South of the Border Spaghetti with Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burgers

It’s been a good food week. Donnie’s parents and grandma are here so we’ve been finding excuses to live it up. I had a killer vegetarian BBQ “chicken” sandwich at a really good restaurant in Fresno (New Star Vegetarian, check it if you’re ever here!), an almost perfect pesto and sundried tomato pizza at Pizza Factory, a delicious white hot chocolate at a really cute coffee shop, fresh and from scratch strawberry shortcake a lá Paulette, a trip to the farmer’s market which resulted in fresh croissants, organic honey, obsidian black berries (and every other sort of berry you can think of), along with some fresh, organic basil and garlic that resulted in a really good batch of pesto tonight. I even found some morel mushrooms growing next to our house today! They were as good as I remembered them after I sautéed them in butter with some of that fresh garlic I mentioned. How lucky have I been? This series of delectable meals started about a week ago with a really great batch of pasta.

Several of us found ourselves very hungry at the same time last week. I took matters into my own hands and reverted to my college pasta formula which I perfected during my very hectic last year of college: pasta + veggies + cheese (optional) + veggie meat + seasoning = perfection. Since we happened to have some jalapenos in the fridge, I decided to go south of the border with some left over spaghetti. Some Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers I found in the freezer affirmed this decision.

Morningstar sells several burger variations including the Tomato and Basil Pizza burger, the Chipotle Black Bean burger and even the Asian Veggie Pattie. These are obviously great for sandwiches, but are really good in other dishes as well. Chopped up, they’re delish in a fajita, with rice, on nachos or with pasta, of course.

However, these should be used sparingly. Although they’re low in fat and calories and are a pretty good source of protein, they have lots of sodium (350 mg in the spicy black bean burgers) and more carbohydrates than other veggie burgers since they have some special ingredients like rice, beans, etc. However, they’re really flavorful, so a patty or two will go a long way in a dish. This spaghetti is proof of that.

South of the Border Spaghetti with Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Serves 8

13 oz package of dried spaghetti

2 Tbls olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 red pepper, chopped

2 Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

Half a package of Sazon Goya

salt

Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Cook spaghetti according to package instructions until almost done.

In frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes.

Add red pepper, jalapeno, burger pieces, seasonings and salt to taste. Mix together and cook until peppers are soft. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over top and serve.

Tips: This recipe is so easy, but you can make it even easier if you have some leftover spaghetti in your fridge. Also, the jalapeño gives this dish serious kick. If you can’t handle spicy food, don’t use the whole thing. If you’re in the mood for queso, this dish would be great sprinkled with some sharp cheddar, monteray jack, or even some goat cheese. If you don’t have any Sazon Goya, don’t sweat it, but it gives some extra Latin flavor and color.

Beef Stroganoff with Cedar Lake Beef Strips

A couple of months ago, I made a post on facebook about my blog, asking for ideas on veggie meats that I should profile. I got tons of suggestions, but only one challenge. My friend Tiffany (a total hoot of a human) said that if I could make something out of Numeat that tasted good, she would be seriously impressed. I don’t know that I’ve ever had Numeat. To be quite honest, I don’t think it even goes by that name anymore. Anyway, Tiffany actually offered to send some all the way from Chicago! And then she actually DID it! I told you, she’s an awesome human. She even threw in a bonus meat: a can of Cedar Lake Beef Strips. Truth be told, I’m a bit scared of the Numeat, now called Nutolene, so when I finally work up the courage, you’ll hear about it. But the beef strips were so inviting.

I have actually been inside the Cedar Lake factory. No, it was not a veggie meat pilgrimage; it was just a walk across the street. I am a proud alumnus of Great Lakes Adventist Academy, located in, you guessed it, Cedar Lake, Michigan. And the Cedar Lake factory was right next store.

To be honest, Cedar Lake products seem a bit eccentric. The aforementioned beef strips are symmetrical. As in, they have corners and angles. But at least they don’t have a weird name. Other Cedar Lake canned items aren’t so fortunate: Nuti-Loaf, Hostess Cuts (seem a bit gender specific…) and 3 Grain Pecan Patty (not plural, just one patty I guess) are a few examples. But a weird shape and name are the least of my worries. I mean seriously, I’ve been eating veggie meat my whole life. You CANNOT scare me with that stuff. If it tastes good, no worries, so what is my verdict on the beef strips? Not bad.

The flavor is mild, dare I say earthy? Oh so subtly reminiscent of mushrooms or… something. A peak at the label revealed why; they have less sodium then most fake meats. Three hundred mg per serving isn’t exactly low sodium, but it’s less then most. Plus, they’re super low fat, low in carbohydrates and are a good source of protein. They even finagled 20 percent of your Thiamin and B6 in there. Good job.

