Pure Thyme

For a Balanced Life

The Sexy Vegan Cookbook Giveaway!

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and Brian’s recipe for Beany Tahini Burgers with Dreamy Tahini Dressing.

beanytahini

In The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude  (New World Library, March 15, 2012), “regular dude” and YouTube cooking sensation Brian Patton shares 100 vegan recipes that are failure-proof, fun, and flavor-filled.

The Sexy Vegan Cookbook covers the basics of cooking, from slicing vegetables to finding the right type of tofu to recreating favorites without meat or dairy. With more than 100 recipes, Brian covers everything from cocktails (according to the Sexy Vegan, the most important meal of the day) to amazing breakfast sandwiches to desserts such as Sailor Peanut Rum Ice Cream. There are appetizers and nachos, pizza and tuna-like sandwiches as well as plenty of salads, pasta, and main dish choices.

sexyvegancookbook

 

Watch the trailer, it gave me quite a laugh. I’m definitely loving Brian’s attitude and sense of humor…something we all need a little more of. =)

You can visit Brian online and watch his fun cooking videos  here: http://www.thesexyvegan.com.

Since it’s Memorial Day Weekend and we all know that includes burgers, burgers and more burgers. What better way to celebrate the holiday and Brian’s awesome cookbook than by making one of his fabulous burger recipes.

5.0 from 2 reviews

The Beany Tahini Burger and Dreamy Tahini Dressing
 

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Author:

Ingredients
  • Makes 4 burgers
  • Ingredients:
  • One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • ½ cup cooked couscous
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
  • 2 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ roasted red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 buns of your choosing, halved
  • 2 tablespoons Dreamy Tahini Dressing
  • ½ medium cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
  • 1 beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
  • ½ red onion, thinly sliced
  • For Dreamy Tahini Dressing:
  • Makes 1½ cups
  • Ingredients:
  • ½ cup tahini
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ clove garlic
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh italian parsley
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of smoked paprika
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions
  1. For the burgers:
  2. To make burger patty, in a large bowl, combine chickpeas, couscous, tahini, garlic, orgeano, olives, salt, and pepper. With a fork, potato masher, or your very clean hands, mash all of it together until 90 percent of the chickpeas are mashed. Now that you have this mass, gently fold in the roasted pepper as it would have been destroyed during the initial mixing). Divide the chickpea mixture into four portions and form into ¼-inch-thick patties.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add your burger patties to the pan, and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Slather each bun half with dreamy tahini dressing, and assemble the burgers from the bottom up in the following order: 1 bun half, cucumber, chickpea patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, and the other bun half.
  4. For the Dreamy Tahini Dressing:
  5. In a food processor or blender, combine the tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic, parsley, mint, oil, and paprika, and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I made these into 8 sliders instead of 4 burgers. Alternately, you can bake these at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking. I omitted the oil in the Dreamy Tahini Dressing and did not add any salt to either recipe. I also ate mine without the bun and a big green salad. This recipe is fantastic and foolproof. It’s easy, delicious and nutrient-rich. Please go check out Brian’s website http://www.thesexyvegan.com. He definitely has a lot to offer the plant-based world with his creativity and humor, thanks Brian for sharing your cookbook with me. =)

beany2

This giveaway is now closed =)

And now for the giveaway!

To enter the contest, leave a comment telling me what’s your favorite burger recipe. Don’t forget to leave your contact information so I can let you know if you win. =)

BONUS ENTRIES

You MUST leave each entry as a separate comment or only one comment will count.

  • Follow Brian @TheSexyVegan on Twitter
  • Like The Sexy Vegan on Facebook
  • Subscribe to Virtually Vegan Mama
  • Like Virtually Vegan Mama on Facebook and leave a comment on my wall.
  • Follow Virtually Vegan Mama (@virtveganmama) on Twitter
  • Tweet about this giveaway and tell me that you tweeted in the comments section; “I just entered to win The Sexy Vegan Cookbook by Brian L. Patton @virtveganmama”
  • Share this giveaway on your Facebook Page and tell me that you did so in the comments section
  • Stumble this giveaway
  • Pin it

All entries must be completed no later than Monday, June 4th 2012,  at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 5th 2012, on my blog, and the winner will also be notified via the email address they provided in the comments section.

Good Luck and I know you will enjoy this recipe and Brian’s cookbook!!!

Happy Memorial Day!

xoxo,

Jen

 

Black Bean Apple Burgers with Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce and Shiitake Bacon

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blackbeanburgers

It’s BBQ season and what better way to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend with these healthy and delicious Black Bean Apple Burgers. I’ve had this BBQ sauce recipe filed away since I created it in January and I’ve been counting the days until the nice weather arrived to use it. This was my first attempt at a healthy, fakin’ bacon recipe and I am happy with the way it came out. I definitely want to experiement with different ways of making it to find the best one. If you have a recipe perfected, please share it with me.

The flavors of each recipe combine for the perfect sweet, spicy, and earthy summer meal.

* Note: I would make the BBQ sauce ahead of time. Also, when there is ten minutes left on the mushrooms, throw the burgers in the oven to finish them off.

Black Bean Apple Burgers with Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce and Shiitake Bacon


Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 (15.5) oz. can no or low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

½ cup apple, peeled and diced

½ cup cornmeal

3 cloves roasted garlic

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp onion powder

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 whole wheat or gluten-free buns

Directions:


1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.    Place all ingredients in a food processor with an S-shaped blade and process until well combined.

3.    Form burgers into four equal patties and place in refrigerator for one hour.

4.    Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-heat. Spray with non-stick cooking oil and cook each patty for 4 minutes on each side or until browned and crispy. Place in oven for an additional 4 minutes per side.

5.    Serve on rolls with sliced tomato, lettuce, BBQ sauce and Shiitake Bacon. Or, serve with a big green salad without a roll – that’s how I had it.

* I kept the seasoning mild in these because I serve them to my kids, but you can always get creative and throw some other one’s in there if you want. The best part about making veggie burgers is you can taste the uncooked batter and adjust the taste to your liking. 😉 However, the Chipotle BBQ Sauce added enough kick that you might just want to leave them alone.
Caramelized Onion Chipotle BBQ Sauce
bbqsauce


Yield: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:


1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

3 cloves roasted garlic

1 tbsp date paste

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp no or low sodium tomato paste

1/3 cup low sodium ketchup

¼ tsp ground mustard

¼ – ½ tsp chipotle powder (adjust to taste)

1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup water

Directions:


1.    Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add diced onions and stir. Keep stirring until the onions start to stick and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock. Repeat this step, stirring often for 30 minutes, deglazing pan every so often with a small amount of vegetable stock. Cook onions for 30 minutes or until onions are dark in color with the desired caramelized flavor.

2.    Place onions with remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor with an S-shaped blade and process until smooth.

3.    Transfer to a container and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.


Shiitake Bacon

Ingredients:

1 (3.5) oz container shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

1 tbsp Bragg Liquid Amino Acid

¼ cup no salt added vegetable stock

Directions:


1.    Combine mushrooms, Bragg’s and veggie stock in a shallow bowl. Marinate for one hour, stirring once after 30 minutes.

2.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. Spread mushrooms onto baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes until crispy.

* make sure you get these nice and crispy otherwise it will just be roasted mushrooms. Increase your oven temp if you need to or throw on the broiler for a few minutes to crisp. =)
Enjoy!