Mexican Bean Burgers, Ratatouille Pasta, Pomegranate Fun

Mexican White Bean Burgers

Don't get me wrong, I love black beans; but every so often you want a change... These are great!

1½ cups cooked Great Northern Beans --  cook your own, they're better than canned

1 cup cooked Short-grain Brown Rice – not easy to find, but worth it!

1½ cups total (in any combination) diced green chilies, corn, onion, black olives, cilantro

¼ cup chopped nuts – almonds, and/or whole pine nuts

1 cup Bread Crumbs

4-5 tsp Taco Seasoning, Chili Powder or a combination

2–3 tablespoons Salsa, as needed

Take the cooked beans for a spin in the food processor but don't go full-on puree – you want some texture here.

In a large bowl, combine the spun beans with the rice. Add the other ingredients – I used onion, red & yellow bell peppers, half cup of Salsa Verde, and pine nuts. Then the seasoning and bread crumbs (not panko). For seasoning I used Healthy Solutionstm salt-free Chili/Taco Seasoning and Cajun Seafood Seasoning in equal amounts. A packet of ordinary taco seasoning would work as well.

Smoosh all the ingredients together until well blended, using your hands and/or a spatula. Pick up a baseball-sized lump of the mixture and squeeze/compress it a couple times to mash everything well together. Then pat it out to about 5” in diameter and a bit more than 1/2” thick. Repeat with the remaining mix, and you should have 6 nice size patties.

Fry them on medium to medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes per side, until nicely browned.  Serve with a splash of salsa if you want.


Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Salmon
A pomegranate showed up in my SWFL Produce box last week.  I've eaten the seeds in salads and such, but never really messed with one.  Have you?  Here's what it looks like to break one down:

  

To make the pomegranate molasses glaze, you need more pomegranate juice than you get from one fruit, so I bought a bottle of juice.

Pomegranate Molasses

This is a great glaze for seafood, lamb... you name it!

2 cups pomegranate juice

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Optional: 2 heaping tablespoons pomegranate seeds 

Bring the pomegranate juice, sugar, apple cider vinegar, ginger, and black pepper to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and allow it to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until the pomegranate ginger sauce has reduced in volume by two-thirds. 

Stir the pomegranate seeds into the sauce, if desired, and serve it warm or use as a glaze for salmon, butternut squash steaks, whatever suits your fancy...

The Salmon
Wild-caught Faroe Isle salmon in this case.

Marinated for about an hour in a heavy slather of pomegranate molasses before being baked for 15 minutes in a pre-heated 400F oven

For Dessert
Carrying the pomegranate them one step further, here's Pomegranate with Sugar Kiss Melon:

Ratatouille Rotini
The flavors of the classic French vegetable stew as a "sauce" for baked rotini.

8 oz. dried whole grain penne pasta

2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into ½-inch slices

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped red onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-oz. can no-salt-added tomato sauce

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

¾ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 15-oz. can no-salt-added red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cook the pasta according to al dente package directions; drain.

In a large skillet, cook the zucchini for a few minutes until just starting to soften.  Now add  the rest of the ingredients to combine and cook for 6-8 minutes until things are somewhat soft.

Transfer the skillet contents to a baking dish (8x12 or 9x13). 

Bake, covered, 20 minutes. Sprinkle with additional oregano and/or thyme and serve.