While the can says they’re “Ideal for stir-fry or great in casseroles,” and “Perfect for fajitas,” I decided to try stroganoff. I’d been craving that lately for some reason (no, I’m not pregnant), so the newly acquired strips seemed like a good excuse. Stroganoff can be really good, or really gross. They key is finding the proper balance between the richness of the sour cream and the general presence of the other components. Just don’t let it get too heavy. And quick disclaimer, that stroganoff photo up there is not mine. We were so hungry, we scarffed the stuff I made before I remembered to get a photo…


Beef Stroganoff with Cedar Lake Beef Strips
Serves 4

1 Tbls olive oil
½ a medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 c. thinly sliced mushrooms
20 oz can Cedar Lake Beef Strips, chopped into smaller pieces
1 c sour cream
½ c milk
2 tsp dried dill
salt and pepper

In a large sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms and beef strips and sauté until onions are tender and beef strips begin to brown.

Add remaining ingredients (salt and pepper to your liking) and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Serve over egg noodles, rice, toast, etc.


Tips: A lot of stroganoff recipes call for flour to thicken the mixture and tomato paste… because they're dumb. The sour cream starts getting thick again like two minutes after you take it off the heat, so don’t even worry about it. If anything, you want to make sure it’s viscous enough. Also, for a vegan version, I did a combination of vegan sour cream and dairy free cream cheese, along with some almond milk and a little bit of Veganaise. It sounds sort of complicated, but I just threw things in until I liked it. Isn’t that what cooking’s all about?

Ragù con Sausage with Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles

I have not been cooking enough lately. This is dangerous because when I do get a chance to cook, I go nuts. This became clear a couple of weeks ago when Donnie and I had the weekend off. We decided to spend it at home, which meant we could do a nice, quiet Sabbath dinner alone. Since Donnie and I have been doing a low-carb diet for the last couple of months (13 lbs and counting!), we hadn’t eaten pasta for weeks. We LOVE pasta. Being that it was our weekend off, we decided to break the rules and fudge on our diet for one meal. But if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right. I was not opening up a jar of tomato sauce. No, this meal would be in house, start to finish. Caprice salad, garlic bread, stuffed zucchini, pesto, whole wheat pasta and home made meat sauce. It ended up sounding as good as the grocery bill was expensive.

I’ve only made pasta sauce one other time and that was years ago so I had to start with a source I know and trust. Foodnetwork.com is a great place to get ideas for recipes. I’m a particular fan of Alton Brown. His recipes are usually fresh and different while still being simple to execute. I already knew I wanted to use Morningstar Farms version of sausage in the sauce, but the meat sauces I found called for at least 3 different types of meat and a lot of unnecessary steps so I decided to adapt a tomato sauce recipe instead.

Donnie isn’t a huge fan of Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles (could they possibly come up with a longer name?). My theory is that it’s because they actually sort of taste like meat, which Donnie did not grow up eating. They have a pretty bold flavor and they’re spicy as well. The soft but chewy texture along with the peppery bite make them a great substitute for sausage in both Italian and breakfast dishes. Donnie loved the sauce and used the crumbles the other day in an egg and hash brown scramble (I’ll have to blog that later on), so I think he’s been converted.

The nutritional info is similar to most other veggie meats. Let’s just start with the fact that each 2/3 cups serving has 420 mg of sodium. That’s a lot of sodium. On the other hand, since the sausage crumbles have such a strong flavor, you can get away with using less. You definitely won’t get a whole serving of crumbles in each serving of sauce. Now that we have the sodium out of the way, we can breath a sigh of relief since these contain no saturated or trans fats, are low in carbohydrates and have 11 grams of protein per serving. Not only that, but they even threw in some healthy portions of Thiamin, Niacin and Vitamin B12. Thanks guys. Don’t feel bad about throwing these crumbles into a recipe; just don’t use the whole bag (which replaces 1 lb of real uncooked sausage, by the way).

But back to the sauce, it’s easy as can be and will make your house smell like Heaven, if there’s Italian food in Heaven, that is.

Ragù Grosso con Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles

Serves 3-4

12 roma tomates, halved

8 baby portabella mushrooms, halved

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

2 scallions, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 Tbls fresh oregano, finely chopped

1 Tbls fresh thyme, finely chopped

salt and pepper

¾ c white wine

1 c Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a baking dish, place tomato and mushroom halves cut side up. Sprinkle with oil, scallions, garlic, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 2 hours. Check the tomatoes after 1 hour and turn down the heat if they seem to be cooking too quickly. Then turn the oven to 400 degrees and bake another 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a saucepan. Mash ingredients together with a potato masher. Add white wine and sausage crumbles, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

Tips: This sauce is really think and chunky. If you prefer something more… saucy, I guess, try adding some vegetable broth or a bit of tomato juice. You can also whiz the ingredients up in a blender after they come out of the oven (before you add the wine and sausage). If you don’t have fresh herbs and you don’t want to buy them, you can substitute a tsp of the dried versions. If the tomato skins bother you, just pull them off with your fingers after they come out of the oven before mashing. Although I paired this with linguini, a chunky sauce really goes best with a short, stout pasta like penne, ziti or radiatore. That said, it will taste good with anything. Especially a caprese salad.