Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Vegan Bean-Oat Burger

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It’s difficult to find really good vegetarian or vegan burgers in Hungary. At most places the only vegetarian options are made with cheese or mushroom. Restaurants and cafes are not very open to try new recipes and serve the needs of vegetarian customers. Although veggie burgers are a vegetarian delight, but meat-eaters are sure to love them, too.

This vegan beat-oat burger comes from a Hungarian vegetarian cookbook that was written by a vegetarian friend of mine. It satisfies your appetite for a great-tasting veggie burger that’s easy to make and it’s healthy because of using wholesome ingredients to make. Either you are a vegetarian or not , you will love this burger!

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Vegan Bean-Oat Burger

Ingredients (depending on size, it makes 12-20 patties)

– 125 g rolled oats, soaked in lukewarm salty water for 30 minutes
– 1 can of beans, drained and puréed
– 80-100 g whole wheat bread crumbs
– 1 onion, chopped
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– 1 medium carrot, chopped
– 1/2 a medium sized celery root, chopped
– small bunch of parsley, chopped
– 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
– 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
– 1 teaspoon oregano
– salt, pepper
– olive oil
– serving: salad, mustard, ketchup, sliced red onion, sprouts, ciabatta or rolls

Method

Drain the soaked oat for a few minutes through a fine strainer. In a food processor chop all the vegetables (onion, garlic, carrot, celery).

In a pan heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and saute onion, carrot and celery. After 2-3 minutes add garlic and a few pinches of salt. Saute for a few more minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl mix together the soaked and drained rolled oats with puréed beans, sauted vegetables, parsley and season with lemon juice, mustard, oregano, salt and pepper. Add breadcrumbs and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Form pingpong ball sized balls from the mixture, flatten them with your palm or a spoon. Place the formed patties on a tray.

Heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil in a pan, add patties and cook for about 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Flip the patties and cook them on their other side until golden. Cook the remaining patties too. Serve with ciabatta or rolls and with vegetables, ketchup, mustard.

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Salad Niçoise

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Salad Niçoise is a French composed salad of tomatoes, green beans, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and anchovies, dressed with a vinaigrette. It is served variously on a plate, platter, or in a bowl, with or without a bed of lettuce. The salad hails from Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea. This is a vegetarian version without tuna and anchovies (and minus the tomatoes).

It is an exceptional delicious and filling salad – with plenty going on. Come on… give it a try!

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I took the photos before adding the black olives! 🙂

Salad Niçoise

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the salad
– 250 g new potatoes, cut the larger ones in half or smaller
– 100 g French beans, cut into roughly 2-3 cm lengths
– 2 organic eggs
– 1 medium head of a lettuce (I used Salanova), lettuce leaves washed and separated
– small handful of black olives, pitted
– salt, freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing
– 1 clove garlic, crushed
– 2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1/2 teaspoon apple vinegar
– 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
– a pinch of salt

Method

Cook the potatoes in salted water for 8-12 minutes until tender, adding the beans for the last 4 minutes. Drain, tip into a bowl and leave to cool.

Cook the eggs in a pan of water for 7 minutes. Leave to cool, then peel and quarter the eggs.

To make the dressing, put all the ingredients into a small bowl, season with salt and pepper and whisk until emulsified.

In a bowl add the potatoes, the beans and some of the dressing. Toss gently together.

In another bowl toss the lettuce leaves with a little of the dressing. Arrange the lettuce, potatoes and beans on a serving plate and distribute the olives and eggs over the salad. Trickle over the remaining dressing and grind over some black peper. Serve straight away!

Butternut Squash And Black Beans Taco & Quesadilla

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I love traveling. Who doesn’t? I have so many places on my bucket list, places that I would love to visit one day… sooner is better than later. 🙂

I have a notebook where I collect the addresses of all the interesting places, cute shops, cafes, markets, restaurants (especially with the options of vegetarian meals) I want to see, experience and try. I need to jot the names down otherwise I will forget about them. Before we travel somewhere I just open my notebook and check my notes if there is any place we must visit on the journey. As a result I usually make a long-long list (mostly with food related topics) about the restaurants and markets with the sign: “This one shouldn’t be missed!”. Thank God, my boyfriend doesn’t mind doing special food tours on our travels. 🙂

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Quesadilla

One of my bucket list places is the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, USA; a powerful and inspiring landscape that overwhelms our senses through its immense size. And if we are there we surely won’t miss the one and only entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas in Nevada. The resort city is known primarily for gambling, shopping and fine dining. It is famous for its consolidated casino-hotels (here is a tip where to stay for the first time) and associated entertainment.

I found a few good restaurants in Vegas with vegetarian (Mexican menu) and vegan options too. If we are there we’ll definitely try these places. Both of them look really good and I’m always amazed if a restaurant has delicious vegetarian and vegan meals to offer.

Which places are on your bucket list?

Anyway, back to my yum Mexican taco and quesadilla. Here you go, two easy to make weekdays dinner recipes!

