Carrot Dogs

Everyone knows that store bought vegetarian "hot dogs" are disgusting. And this is coming from a girl who growing up thought that Boca burgers were awesome! After becoming a vegetarian, I learned that home made black bean burgers far exceed the store bought stuff, but basically just ignored the rubbery, tasteless store bought hot dogs when it came time for a summer barbecue. Some time ago, I heard that carrots could be marinated and turned into vegetarian hot dogs. At first, I ignored the concept, since typically the hot dog provides protein and carrots don't provide all that much. However, recently I found myself craving a hot dog and the carrot dog came to mind. In this new frame of mind, I thought, why not? I love carrots and I can always pair a carrot dog with a side that carries protein (like this potato salad with chickpeas) to enjoy a balanced, delicious summer-style meal. The carrot dog verdict? Delicious and surprisingly satisfying! If you think about it, beyond the general saltiness, hot dogs aren't really all that flavorful, so typically the ketchup, onions, and mustard carry the taste anyways. So give this easy carrot dog a try. It's like the cauli-rice for carb lovers!

Why is the grocery store always out of whole wheat hot dog buns?

Carrot Dogs

1 large carrot cut to a hot dog-sized piece
1T Vegemite (or beef-like bullion)
2T soy sauce
1T liquid smoke
3 cloves garlic
1 onion diced
1T black pepper
1T paprika
sea salt to taste
Enough water to cover the carrot in your microwave safe dish
buns or bread for serving

Cut ends of the carrot off to size to your bun. Add pieces and carrots to microwave-safe dish. Cover with water and microwave until your carrots are tender. This will be 5-8 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. Remove from marinade, place in bun, top with your favorite hot dog toppings and prepare to be amazed!

Happy Thanksgiving! (2015 Edition)

Since I last wrote, big changes have happened in my life. I got married, moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, started my dream job as a tenure track chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon, upgraded to a Cat 1 road cyclist... I feel like the list goes on and on.  I have so much to be thankful for. My loving family and friends, a caring, sweet husband, my dream job, many fast bikes, a nice (rental) house in a good neighborhood, a wickedly smart and athletic rabbit, who might just be a psycho-killer if he was a human... However, with so many changes I feel like I'm still finding my footing in this new life. I don't know how and what to prioritize and if I didn't love everything so much, I would feel very overwhelmed. I don't yet know how to be the best wife I can be (although recently I learned that it does not involve keeping a spotless house. We are much happier when I accept that the house will be messy.) This Thanksgiving, my husband is working night shift. Thus, I decided not to travel so that I could be with him as he spent his first holiday outside of New England without his family. I feel like a huge disappointment to my own family, but since I'm married now, I have to put Aidan first and think about how I can best support him. And I think being here for him and getting caught up on sleep, chores, and work is the best way to do just that.

We aren't totally missing out though. Last weekend, our best friend came into town, since her parents live down the street from us, so we celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious dinner with her family then. I am so thankful to have my best friend and really, her whole family in our lives. They are the type of people who know what you need and give it to you before you even ask or realize yourself that you need it. Thanks :) She truly gives meaning to the quote "friends are the family you get to pick out." To the dinner, I brought a Veggie Turkey and apple sweet potato burgers, as the vegetarian entree (recipe below). I was really proud of my veggie turkey, especially because I found it on Pinterest last year and actually remembered for a whole year that I wanted to make it and did! I must say, it is a fantastic contribution for a vegetarian to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner.

The most adorable veggie turkey.

But on the big day, what's a girl who loves to cook but doesn't have a Thanksgiving dinner planned to do? I have a ton a work and laundry, but I decided to indulge myself by making a few more elaborate recipes that I have been dying to make for some time. For the husband, I made cranberry-maple glazed salmon and apple crisp to take to his work potluck. I followed those up with a chestnut stuffing (to make use of some french and sourdough bread that had gone stale) and a sweet potato lentil shepherds pie. There's still many hours left in the day, so I might make a few more things, but I decided to take a moment to reflect and do one more thing that I gratuitously enjoy... sharing recipes with you!


Apple Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

1c oatmeal, ground to oat flour

1T cornstarch

1 large or two small onions

2 cans chickpeas

1 large apple diced

1 large sweet potato, cubed

garlic, ginger, cinnamon, salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Roast sweet potato cubes on parchment paper for 30 minutes or until just starting to soften.

