Cayenne pepper – Fervent Foodie

Spicy black bean burgers two ways

July 7, 2011 7 Comments

ONE:

TWO:

Boom.

Homemade black bean burgers. FINALLY. After all these years I can check you off the Things I’ma Make List. Thank you to this recipe for showing me that homemade black bean burgers are actually super simple to make. Also thank you to Google for always helping me find delicious recipes to try out. I may not be a recipe creator, but I’m one heck of a recipe tryer-outer-and-tweaker if I do say so myself.

Here’s how to make your own black bean burgers in four easy parts.

ONE: Give the following a quick pulse in the blender, then strain out the excess liquids:

1/2 green pepper cut into chunks
1/2 onion cut into chunks
4 large cloves garlic, minced

TWO: Rinse and drain 1 can of black beans and pat those little bean babies dry with a paper towel. Once dry, pour them into a bowl and give them a good mash with a fork. The beans will have a thick and pasty yet slightly chunky (in a good way) consistency.

THREE: Whisk together the following in a small bowl:

1 egg
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (or less if you are a wimp)
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Franks Red Hot

FOUR: Combine parts 1, 2, and 3, then sprinkle in 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs and mix until combined. Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to evenly portion out four burgers. If you’re anal like me, your burgers will have precisely the same circumference. This is optional (though highly recommended).

Cook those burgers up in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes on each side.

*Ding ding ding* Burgers are done!!!

Now it’s time to get creative.

Last night, I had one of the burgers in a big burger salad (just like we had at Pike’s over the weekend)!

I’m fairly certain ketchup and mustard have never looked so good:

Once the leftover burgers were cooled off, I wrapped them in parchment paper and then in a Ziploc baggie, and tossed them in the freezer. Tonight, I heated one of the burgers up in the oven (again, 375 degrees 10 minutes on each side).

I plopped the burger on a Trader Joe’s low carb tortilla along with some tomato, onion, avocado, and dijon mustard:

Coming in for your close up:

I really enjoyed these spicy black bean burgers. The patties held together well even though the middle of the burger had a soft refried bean consistency (which I actually liked). Next time I think I’ll cook them longer in the oven and see if the burger firms up at all. Regardless, I’ll definitely be making these guys again! I think I’ll try swapping out the bread crumbs for oats and egg whites for the egg.

I’m pumped I still have 2 more of these in the freezer Smile

Stats on 1 black bean burger: 182 calories, 30g carbs, 3g fat, 4g protein, 7g fiber

Recipes

White Chicken Chili

January 5, 2011 3 Comments

Last night was my first night back from Charlotte, AKA my first night home alone. I knew I needed something healthy after the Charlotte Restaurant Binge but I was really craving comfort food. Soooooo, I decided to go with a healthified version of the white chicken chili the BF made a few months back.

I started off by heating 1 tsp of olive oil in a large pot. Once hot, I added 1 large chopped up onion (the larger the better.. I’m talking softball size).

I tossed four cloves of minced garlic on top (to keep the garlic from burning), and once the onions were soft and translucent I added:

2 4 ounce cans chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
32 ounces reduced sodium free-range chicken broth
2 cubed up grilled chicken breast
1 diced jalapeno
3 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained

Chopped up chickies!

I let everything simmer for 15 minutes or so:

Thennnnn I stirred in 3/4 of a cup reduced fat Mexican blend cheese. (I probably could have got away with 1/2 a cup of cheese—ohhhhh well)

How easy is this by the way????

Once the cheese was melted, I divided the soup up into 6 even portions:

I popped a couple of the portions into the freezer and some into the fridge for lunch this week. And of course one was for dinner tonight! I poured that lucky portion into a bowl and topped with some sliced jalapeno:

Dinner is served!

D-E-L-EEEEEEEEEESH 😀

Stats on 1 Serving White Chicken Chili: 277 Calories, 37g carbs, 5g fat, 29g protein, 11g fiber

Recipes

Black & White Chicken Chili

November 12, 2010 1 Comment

Every year, my company holds its annual Crockpot Fest where employees anonymously submit chilis and soups to a contest judged by our fellow coworkers. I’ve never participated in the crockpost fest from the submission side of things, though I have been more than happy to taste everyone else’s creations!

Given the recent relocation of my wildly attractive boyfriend Winking smile I suddenly have quite a bit of free time on my hands (which my Type A Personality is feverishly seeking to fill), so I thought this contest would be the perfect opportunity to start catching up on all the quality kitchen time I’ve been missing out on.

I decided to go with my spin on this recipe, which I call Black and White Chicken Chili.

As with any great recipe, it started off with a big fat onion:

Then it was time to bring on the HEAT. If you can’t take the heat… well… don’t eat the chili. Just sayin’ Winking smile

The heat in this recipe came in the form of chopped green chilis, jalapenos, and cayenne pepper along with some garlic, cumin, and dried oregano.

First up, I heated up a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot and then dropped in the chopped white onion:

Then I sat back and let the onions do their thang.

Once they were soft and translucent, I added the seasonings, chilies, garlic, and jalapenos and let everything jive together for a few minutes:

Then I tossed in my black beans:

And the white beans:

And gave everything a nice stir. Isn’t it beautiful?

