Coffee Burgers!

Inspired by the pub's breakfast menu, Stef and I have created our own recipe for a coffee blackened burger with no gluten and pastured eggs! The Underground has a breakfast burger that is rubbed with coffee and topped with an egg. The coffee adds a complex flavor and makes a really nice crust on the burger. Add the egg into the mixture and it's definitely a winner.

Burgers are something I take very seriously (Stef still barely eats meat, but this recipe was a bit hit), and unfortunately when eating out it's tough to get giant leaves of chard, kale, or steamed cabbage with which to wrap them in, so as usual we decided to take it into our own hands. With some local, grass fed ground beef from Griffin Farms (thanks CrossFit Blacksburg!) we got to work and made an awesome version of this great burger idea at home:

Ingredients:

-1lb of grass fed ground beef
-Sliced mushrooms (as much as you like, we did about 1 large handful)
-1 minced clove of garlic
-2 jalapenos, diced
-1/2 yellow onion, chopped
-local, farm fresh eggs (1 for each burger)
-Avocado slices + salsa (or any other type of fixin')
-Large Dinosaur kale leaves to wrap (substitute any large leaves here)

Spice rub:
-1 tablespoon freshly ground coffee
-2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

-Form meat into four evenly sized patties
-Mix the spice rub and sprinkle onto meat
-Sautee veggies in a pan with about 1 tbl of oil
-In another pan (or on a grill), heat some oil or butter over a medium flame and add burgers, covering with a lid
-Fry the egg over medium (or harder or softer, depending on how you want it)
- When burgers are done, place on kale leaf with fried egg, veggies, salsa and avocado on top.

We paired these with some Swedish style roasted sweet potato (recipe to follow!) and a green salad.

You can have cookie dough again!!!!

Stef made a potentially life changing discovery yesterday. While wasting time on the internet, I came across a blog called chocolate covered katie (www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com). Her blog is amazing and she has healthy desserts, most of which do not have any sugar other than dates.

There was one particular cookie dough recipe that caught my eye, and when we tried it tonight (a bit skeptical) we experienced a mix of deliciousness, astonishment, and pure excitement....Yea, it is really THAT good. This recipe has gone viral over the last few weeks as people are realizing just how amazing it is. This might even find a place in our post workout meals. Imagine that, eating cookie dough for protein post workout!?!

Moral of the story: you NEED to try this cookie dough dip recipe!




**this is a re-post from chocolatecoveredkatie.com with some of our own touches added to it.

-1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained) (250g)
-heaping 1/8 tsp salt
-tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
-1 T plus 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1/4 cup nut butter (we made our own almond butter in the food processor first)
-1 and 1/4 cup pitted dates
-1/3 cup organic dark chocolate chips
-almond milk as needed (depending on the consistency you want. I used a few T.)

In a bowl, cover the dates with 1/2 cup water. Let this sit for at least 8 hours. Then add all ingredients (including the dates’ soaking liquid), except chocolate chips, to a food processor and blend until very smooth, adding the almond milk as necessary. After mixture is blended, fold in chocolate chips.

Voila! It tasted amazing like this, but I suspect a few hours in the fridge to set up will make it turn up even tastier!!!

We started eating this right with a spoon but we have some plans for rice cakes, apple slices...or maybe just with another spoon.

Tired of Chipotle?!

So, during "gluten-free January" we also decided to omit red and black beans, to see if it made any difference in how we felt. Sadly, this meant no more Chipotle. Lentils, however, stayed in our diet and this lentil "ground beef" was an accident that ended up working out quite well. This makes a really nice veggie option for stay-at-home burrito bowl meals. Of course, you can use ground beef here, but I just like the taste of lentils and refuse to take them out of my life for good.

The Lentils
Rinse and pick through a cup of lentils for the occasional rogue pebble (any variety of lentil will do, I used green). Lentils cook quicker in less water, so I use about 2 cups of water for 1 cup of lentils, bring them to a boil, then drop them to a simmer and watch them in case they need more water, for about 25-30 minutes. Once they are cooked, drain off any excess liquid and stir in some cayenne pepper, hot sauce, and cumin, coriander, and oregano to taste (we like these super spicy). The lentils kind of look like ground beef when you glance at them quick, and although the texture isn't the same, they are a fun substitute if you are tired of the ubiquitous black bean in every veg friendly Mexican option (lentils are also good if beans aren't so nice to your tummy). These lentils stay great in the fridge for a week and are really good for nachos, alongside eggs as huevos racheros, or whatever other use you may have for beans if you just aren't in a beany kind of mood.

