Two for Tuesday - Pasta Primavera, Very Veggie Burgers & Tamari Rice with Veggies & Tempeh

This week's Two for Tuesday is actually a Three for Tuesday - three meals made from the same base ingredients to save tons of time in the kitchen. We started off with a mix of veggies - broccoli, carrots, zucchini and peas - then cooked them once and made three meals out of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

We started the week with Pasta Primavera, which I made with a whole wheat angel hair. It was delicious, but in hindsight, I should have used a heartier pasta like a fettucine to stand up to the cream sauce - next time. The picture isn't very inspiring, but it was way yummier than it looks!

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 large bunches of broccoli, finely chopped

8 carrots, finely chopped

3 zucchini

1 small bag of frozen peas

16 oz. box of whole wheat pasta

1 recipe Cashew Cream Sauce

Preparation:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Pour a little water into the bottom of a large pan for the veggies, and warm to medium heat. 

2. Starting with the carrots (since they have the longest cooking time), finely chop all the veggies, tossing them into the pan as you go. Add the peas in at the end, and cook until all veggies are slightly tender.

3. When the water in the pot boils, cook pasta according to package directions.

4. Once the veggies are cooking and pasta is boiling, blend up and cook the sauce.

5. When the veggies are done, transfer 2/3 of them to a storage container for the other two recipes. Drain the pasta, and toss it into the pan with the remaining veggies. Add the cream sauce, and toss gently until well combined.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

*  *  *

The next night, we took more of the mixed veggies and made them into veggie burgers. I've always been slightly annoyed by veggie burgers that seem to lack any actual veggies, so for several months now, I've been dreaming up my own. The inspiration came from the oddest of places - a little diner in the town of Celebration. It's not the place you'd think to go for great veg food, but their veggie burger is delicious. What I remember most is the little chunks of broccoli and carrots mixed into a base of chickpeas - so that's what I attempted to recreate.

I think I came pretty close, but I will do some tweaking on this one next time. The veggies didn't stand out to me as much as the diner burger, so next time I'll use fewer chickpeas to up the veggie-chickpea ratio. But, this recipe earned a unanimous five sprout rating so it's safe to say it's also good as is.

Just so you can't say I didn't warn you, this recipe makes a lot - we got nine burgers out of it. We ate five that night with roasted potato wedges and four the following night with salad. If you don't like the same meal two nights in a row, you could probably toss the leftovers in the freezer to enjoy another week.

Very Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

3 cups chickpeas

1/2 remaining veggie mixture (about 2 cups)

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons Bragg's or tamari

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chickpeas in a large bowl and mash so that no whole chickpeas remain. 

2. Mix in remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Knead the mixture with your hands until it starts to hold together. 

3. Scooping out 3/4 cup of the mixture at a time, form into a small ball then flatten into a patty.

4. Place patties on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 5 minutes. If you prefer a slightly crispier burger, you can cook them in a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray instead.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

*  *  *

The final night of our very veggie journey found Big Sprout in the kitchen cooking up a no-fry stir fry. I'll have to add in the pictures of this one later since Jim took the camera I needed today!

Tamari Rice with Veggies & Tempeh

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice

Remaining veggies (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 tablespoons tamari or Bragg's

1 package seasoned tempeh (I used the Turtle Island Sesame Garlic tempeh strips)

Preparation

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.

2. While the rice is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of water until tender. Add the veggies, stirring often until heated through.

3. When the rice is done, add it to the veggie mixture and mix in the tamari.

4. Chop the tempeh strips, and add into the rice mixture. Enjoy!

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 4 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 4 sprouts