Taste Test Tuesday: Wildwood SprouTofu Veggie Burgers (vegan & gluten free)

Nick is traveling this week and Lil Sis is spending some time with me. We’ve got a list of things we can’t wait to bake! (coming soon – hopefully!) While at the co-op the other day, Lil Sis picked out these burgers to try out because, let’s face it, we have to eat regular food, too. We were thrilled that they were both vegan and gluten free! So, we decided to give these babies a whirl.

They come in a 2-pack and are already seasoned. There really isn’t much of a description on how to prepare them, so I decided to grill them.

And I’ve never grilled anything (on the actual grill) in my life.

But guess what? I DID IT. And I managed to grill an entire bunch of asparagus as well. And not a hair was singed.

Once I got some good grill marks going, and they seemed to be sizzling, I started on dressing my burger. I went with ketchup, mustard, pickles and fresh tomato. (Lil Sis swapped in chopped onion for tomato on her burger)

I was a little anxious about the first bite. I mean, there are some REALLY bad veggie burgers out there and I was hoping this wasn’t going to be one of them. But I took my first bite.

And you know what? It was delicious! It had a nice, firm texture and wasn’t mushy. The outside had a nice crust that had caramelized a bit on the outside. As for taste, the seasoning tasted a lot like a seasoned salt (which we both liked), but it tasted a tad reminiscent of a chicken patty. I know, right? Kinda weird, but in a really good way. I was definitely glad that we tried them. I’d definitely buy them again. They’d be great for taking somewhere you needed to bring something to grill, or if you and a friend have a hankering for a veggie burger. And I LOVE the fact that they’re organic and made from sprouted soybeans. Bonus!

The vegan: 4 out of 5
The celiac: 4 out of 5

If you try them, I’d love to know what you think!

Southwestern Quinoa Bake (vegan & gluten free)

I love baking. LOVE IT. If someone would pay me to do it for fun (and do all of my dishes), that would be awesome! Dream job! I love making delicious things to share with friends and family. However, from time to time, I like to cook. Nick does 99% of the cooking in our house. (am I a lucky girl or what?!) He’s better at it than me, and he loves it. It’s his thing. Baking is my thing. Well, except for some sweet breads and cheesecakes. I haven’t quite mastered those yet. Nick is a pro at both. Let’s face it. Nick’s a pro. That being said, I found some inspiration over the weekend and made this tasty dish. It’s bursting with fresh flavor, it’s healthy and it just tastes darn good. We’re trying to use quinoa more often and this is a great way to incorporate it. I hope you give this one a try! I did good, if I do say so myself! This is one of those dishes where you’re pretty free to play around and add whatever you’ve got on hand.

Southwestern Quinoa Bake
1/2 cup dry quinoa (see instructions below)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced (or combination of colors, as I did)
2 serrano peppers, diced (optional, but we like it spicy!)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cans black beans
1/2 cup frozen (or fresh!) corn
vegan cheese (optional, I used Teese Nacho Cheese)
sliced green onion, for serving
chopped cilantro, for serving
lime juice, to taste

Preheat broiler to 500. Add 1/2 cup dry quinoa to a saucepan and add 1 cup of water plus 1 tsp Better than Bouillon. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, chop your veggies. Add 1 T of extra virgin olive oil to a large saucepan. Once hot, add all of your veggies. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until veggies start to soften. Add black beans and corn and mix well. Add seasonings, and mix to combine. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add your cooked quinoa and stir. Transfer to a baking dish and top with vegan cheese, if using. Broil until cheese is melted and just starting to bubble up. Serve with green onion, cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Eat as is, or serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Sunday Sips: Hoppy Boy by Twisted Pine Brewery

Thanks for joining me again this week to all you regulars who like to catch up on random beers.  For everyone else I’m glad you stumbled in, I hope you enjoy the tour and feel free to stick around for awhile and check out the other things we’ve got to offer around here as well. 

Yesterday was quite the day, a good old 85 degree day and who knows what really got into me, but Jackie and I got up and went on a run, and then all the sudden I went crazy with yard work.  I’m talking doing everything, I weeded the flower beds, bought new mulch, bought some new annuals to put in the beds, mowed the lawn and even busted out the weed whacker.  Needless to say I got inside for lunch during the middle of this and I wanted a nice cold beverage.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but some days when I feel like a beer, I really want to go old school and drink it out of a can.  (If you are new to reading my Sunday Sips, I’ve kind of become a beer snob and really like to have the perfect glass for each brew.)  So I was really excited to try this Hoppy Boy by Twisted Pine Brewery out of Boulder Colorado.  This thing is a tall boy for goodness sakes, how awesome is that.

So obviously I don’t really have any comments on the head, or the lacing this time. I did pour a smidge into a glass just to get the color. It was a deeper amber color that was really pleasant to the eye. This is an IPA, full of hops, 3 types to be exact which was pretty great in that the complexities of each one came out. It was smooth at first, with that hint of citrus, more like an orange than a grapefruit, then I got hit with what I’d probably say was a hint of pine, and finally it ended with a somewhat bitter finish, but not in a bad way. it really was a rather well rounded beer. It was easily drinkable, it was cool to have it from a can, and I would find it perfect to take to the beach or for a picnic on a warm summer day.  It was a nice medium level of alcohol at 6.2%.  All in all I’d give it a solid 3.5 out of 5.  It wasn’t something that I’m dying to get all the time, but I really quite enjoyed it.

By the way, if you decided to stick around and check out some other stuff on the blog, definitely check out our Virtual Vegan Potluck post from last week.  Then check out all the other wonderful items the potluck had to offer and vote for your favorites.  I’d love it if you thought our dessert was the best and voted for us, but there were so many great items that I’d just love you to give all the bloggers some love.  Have a great week everyone.

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday, y’all! It’s been a quite a week! Our Acts of Worship performances were a hit and well received, and we had a great turnout for our contribution to the Virtual Vegan Potluck! This week has been a much more relaxing week. Although, we missed a week of our running program due to rehearsals and my body was all “WHAT?!” when we started up again this week. Woo! I’m feeling it!

As with all Fridays, I’m linking up with Lauren.

1. After Saturday’s show, Nick and I wanted something super tasty and awesome for dinner that didn’t take a lot of effort. Grilled cheese was the answer. SO good. The new Daiya slices ROCK!

2. It was 98 degrees here on Tuesday. WHAT?! Iowa is having major PMS with crazy hot flashes. Basil wasn’t so sure about the heat. So sweaty!

3. I felt very fancy with my cucumber sandwich for lunch the other day. Until I forgot to check my teeth.

4. Speaking of Basil, he’s been LIVING outside now that’s nice out on a regular-ish basis. He likes to sit in the very middle and watch everything going on around him. He looks so little! Can you spot him?

5. My May Birchbox came on Wednesday! I can’t wait to try the Ojon hair oil!

Have a great weekend! I’m making donuts for breakfast tomorrow. Yep. That’s how we roll.