Guest Post

Yesterday my friend, Molly, paid me the compliment of saying that I had inspired her to try something new and fun for dinner. (Thanks, Molly!)

I asked her if she'd take photos and send me a review... She did!

Her dinner sounds very yummy and I think I just might try it at my house very soon.

Here is her review:

I have a recipe for Spicy Quinoa Black Bean burgers that a friend sent me a while ago.  Quite a while ago actually. I decided tonight was the night to try them out.  I also had a sweet potato craving so I figured it would be a tasty sidedish for the burgers, so I decided to try making baked sweet potato fries.  Of course, then I had to make some remoulade for dippin'.  I have never made any of these items before but there is a first for everything.

I made some changes: For one thing I didn't have nutritional yeast for my burgers.  I am guessing it would make it stick together better because the burgers were a bit loose, but the flavor and texture was great! I also only added half the chili flakes because I was afraid they would be too spicy for my kids and cause me great heartburn (never good).  It took a few pans to make the burgers; sauté pan, sauce pot, Cuisinart,which made a bit of a mess.  But I was able to make the mix ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator until I was ready to make the patties and cook them, which gave me some time to clean up that mess.  The recipe here.

Next I made the remoulade.  I seem to do a poor job of reading what I needed for my recipes because I also didn't have horseradish for this dish.  Oh well. Nobody seemed to miss it, though I'd like to make sure I have it on hand for next time.  This recipe was easy to make, had a great flavor (I used the sweet pickle juice and cajun spice, by the way) and again, I could make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge.  More clean  up done!  Remoulade recipe here.

About 45 minutes before I was ready to eat I sliced up the sweet potatoes and preheated my oven (and cookie sheet) to 450. After dressing the potatoes I put them on the sizzling pan and into the oven they went.  This recipe was pretty true in terms of cook time. Potatoes were a bit softer than if you deep fried them but had a yummy flavor and had a nice crispy edge to them.  Sweet potato fries recipe  here

I served the burgers on a soft roll along with mixed greens and some remoulade on the bun.  I decided to skip the bun and just put my burger right onto the greens and then spread a small layer of remoulade on top.  Delicious!

Entire recipe was a hit with everyone in my family...and that is saying something special!  Other than taking some preplanning and prep time, the recipes were all pretty easy to make.  My favorite part was that everything was so flavorful and not greasy tasting.  Next time I make the burgers I think I'll add a slice of red onion, tomato and some avocado to the top.  These burgers offer lots of condiment variations , pepper jack and salsa, barbeque sauce and grilled onions, cranberry chutney or red pepper jelly with some zesty greens.  Endless possibilities with these. Definitely a keeper recipe!

Thanks, Molly! Can't wait to try these recipes!

Anybody else out there tried anything new and fun that you'd like to share?