3. Make oat flour by food processing oats. Add the cornstarch. Add spices.

4. Dice onions and add them to the food processor. 

5. Wash & drain chickpeas. Add 1/2 of them to the food processor. Pulse to make a course paste. Transfer to a large bowl.

6. When the sweet potatoes are done, add them to the food processor. Add remaining chickpeas and apple chunks and process coarse lay. Add to bowl.

7. Mix mixture in bowl with hands (like working clay) Taste to see if you need to add any additional spices.

8. Shape into patties (this should make 10). Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350F. Flip burgers at 25 minutes to evenly brown.

9. Serve with cranberry sauce (or honey mustard). Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chestnut Stuffing

1 lb chestnuts
~1 loaf stale bread (I use whole wheat bread ends, a stale Italian loaf, and stale sourdough rolls to use)
1 small onion, diced
1 16oz package mushrooms, chopped
2 stalks celery
2c vegetable broth
Black pepper, garlic, parsley to taste

1. Preheat over to 350F.
2. Cut an "x" into the top of each chestnut. Roast in over at 350 for 40 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, chisel (ok, or cut if your bread isn't like rocks) bread into chunks. Dice onion, celery, mushrooms. Place in 9x 13 pan.
4. Once your chestnuts are done and cooled, harvest as much chestnut meat as you can. Add to pan.
5. Add spices and pour broth over stuffing mixture. If using fresh bread, use less
5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or until bread is desired crispiness and mushrooms & onions are tender.

I. love. bread. Yum! Carbs are speed!

Sweet Potato Lentil Shepherd's Pie

2 large sweet potatoes
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1c dried lentils, cooked
1 package (16 oz) mushrooms
1c unsweetened original almond milk
basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, parsley to taste

1. Preheat over to 350F (Hint: these are all at 350 by design, so if you wanted to make a Thanksgiving feast, you could do them all at once!)
2. Wash lentils, then cook in ample water. You can flavor the water with bullion or vegemite for more flavor.
3. Poke holes with a fork in the sweet potatoes. Microwave for 10 minutes, or until soft.
4. Saute 3/4 diced onion and mushrooms in a large pan, using water to prevent from sticking. Add spices.
5. In a small food processor, food process 1/4 onion, 3 cloves garlic and parsley.
6. Once lentils are done, drain. Add to mushrooms and onions and sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes.
7. When sweet potatoes are soft and no longer scorching hot, cut open, and scoop the flesh out into a small bowl. Add almond milk with spices from the blender and mash with a potato masher.
8. Add lentils to a cassarole dish. Spoon on a top layer of sweet potato mash. Bake for 20 minutes until the top just starts to brown.


Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! More vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes can be found in my 2013 Thanksgiving week post. Enjoy and be thankful!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Growing up, I loved veggie burgers. My favorite were Boca burgers, but in hindsight, I'm not sure why... they kind of have a funky taste and are probably the least tasty of all the veggie burgers that I've tried! None the less, I've always liked protein-rich veggie patties as a substitute for a run-of-the-mill beef burger. (Except for when it comes to pairing them with mushrooms & swiss cheese... I am still on a quest to solve this problem and will share the solution when I do!) Until 2012, I had no idea how one would go about making a veggie burger and was relegated to options from Morning Star, Boca, and Trader Joe's. However, one time when visiting my fiancé's family I was served the most delicious black bean burger and my future mother-in-law generously share the recipe! Since I was shown the light (and bought a food processor), last summer I went on on a veggie burger-creating spree, trying all kinds of combinations of beans, veggies, spices, and fillers. Sometimes I just add what I have on hand, but this recipe is one that I've honed and perfected and has been given the title of "the best burger I've ever made" by my fiancé.

While I've made many different veggie burgers, I have yet to share any of my veggie burger recipes on this blog. This is because I truly believe that a good veggie burger is best enjoyed outside in the warm sunshine. This past weekend called for sunny days and temperatures near 60F. While "grilling weather" was not quite realized, I was feeling overzealous and hopeful about the approach of summer and made both black bean and sweet potato-chickpea burgers (my other favorite) this past weekend. The two biggest tricks I've found are to add cornstarch to help the burgers stick together and to add mushrooms, which lend a meaty texture. Other than that, it's just about sticking roughly to a formulaic base (I really like the formula suggested by No Meat Athlete) and adding your favorite veggies and spices! I always make up a large batch of veggie burgers as the extras will keep perfectly in the freezer for weeks. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Keep your fingers crossed for the coming of spring and "grilling weather."

