Melissa's Cooking!

Now these veggie burgers, I have made quite a few times because they are good and good for you, filled with protein, fiber and nutrients. Each time we have them, we love them, however, a few times, they’ve been bland. So to try to make them tastier, I decided to try a few things different. It used to have celery, which I didn’t use this time…and I added a lot more seasoning/spices than I did previously.

Along with the burgers, I made the quick-boiled spinach which you can find under the Yummy Veggie Wrap here, as well as some roasted some sweet potatoes (described below).

Lentil Veggie Burger ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 cup canned lentil beans
• 1 cup carrots, shredded or finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• small zucchini, finely diced
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup tomato paste (1 6 oz. can)
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning
• 1 TBS Basil
• 1 TBS Oregano
  
• 2 tsp to 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Ketchup (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Cheese of your liking (optional)
• Sliced tomatoes (optional)
• Sliced whole wheat bread (optional)
  

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your vegetables. (For the dicing of the vegetables, I used a food processor. This totally saves a lot of preparation time.) I mixed all the ingredients together and formed into patties. Place the patties on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes on each side until a golden brown.

Place your burger on your bread and serve with ketchup, guacamole, cheese and/or sliced tomatoes. This will make about 8-10 patties.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 very large or 2 large sweet potatoes
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Rosemary
• Pepper

Cut up the potatoes into about 1 inch cubes. Mix together the potatoes with the olive oil, rosemary and pepper. Spread out on an oiled baking sheet. Pretty much the amount of time the burgers are baking at 350 degrees, the potatoes can take just as long to roast. I like my potatoes a bit crispy, but definitely take yours out sooner when you see that they are done to your liking.

Serve with the burger and spinach and ENJOY!

With the sweet potatoes and apple cider stewed together with the juicy diced tomatoes and veggie broth, and with the addition of Italian sausage, it seriously tastes what Fall should taste like. A bit on the sweeter side, but again, very seasonal and delicious. I found this recipe online, made my own adjustments and it turned out to be super yummy. Needs a tad of tweaking, but what I made is quite good!

Again, like the Burger Soup, feel free to use animal sausage…but I used the Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages…which added a nice flavor to the overall soup.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 box of Veggie Broth (4 cups)
• 1-28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1.5 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp of paprika
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
•1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes chopped in small cubes)
• 2 cups apple cider

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes…Enjoy!

Note: This is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day