joe’s prepared beets)
Walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
Balsamic Vinaigrette (Trader Joe’s)
Heat oven to 425F. Prick potato with tins of a fork. Wrap in aluminum foil and place directly on oven rack. Bake for about 30 minutes, until center is tender when pierced with a fork.
Cut cross and lengthwise through potato; push ends together to open potato. Top with butter, salt, pepper, goat cheese (gets a little melted when on top of hot potato), beets, walnuts and drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over top.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical how this dinner would turn out. I was having one of those moments where I was questioning my decision, but as soon as I took that first bite, I would be in for a nice surprise! Seriously, you can never go wrong with a classic baked potato with butter and your choice of toppings.
Growing up my parents loved eating Aunt Nellie’s pickled beets. They would ask if I wanted to try them and I did a couple times, but never grew fond of them. So, now into my adulthood I haven’t chosen to incorporate beets into my cooking routine.
A few weeks back a couple of my co-workers were making a beet salad. Like always, I was curious about how it tasted and was prepared. They invited me to try some, so I gave it a try and loved it!
Yesterday, for dinner I decided to make a simple beet salad of my own to go with some chicken and the lemons that Steve and I picked while in California a few weeks ago.
Heat oven to 350F. Place chicken breasts into a greased baking dish, salt and pepper both sides generously and place lemon slices on top of chicken breasts. Bake for about 45 minutes, until internal temperature is 165F.
I added a few cloves of crushed garlic, which is optional. I love roasted garlic and it adds a little flavor to the chicken while cooking.
crushed garlic
raw chicken with lemon slices and garlic cloves
Beets are a good source of many vitamins and minerals:
Potassium
Magnesium
Fiber
Phosphorus
Iron
Vitamins A, B & C
Beta-carotene
Beta-cyanine
Folic acid
Low calorie: about 58 calories in 1 cup of steamed beets
Wow! I am so glad that I walked into the other lab where beets were roasting, apples were being chopped and lots of food talk was happening. I never thought that I would try beets again and like them! This salad was super simple, delicious and perfect way to start my beet eating journey. I am excited to start incorporating beets into my cooking routine and sharing more recipes.
Do you have a favorite beet recipe? If so, please share with me, I would love to try it!
The Revolving Table 