Beet Lentil Feta Burger Patties

It is comforting to recognize that I've always liked leftovers. Many fond memories surround the "new" foods I tried as a kid-- foods, as it turns out, that were reconstituted and repackaged leftovers, thanks to my mom who is quite adept at making dishes even more attractive each time she "recycled" them. No wastage in her kitchen.

And, no wastage in mine either. Although I tend to primarily serve portioned plated meals most of the time, there are some weekends that call for family-style meals to be savored over a couple of days.

The recent Injera bash with five sides certainly guaranteed some leftovers, which thrilled me to bits as I can find ways to repackage them.

Leftover Mesir wat (lentils), Zelbo gomen (kale), Yeqey Sir Qiqqil (beets) were perfect starting point.

Add in some leftover brown rice, some feta, and already it screams "Veggie Burger".

Since the leftover mesir wat and gomen can be a bit watery, best to strain out the liquids first, then add the brown rice and feta, minced garlic, and a generous sprinkling of berbere spice mix. Gently pulse to a coarse mass.

It still might need a binding agent to hold it all together. While eggs seem like the standard, I don't typically use it in my patties and cutlets.

So, I went with my favorite Coconut Flour.

Mix in just enough coconut flour to be able to shape the patties. Just for fun, some Panko breadcrumbs got pressed in till the patties were happy to hold their shape.

Pan-cooking them first to seal both sides and then baking them till firmly set seems to work well for me, but, if preferred, can grill it or pan cook it all the way through.

Who needs buns? Patties are perfect by themselves.

I can't seem to ignore the kale flowers from my garden, they sneak into every food photo I've clicked since they bloomed. They are short-lived, of course, so, soon there won't be any, but at least I'll have these pictures to make me smile when I miss them.

Millet Meal Polenta Patties

Pearl millet ground up to a coarse meal is something I keep handy. It works great as a substitute for rice meal in some of the Indian dishes. This time, equal parts millet meal and corn meal came together with a dollop of ground lentils to make this polenta.

In case this is sounding complicated, the recipe is very close to Arisi Upma Kozhakattai, only, instead of 2 cups of rice idlee rava as called for in that recipe, I substituted 1 cup millet meal, plus 1 cup corn meal.

Once the thick porridge-like Upma/Polenta is made, roll into a log and pack it in foil, refrigerate it till it sets. I left it in the fridge the previous night, then cooked it for dinner the following evening.

Simply slice up this log when ready, pan cook both sides till brown and the insides are warm. Dust the slices with some chickpea flour before pan-frying to get the extra crispness and brownness, if preferred.

Saute some onions, peppers, tomatoes, and any other favorite veggies. Serve these Millet Meal Polenta Patties topped with the veggies, some feta, plus chopped kale, chopped celery leaves, and chopped spring onions.

Since some yellow pear tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, kale, and spring onions are still alive in my home garden, now in mid-Autumn, I went with these, but, any combination of veggies would work just as well.

Beets and Purple Carrot with Brown Rice, Barley, Mung Bean Cutlets

What to do with leftovers might be a troublesome prospect for some. It happens to be quite an exciting enterprise for me.

About 1½ cups of stuffing for the Stuffed Kohlrabi in Coconut Sauce was leftover (on purpose). Also, some purple carrots and beets and red cabbage were handy. That's how these loaded Beets and Purple Carrot with Brown Rice, Barley, Mung Bean Cutlets came about.

Ingredients
1½ cups Barley, Brown Rice, Mung Bean prepared as shared in Stuffed Kohlrabi recipe
1½ cups combined grated purple carrots, beets, red cabbage, lightly sauteed with salt
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup fine corn meal
Up to 1 cup all purpose flour (a little at a time, as needed)
salt to taste
oil as needed

2 to 3 cups of Panko seasoned bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Combine the sauteed purple carrots, red cabbage and beets with the brown rice+barley+mung-bean filling
2. Add the corn meal and coconut flour and stir till incorporated
3. Add some all purpose flour, a little at a time, to make a thick dough-like batter that can be shaped into golf ball sized spheres
4. Have the Panko breadcrumbs hand on a plate
5. Heat a pan to medium high
6. Press each dough ball into the breadcrumbs and flatten a little; also, press in breadcrumbs to the topside so that both surfaces are coated
7. Place gently on the hot pan and cook; flip and cook both sides till breadcrumbs get crisp and golden and the cutlets hold together
8. Serve warm with favorite chutneys, including Green Papaya, Green Mango, Kohlrabi Chutney

Quinoa Fritters with Eggplant, Kale, Zucchini and Mushrooms

I had ground up some quinoa to stock up on quinoa meal, about fine corn meal consistency, to make vegetable porridge. And used some of it to make these griddle cake-like fritters loaded with veggies.

Of course, the outsides got a bit too well done on the cast iron skillet, but, the insides were moist and cooked; the taste was just fine, so we enjoyed it with some chutneys.