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

1c + 1/2c rolled oats (quick cook or regular)
1T cornstarch
1/2 small sweet onion
5 cloves garlic
1T liquid smoke
2T sirracha
5oz baby bella mushrooms (1/2 package)
2c dry black beans, cooked to yield 5c cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1c sweet yellow corn, cooked

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Add 1c rolled and cornstarch to food processor. Food process into a fine powder. I prefer quick cook rolled oats, since the regular can make the outsides of the burger a bit tough.
3. Add onion and garlic, then mushrooms. Food process to combine.
4. Add liquid smoke, sirracha, remaining 1/2c rolled oats, and 4c black beans. Food process to a coarse mixture.
5. Stir or mash in remaining 1c black beans and corn. I don't food process this last part as leaving some black beans and the corn whole adds good texture.
6. Form into patties and place on baking sheet. This should yield 8 good sized patties.
7. Bake for 40' at 350F, flipping halfway through to cook evenly.
8. Top with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy!

Green "Sausage" and California Reflections

Ok, ok... I know in my last post, I promised that I was back. And I planned to be since the only thing on my agenda was to ride my bike! But then I learned that the internet was spotty at best in the house I was staying at in California and it's hard to write a good blog post from a phone. Please forgive me!

A beautiful California sunset to help you find it in your heart to forgive me.

The training trip to California was amazing, and very productive. First, I rode 510 miles over the 8 days that I was there, which is about 40% more than I've ever ridden in one week ever before! Previously, my knees have cried "uncle" after 300 miles in 6 days, so I was really amazed at the end of the week to find that I did this. Even better, this was the first training trip I've ever been on that I didn't come home with an overuse injury as a souvenir. I feel like I'm finally qualified to write a post on injury prevention, so stay tuned! The capstone ride of the trip was a 125 mile ride with 11,000 ft of climbing that was the longest and hardest ride I've ever done. It was hardest quantitatively: I averaged 178w for the trip, thanks to my dedicated MIT teammates pushing the pace. Qualitatively, my first Livestrong century ride, done on a hybrid in 2007, still remains my hardest long ride. In addition to a bunch of pack riding and skills practice, perhaps my biggest takeaways came from the descents. Anyone who has ever ridden with me knows I hate descending and am overly cautious, to the point that I tense up and actually make it less safe for myself. Don't get me wrong: the trip did not make me a great descender, (that would take a miracle) but it did give me lots of opportunities to study, learn, gain general comfort, and practice that will help me in the season to come. (Since returning, I've been visualizing descending properly while on the trainer, since I now have something to base visualizations off of.) While I still find switchbacks extremely daunting, I've more than doubled my experience on switch-backing descents and I am fairly confident that I won't be dropped on every single one in my road races this year. (I'll just get dropped on the really steep/ technical ones...) Perhaps the best part of the trip happened in an orange grove just off of a highway mid-ride. I got some really great news, but for now I will just leave it at that. All will be revealed in time!

View from the top of the our climb at Mt. Palomar.

Ok, today's recipe is perhaps the most simple recipe that I've posted yet. My green "sausage" could also go as a veggie burger, but since I've not posted any of my veggie burger recipes on here, I won't advertise it as that. My veggie burgers are somewhat formulaic, and this recipe bunks that formula. It's only 3 ingredients: Dukkah spice, cornstarch (to help it stick together), and... lima beans! I know, I know. Lima beans don't exactly rush out at you from an assortment of legumes as a good meat substitute. But trust me, it works! Lima beans are nearly a complete protein (they are slightly deficient in the sulfur containing amino acids, methionine and cysteine. Fortunately, the sunflower seeds in the dukkah will counter this deficit), and are a good source of iron, B vitamins, potassium, and fiber. It also can readily be found in the frozen section, which means that you can avoid the salty canned version, without having to wait hours for your dried legumes to cook!

Green "Sausage"

1 12oz bag frozen lima beans, thawed
3T Dukkah spice
1T cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350F. Food process ingredients until mostly smooth. Shape into patties. (This recipe will make about 4 medium-sized patties.) Cook for 30 minutes, flipping 20 minutes in. Enjoy alone as a breakfast sausage, or add it to a bun with mustard and lettuce and call it a burger!