If you are somewhat meh about veggie burgers, these are sure to perk up your palate. Highly flavoured dark patties and a smoky pepper sauce offer a feast for the eyes, plus body benefits courtesy of sky-high fibre levels.
Chilling the burger mixture in the fridge for about 1 hour can make it easier to form the patties.
Per serving:
Preheat oven broiler. Slice orange peppers in half lengthwise and discard seeds and stem. Arrange slices cut side down on baking sheet and brush with 1 tsp (5 mL) oil. Broil about 5 to 6 in (13 to 15 cm) from heat until skins are well charred, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer peppers to bowl, cover tightly, and let stand for 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skins from peppers. Place peppers in blender container along with yogurt, garlic, shallot, lemon juice, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Place quinoa and 1 1/3 cups (325 mL) water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until grains are tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes, and then fluff with fork.
Heat 2 tsp (10 mL) oil in skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, shallots, and garlic; heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Place mushroom mixture, 1 cup (250 mL) beans, flax, mustard, cumin, and black pepper in food processor container and blend into a paste. Pulse in remaining beans, quinoa, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, and goat cheese. With damp hands, form into 8 patties.
Heat 1 Tbsp (15 mL) oil in large skillet over medium heat. Heat patties until crisp on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side. Serve patties topped with Sweet Pepper Sauce.
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.