what's cooking thursday- lentil burgers and glazed carrots

long time no see, i've forgotten a green bean casserole entry and not sure i'll ever put it up since i had to toss most of it as compost (it's hard trying to feed people who like korean food so much)

around the holidays there always seems to be an excess of delicious foods- baked goods and rich creamy warm-you-up and make you feel toasty and happy foods. but there’s something to be said when you just work with what you have. which usually i never do, but watching Chopped has sparked some creative juices for me, so today’s meal includes only ingredients i could find already in the kitchen (which required a lot of adapting of recipes…). happy thursday!

Lentil burger (adapted from Food and Wine)

1 cup uncooked brown lentils

2 ½ cups water

About 1 tsp garlic (mine is already pureed and kept frozen)

1 tsp ground cumin

Sprinkle of red chili flakes

Handful of walnuts (about 8 or 9?)

4 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted and made in bread crumbs

1 Tbl dried parsley

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Ground salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Splash of olive oil (and more for cooking)

For the dip

1 cup plain non fat yogurt

½ squeezed fresh lemon juice

1/8 tsp garlic

Dash of parsley

Bring lentils and water to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce heat to simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. In a food processor, puree lentils, walnuts, garlic, cumin, and red chili pepper flakes (some of the lentils can still be whole).  In a large bowl combine the lentil mix, bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, olive oil, salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush it with olive oil (I pour some on the pan and use a spoon to spread it around). Form ¼ cup size burgers (I got 11 patties total) and place them on the baking pan. Brush the burger with olive oil (it says to brush both sides but I forgot the bottom side). Baked at 425F for 6-7 minutes on each side (make sure the aluminum foil is well coated with oil so the patties don’t stick for the flipping part. You can also broil for about 3 minutes on each side.

For the dip- mix the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and parsley. Serve the burgers hot with the yogurt sauce on the side.  

*as the recipe had, the onions and such would have probably added a nice moist and flavorful kick, unfortunately there were absolutely no onions in the house (i think i used the last one in the wasted green bean casserole...that'll teach me)

Glazed carrots (adapted from Vegetables by Ann Bonar copyright 1986…this book is older than me!)

1 lb (6-8 medium or 4 very large) carrots, trimmed and peeled

2 Tbls/1 oz butter

½ Tbls brown sugar

Dash of salt

Sprinkle of dried parsley for garnish

Put the carrots whole in a pan of lightly salted boiling water, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Add the butter and sugar to the pan, then the carrots. Cook over gently heat, turning the carrots, until evenly glazed. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, to serve.

*if you want to save some time, cut the fat carrots in half and halve all the carrots to be shorter.