Next up, I added the chicken broth, chicken stock, and shredded chicken:

I popped a lid on the pot, and let the chili meld together for about 15 minutes. Then I added 1 cup of shredded cheddar jack cheese:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Once the cheese melted, I turned the pot off to let everything cool down.

As with all soups, making this chili the night ahead makes for EVEN BETTER tasting chili the next day. Here’s a shot of my hard work at the contest:

Gotta love an accountant’s humor hahaha…

Another great thing about this chili is that it freezes really well. Last time I made it, I portioned it out into six individual servings and popped four of them into the freezer. Gotta love that!

Next time I make this chili, I think I’ll start off with a rue to help thicken things up a bit. As it stands, it’s a bit more like a choup than a chili. 🙂

Black & White Chicken Chili Ingredients List (Serves 6)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 big fat onion
3 cloves garlic (and by 3, I mean 5)
8 ounce can diced jalapeno peppers
4 ounce can chopped green chile peppers
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
16 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth
8 ounces chicken stock
3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts
2 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded Cheddar Jack cheese

Stats on 1 Serving: 351 calories, 38g carbs, 11g fat, 27g protein, 14g fiber

Recipes

Eggcellent.

November 1, 2010 6 Comments

My kitchen is no stranger to eggs.

Shortly after starting this blog, it dawned on me that I really do eat an excessive amount of eggs. So I started thinking about possible substitutions I could make. Something healthy, clean, and full of protein. Something filling and delicious that gave me energy without spiking my temperamental blood sugar.

I searched high and low and ended up right where I started.

Eggcellent.

One of the MANY things I LOVE about eggs is that I can make them in a big batch. Typically, I cook up a 5 serving egg scramble Sunday night and that serves as my breakfast #1 for the workweek. Each serving of my scrambled eggs consists of 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, which I season up with S&P, Red Pepper Flakes, and some Franks Red Hot.

I was feeling lazy Sunday night, so I ended up pushing back the egg-makin til Monday night this week. After work I headed to the grocery store to get the goods. I typically have some roasted broccoli alongside my eggs, but made a last-minute produce aisle decision to use up some of the frozen veggies in the freezer instead.

Low and behold I didn’t have any frozen veggies (dangit). You know, I actually think this was co-worker karma come back to haunt me. Recently, I discovered that roasted broccoli heated up in the community microwave makes the ENTIRE floor smell like butt. Apparently, I was oblivious to this smell for the last 9 months… Whoops! I guess it’s just pay back for those afternoon snackers who always burn their popcorn in the microwave leaving us with a 3pm funk. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! 😉

Luckily, I had 1 lonely large potato on hand (leftover from my Zuppa Tosacana). Eggs and potatoes. Can’t go wrong with that!

I tossed the potato into a bowl and seasoned it up with a drizzle of EVOO, some S&P, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper:

Then I popped them into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes to get their roast on. Once everything was done cooking, i evenly divided the goods up into four containers:

Tuesday through Friday B#1:

Now repeat 52 times and you have B#1 for the whole year… hahahah 🙂

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are your go-to workday breakfasts?

Recipes

Jambalaya. Jealous?

November 1, 2010 9 Comments

Every time I think of New Orleans, I hear the Zatarain’s rice commercial in my head. You know… Zatarain’s! (Said with much sass and flavor while jazz music wails in the background). Even before my trip to the Big Easy, I had this funny mental quirk.

This thought popped into my head tonight when I began to think about what to make for dinner. I was presented with the following challenge: what do you make when you’ve got leftover meats out the wazoo?

JAMBALAYA of course! It seems like ages since I last made Jambalaya! Well at least four months anyway. I had some chicken leftover from last week’s lunch and the turkey sausage was leftover from my Zuppa Tuscana…

Lucky for me, I keep frozen shrimp in the freezer at all times in case of emergency. So whipping together a 3-meat entre was easy peasy tonight!

3 meats, one dish:

The meats were ready to roll, so I heated the oven up to 400 degrees and got to choppin 2 roma tomatoes, 1/2 a white onion, and 1 green pepper:

I tossed the veggies into a bowl with:

1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp minced garlic

I gave everything a good toss, then added:

1 cup brown rice
1 cup low sodium chicken broth

I intended on using 1.5 cups of brown rice, but I ran out! Ooops! That’s what happens when I grocery shop without taking inventory first! Dangit!

I divided the mix up evenly among three foil packets that I had sprayed down with some nonstick cooking spray:

One for my dinner, one for my lunch, and one for the BF’s lunch because I’m clearly dabomb.com.

I popped the packets into the oven for 30 minutes, and VOOOOILLLAAA!

Oh so spicy, and ohhhhh so delicious!

Yes, the jambalaya we had in New Orleans (and again) was a teensy bit tastier than my healthified version, but I’d like to see NOLA try and stack up to these stats:

Stats on 1 serving: 314 calories, 33g carbs, 9g fat, 27g protein, 3g fiber

Jambalaya Ingredients List (serves 3):

6 large shrimp, tails removed
2 links Jennie-O Hot Turkey Sausage
3 ounces grilled chicken
1 green bell pepper
2 plum tomatoes
1/2 a white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 cup reduced sodium low fat chicken broth