The Veg!
Next, sautée a jalapeno or two, some sliced onions, bell peppers, garlic, spinach and/or mushrooms, or whatever mix of veggies you feel like or have on hand. Season these according to taste, again as spicy or seasoned as you like them, with cumin, oregano, cayenne, paprika, and coriander.

I cooked up some rice (flavored with cilantro and lime just like the real deal!), made some homemade guacamole and salsa, and topped the mix with a little baby greens mix. I personally like a fried egg smack dab on top of this bowl.

Feel like a wrap? Whether or not you are using lentils or meat, this mixture wrapped in kale, lettuce, or napa cabbage leaves is a great substitute for taco shells and I think it even tastes better.

Either way, with a little planning, you get complete control of your ingredients and you don't have to wait on line at Chipotle during the rush anymore!

Roasted Veg and Kale Salad

This recipe is another favorite from Super Bowl Sunday. Many people commented that it was the healthiest Super Bowl party they'd ever seen! Between the homemade guac and salsa, the gluten free crackers, quinoa and squash stuffing, and the broccoli, cranberry and apple salad, I'd venture to say it was also one of the yummiest.

These roasted veggies get mixed with sautéed kale, and can be served warm or room temperature.


Roasted Veggie and Kale Salad

• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-1.5'' pieces
• 2 bell peppers, cut into chunks (we used 1 red and 1 yellow)
• 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2'' cubes
• 3 large golden beets
• 1 medium, or 1/2 large onion, sliced
• 2 bunches kale (we used 1 bunch red, 1 bunch dinosaur)
• 2 tbl Italian seasoning blend (or some concoction of basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, etc)
• olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

- wash and slice all the veggies, cut tops and very bottom off of beets

- wrap each washed beet into aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil, place in oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until beets are fork tender

- mix the cut sweet potato, asparagus, and bell peppers with seasoning in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and roast for about 20-25 minutes

- When beets are cool enough to handle, peel with a butter knife, skin should fall right off, then chunk the beets and mix in with the cooked veggies

- while the veggies are finishing up, sautée onions for about 2 minutes in a pan over low-medium heat

- Add kale and stir occasionally, until kale is completely cooked and shrinks by about half, about 5 minutes

- Mix kale into veggies and transfer to a serving bowl, season accordingly

Savory gluten-free herb cracker

Truly crisp crackers can be tough to achieve without gluten, but through a Super Bowl experiment by Stef and Bryce's mom Stacy, we found a great gluten-free cracker option. Teff is a grass indigenous to Ethiopia, and if you've ever gone out for Ethiopian food, the injera bread that is used as a utensil is made from teff. It's a great gluten-free "ancient grain" that is packed full of minerals and calcium.

These crackers are best if they are baked really thin, so they get nice and crispy. Make sure to keep them in an airtight container, so they don't get stale. We haven't experimented with cutting out the cheese yet, although my hunch is that it acts as a glue in the absence of gluten, but it may be worth a shot.

These were a big hit paired with some hummus, but could be used for any cracker friendly food. It would probably also make a great pizza crust.

Savory gluten-freeherb crackers

· 2/3 cup quinoa flour

· 2/3 cup teff flour

· 2/3 cup flax flour

· 1 cup finely grated raw milk Parmesan cheese (preferably organic and/or local)

· 1 tsp baking soda

· 2 tbl Italian seasoning

· 6 tbl olive oil

· 8 tbl water (or more if needed)

- Preheat the oven to 350° F

- Line baking sheet with parchment paper

- Mix all the dry ingredients (cheese included) thoroughly

-Slowly add oil and water while stirring (more or less watermay be needed depending on the consistency of the dough)

- When mixture forms sticky dough, divide it in thirds androll it out onto parchment paper

- Place another piece of parchment paper over the top of thedough, and using the bottom of a glass, press the mixture out to the edges fromthe center, to flatten out and thin the dough to approximately 1/8’’

- Bake for 17-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, or until crackers are golden on the outside and center is no longer moist.

- Allow to cool on a wire rack and cut with pizza cutter or knife when completely cooled.

Yields: about 20-30 midsized crackers