1. Finely grate eggplant and zucchini, squeeze out excess water and keep handy
2. Finely mince kale, onions, and mushrooms
3. Add seasoning to taste
4. Fold in the quinoa flour or meal, adding a little water as needed to make the batter about pancake consistency; alternately, keep water to a minimum to shape into patties
5. Cook on a medium hot cast iron skillet
6. Serve with tomato chutney and coriander-mint chutney

Opo Squash + Kale Koftas & Patties

Call it Bottle gourd, Calabash, or Opo Squash, this fairly bland but versatile vegetable lends itself well to cooking many interesting dishes.

Koftas is a favorite in my kitchen, served with some flavorful sauces. Typically koftas are balls, but, sometimes I make them into small flat patties.

In this recipe, grated opo squash and kale with some onions and garlic forms the core of the koftas and patties. A bit of rice flour and chickpea flour with seasoning is used to bind the vegetables so they can be shaped into balls and patties.

Rather than baking, I fried the kofta balls in a pancake puffs maker a.k.a Appa Karal as I was making just a small batch of koftas. The patties were cooked in a cast iron skillet of medium low heat till cooked through on the inside.

Ingredients
1 medium opo squash
½ cup finely chopped kale leaves
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
1 tsp finely minced garlic (optional)
1 tsp crushed red pepper
½ medium yellow onion, finely diced
salt to taste
¼ cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup rice flour

2 to 3 Tbsp oil for cooking patties and  kofta balls


Preparation

1. Peel the opo squash, remove the spongy core and seeds, and grate it. Squeeze to press out as much water as possible from the grated opo squash.
2. Combine the kofta ingredients to make a thick yet loose/pliable dough. Add a little flour at a time till desired consistency. Add more flour as needed, in case the grated opo squash has retained too much water even after being squeezed out
3. Shape the dough into even-sized balls that would fit in the Appa Karal or Pancake Puffs Maker
4. For Kofta Balls: Heat a small amount of oil in the Pancake Puffs Maker or Appa Karal, drop the shaped balls of dough and cook over medium heat till done on the inside and crisp on the outside; alternately deep fry if preferred
5. For Patties: Heat a tablespoon of oil in a cast iron skillet, flatten the balls into patties and cook over medium heat, flipping as needed to brown both sides and cook the insides
6. Sauce: The sauce this time is a simple tomato-based one. But, either Jalapeno-Cilantro Sauce or Spicy Beet Sauce or Creamy Chard Sauce would be wonderful with these Opo squash & Kale koftas

Black Beans and Brown Rice Patties

Leftover black beans, brown rice, plus baked or steamed potatoes come together to make these delicious patties. Simply add favorite spices, mash them together, and pan-cook to desired crispness.

Serve as bean burgers in mini buns with favorite fixings, or enjoy as-is with favorite dipping sauce or ketchup.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked black beans, drained well
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 medium potato, cooked
a few slices of bread, preferably heels :)
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sambal oelek or Tabasco™ sauce (or any favorite chili paste or sauce)
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste

A few tablespoons of Olive oil for pan frying

Preparation

1. Mash the ingredients together, adding just enough bread slices to make a dough that can be shaped easily; taste and adjust seasoning
2. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan, shape the patties and fry both sides till firm and done
   

Kabocha Squash, Zucchini, Eggplant hash

I had just a small bit of Kabocha squash left over after the pan-roasted Kabocha and Orzo in Creamy Kabocha Squash Sauce. And, I had super large zucchini from the farm, plus some eggplant to use up.

The combination of the three seemed to suggest some sort of vegetable pot-pie, ratatouille, vegetable curry or vegetable hash. The latter sounded interesting so I decided to make it for a Sunday morning brunch.

The idea is much like the regular potato hash - simply grate the veggies, par-cook them, then make a mixture with some binding agents so that it can be shaped into patties and pan-fry. Serve warm with Salsa Fresca or Cuban Mojo or Hot Cilantro Mojo. I went with simple salsa fresca.

Ingredients
1 cup grated Kabocha Squash
2 cups grated Zucchini (skin peeled before grating)
1 cup grated Eggplant (skin peeled before grating)
1 medium leek, washed, cleaned of outer leaves and grit, chopped finely
¼ cup canned kidney beans, mashed
½ cup instant mashed potatoes powder (dry potato powder), more or less, as needed
½ cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
1-2 Tbsp corn starch, more or less
1 tsp nutmeg powder(less, if nutmeg is not a favorite)
1 egg, beaten
salt to taste
4-6 Tbsp oil for browning the hash on the pan

Preparation

1. Squeeze the grated zucchini to remove as much moisture as possible, same with eggplant
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the grated veggies, mashed kidney beans, leeks, salt and spices; sauté till veggies are cooked but not mushy and all the water is gone
3. Allow the mixture to cool a bit; mix in the cheddar; then add dry potato powder a little at a time to form a sort of loose dough; add cornstarch and the beaten egg for binding; cover and chill in the fridge for about 30-40 minutes
4. Heat a little oil at a time in the pan, form the dough into patties and pan fry the patties on both sides till desired done-ness
5. Serve warm with Salsa Fresca - tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño, onion, cucumber, lime juice, cilantro, salt, a touch of olive oil