Meatless Friday Ideas: Burgers

Here come meatless Fridays, folks!

I struggled for ages coming up with meatless meals on the Fridays of Lent...but now we eat a mostly vegetarian diet, so I have TONS of ideas.

We are a burger loving people in our house, so here's 5 meatless burger recipes to choose from when you just can't do fish sticks and macaroni and cheese one more time.

Roasted Zucchini & Quinoa Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta
My tips on these: Make your quinoa ahead of time using veggie broth instead of water (extra flavor!!) Use 1 3/4 - 2cups of panko. If you don't have fresh basil on hand (and I never do) use 1/2 tsp dried basil. Be generous with the salt & pepper.

I form the patties by scooping 1/2 cup of the mixture into a measuring cup and emptying it onto silpat on a baking sheet, pressing it down and shaping it with my hands. Don't skip the fridge chill out session! Bake these in the oven instead of frying them; I do about 15-20 minutes per side at 400°F.

For the Garlic Whipped Feta: use 1 Tbsp fresh dill and 1 tsp lemon juice. Unless you like big lemon flavor and lots of dill...then just use her quantities. I found the dill & lemon to overpower the garlic & feta, and I reallllllllly like the garlic & feta.

So. Delicious. I love them with some raw purple onion and iceberg lettuce (soak the onion slices in ice water for 5 minutes to help take the "bite" out of them).

Smoky Sweet Potato Burgers with Roasted Garlic Cream
My kids loved these! The first time I served these, Miss A was not sure she wanted to eat them. She had recently declared herself a vegetarian (thank you Kindergarten lesson plans personifying turkeys in November) and also that she didn't like vegetables. I explained that this is the kind of food vegetarians eat, so if she was going to be a vegetarian, she'd have to eat this. She did and she loved it!

Epic Crispy Quinoa Burgers
Make the fries to go on top. And the egg. Oh, yes, the egg
                                                                                           gg
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See that runny yolk pooling on your plate just waiting to be sopped up with this epic burger??!!


Zucchini Parmesan Sliders
Oh my. I can't adequately express how amazing these are. I might have made a second batch after people went to bed just so I could eat more without sharing. Ah, who am I kidding?! I did.

Sloppy Lentils
This one was really easy to throw together on a weeknight. The kids gobbled it up and said these were the best Sloppy Joes I've ever made.  They didn't even notice it wasn't made of meat.

1 1/2 c dried lentils (green)

3 c veggie broth

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 can tomato soup (10 3/4 oz)

3/4 c ketchup

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1/4 c dark brown sugar

2 T Worchestershire Sauce

1 1/2 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Buns

Rinse lentils well under running water (pick our any rocks or deformed lentils). Add lentils & veggie broth to a medium saucepan. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower heat to a slow simmer (few bubbles, a little bit of movement). Cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes (older lentils take longer to cook). As soon as they are tender, remove from heat and strain. Set aside.

Heat EVOO over medium heat, add onion. Saute until translucent (you can saute them until they begin to turn brown & caramelize a bit if you prefer). Add strained lentils and all remaining ingredients and combine well. Simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and serve on buns!

You can also add grated carrot and/or chopped peppers if you like that sort of thing!

Well, wishing you your BEST LENT EVER! And with these burgers, it will be.

Back to School Cookie Bars

I had to make a special treat for my boy for his first lunch at school. I found this recipe for PMS bars and they immediately appealed to my PMSing self. And though he is completely capable of explaining what PMS is (he's sat in on enough NFP classes that he could probably teach them himself), I'm not ready for that awkward call from the school just yet.

Thus, the "Back to School Cookie Bars" were born.

Unfortunately, the peanut butter chips just don't do it for me. Their flavor is too muted and the peanut butter taste can't quite overcome the other flavors in the cookie bars.

Butterscotch chips to the rescue.

Yes, these are incredibly sweet. The touch of salt in the crust and on the pretzels helps keep the sweetness from overpowering you though.

A mega-hit all around.

5-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse Pie

Because I love you, I'm going to share one of my secret recipes with you.

 Whenever we get invited to a potluck or a holiday party or a gathering where I am supposed to bring food I try to get assigned a dessert as my dish to pass.

 The reasons for this are as follows in no particular order:

1. I LOVE dessert and an evening out without a killer dessert is just a bummer in my book.
2. I LOVE making desserts. I love making cakes, pies, cupcakes, fudge, truffles, cookies, and candy. If it qualifies as dessert I want to make it.
3. I feel like people are (rightly) finicky about the foods they eat, but it's hard to pass up a good dessert.
4. Like good wine, there should always be a chocolate dessert offered at every occasion.
5. Recipe taste testing & leftovers are all MINE when I make the dessert.

This pie has been brought to dozens and dozens of events over the years. Once people taste it, they always ask me to bring it again the next time.

I am only too happy to oblige. You're welcome <insert my fancy curtsy here>.

Even though there are never any leftovers, no one ever asks me for the recipe. I guess they just assume it is really difficult and time consuming to make such a luscious mousse, but they couldn't be more wrong.

Plus when they see my smokin' guns they figure they don't have what it takes to whip the cream into submission. J/K - I use a handheld mixer.

Not only does this recipe have only 5 ingredients, but (cover your eyes if you're French) it is a microwave recipe too. I know, I should be ashamed, but I've tasted it...and there ain't no shame in my chocolate mousse game.

Go ahead and make it for your Labor Day cookout. What a great way to (un)officially end the summer!

To get the recipe click here.

Chocolate Chip Scones

Each weekend, I enjoy making a "treat" breakfast for my family. One of the breakfasts my kids request with regularity is Chocolate Chip Scones. I can't blame them.

This recipe makes fluffy scones that definitely will never be confused for health food. But that is what makes them a weekend treat. If you don't think you and your family will finish all 12 scones for breakfast (I'd be impressed if you could), panic not, my friend! These are delicious at room temperature later in the afternoon as a snack.

Chocolate chips not your thang? You could substitute the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, cinnamon chips. Or any crazy combination of those you can think of (hello chocolate chip, peanut butter scones - alas, I'm not as crazy as you think!).

I hope your family enjoys these as much as mine does!