Butternut Squash And Black Beans Taco & Quesadilla

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

For the taco
– 250-300 g butternut squash, peeled, diced
– 240 g (1 jar) black beans, drained and rinsed
– 1 onion, chopped
– 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
– salt, pepper
– corn tortillas
– cooked rice
– guacamole
– 150 ml sour cream (you can use soy yoghurt to make it vegan) + 2 teaspoon chili sauce, mixed
– fresh coriander
– lime
– olive oil

For the quesadilla (same as for the taco)
– 150 g grated cheese

For the quacamole
– 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
– 1 small onion, chopped
– 1 clove garlic, chopped
– juice of 1/2 lime
– salt, pepper
– fresh coriander, chopped

Method

To make the butternut squash mix: heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, add chopped onion and saute for a 2-3 minutes. Next stir in the diced squash and cook for 8-10 minutes. At the end add black beans, season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Cook for 4-5 minutes then set aside.

To make the tacos: toast tortillas (both sides for about 2 minutes) over an open flame or in a non-stick pan. Fill the tortillas with the butternut squash mixture, top with cooked rice, guacamole, chili sour cream, sprinkle with chopped coriander. Serve with lime wedges. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

To make the quesadillas: heat a non-stick pan and place one tortilla in the pan to warm. Sprinkle with grated cheese, spread some butternut squash mixture and rice over the cheese, sprinkle with cheese again and top with a second tortilla. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip it over and cook until the bottom is browned and the cheese is melted, another 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Slice and serve with quacamole, chili sour cream and fresh coriander.

To make the guacamole: scoop out the inside of the avocados. Mash it with a fork. Add chopped onion, garlic, lime juice, season with salt, pepper and chopped coriander.

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Herby French Bean Noodle Salad

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On a rainy, grey autumn day this salad made me cheer up. It has so much flavour and beautiful green colours. It is a bit chewy because of the noodles and crunchy of the raw vegetables and herbs. I think it is a great combination.

You can substitute the French beans with aubergine or cauliflower. The Thai dressing is zingy and fresh. This salad packs loads of flavour in one simple dish!

Recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Veg Every Day.

Herby French Bean Noodle Salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the noodle salad
– 200 g soba noodles (you can use udon or rice noodles)
– 150 g French beans, ends trimmed
– 1/2 long cucumber, thinly sliced
– 4 spring onions, sliced
– 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
– a small bunch of coriander, chopped
– salt

For the dressing
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
– 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes or a small red chilli, finely chopped
– 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
– 1 teaspoon cane sugar
– 1 teaspoon soy sauce
– 1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Method

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside. In a small bowl mix together all the dressing’s ingredients and toss it with the cooked noodles until well coated. Set aside.

In a pan cook the beans of lightly salted boiling water until just tender and a bit crunchy (4-6 minutes). Drain well. Toss the noodles with the spring onions, cucumber, beans and herbs.

Serve and enjoy!

Wild Rice Salad With Beans, Avocado And Sesame Oil Dressing

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The other day I was emailing back and forth with my Travel Belles editor friend, Margo about pushing our businesses to the next level. “It is so much work and not much light yet at the end of the tunnel…” she said BUT we know we will see it someday soon.

I have a day job and in the meantime I’m “building” my freelance business and it’s going so slowly. Healthy, vegetarian and vegan eating is not very popular in Hungary and most people are meat eaters so my audience is small but I believe in this that’s why I carry on doing it. People are getting more open day by day.

It is also difficult to do this blog thing in 2 languages, I’m always behind with the translations! I wish I could do this all day (developing/testing recipes, learning food styling, taking photos, traveling, writing articles, etc.) but I can’t. One day, one day… I’m sure my work dreams will come true!

About the recipe… I made this salad twice. First with kale, second time with spinach. Both worked very well. I was inspired by Jodi’s recipe (chek out her wonderful blog) but I changed a few things. You shouldn’t miss this salad, it’s so nutritious and rich in protein.

Wild Rice Salad with Beans, Avocado and Sesame Oil Dressing

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the salad
– 1/2 cup cooked wild or brown rice
– 6-7 big kale leaves or 300 g spinach/swiss chard, chopped
– 1 avocado, pitted and diced
– 1/2 cup beans, soaked overnight, drained and cooked (you can use canned beans too)
– 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
– coconut or olive oil
– salt, pepper

For the dressing
– 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
– 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– juice of 1/2 lemon
– pepper

Method

Start by cooking the rice in one saucepan and the beans in another ( 1. bring the rice and water – about 3 cups – to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until the water absorbed, 2. bring the beans and water – about 2-3 cups – to boil, reduce heat and cook until beans are tender).

Meanwhile prepare the dressing. In a bowl mix together all the ingredients until combined. Heat coconut oil in a non-stick pan, saute garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped kale/spinach/swiss chard, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl toss everything together: cooled rice, beans, kale, avocade and the dressing. Serve immediately.