Black Bean Burgers with Spicy Corn Salsa & Avocado Crema

After reading Food Matters by Mark Bittman, I decided to make much more of a conscious effort to eat as clean as possible. Everyone’s idea of “clean eating” varies, but to me it is eating little to no processed foods. Of course it would be difficult to eat clean 100% of the time, and honestly, I’d be absolutely miserable without my Chick-fil-A and candy. With that said, my goals are to eat:

• 4-5 servings of vegetables per day
• 1-2 servings of fruit per day
• less meat/poultry than I typically do
• more fish
• more whole grains
• less sugar

This is pretty much the way I eat now, aside from the random candy at work, Chick-fil-A, and frickles.

Early last week, I read about a perfect recipe on my sweet friend Mary’s blog. I tweaked it a bit according to my food preferences and it was absolutely delicious.

Black Bean Burgers with Spicy Corn Salsa & Avocado Crema

Makes 6-8 servings

Black Bean Burgers

• 2 (14.5 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed,
• 2 roasted red peppers from a jar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 (4 oz.) can of green chiles 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs 
• Olive oil

Avocado Crema

• 1 avocado, pitted and cubed
• 1 (6 oz.) container of plain, fat free Greek yogurt 
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Spicy Corn Salsa

• 1 (15.5 oz.) can of sweet corn, drained
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 (4 oz.) can of green chiles
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt & pepper, to taste

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade, process 1 can black beans, roasted red peppers, eggs, garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add the additional can of beans and the green chiles, then pulse a few more times until combined, but not completely smooth.

In a large bowl, combine black bean mixture with bread crumbs. Add more bread crumbs if needed, forming a firm mixture that is the consistency of ground meat. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

To make the avocado crema, mash the avocado until smooth. Add Greek yogurt, lime juice. Mix with a fork until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

To make the corn salsa, mix the corn, tomato, green chiles, jalapeno, garlic, and lime juice in a medium-sized bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Remove the black bean mixture from the refrigerator and shape into 8 patties. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook the patties for 5-7 minutes, flipping once.  

To serve, top the cooked patties with the spicy corn salsa and avocado crema. Serve immediately.

I insist you make this! The avocado crema is absolutely delicious on the mildly spicy burger and the corn salsa gives a good texture to the overall dish. The meal is low fat and full of fiber and protein. Thank you, Mary, for the awesome idea!

Moroccan Spicy Shrimp & Grits

You’d think after living here for 14 years I would have made shrimp & grits several times by now. I did tonight, though, with a Moroccan twist, using this Serious Eats recipe.

Moroccan Spicy Shrimp
From Hank Shaw

Ingredients

• 1 lb. large, peeled deveined shrimp
• 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. ground coriander
• 1 tbsp.ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cayenne (less if you want it milder)
• Salt
• Juice of a lemon

Directions

1. Salt the shrimp well and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic. Turn the heat down to medium and sauté the garlic for 1-3 minutes — don't let it burn.
3. Add all the ground spices and stir well to combine. Cook this, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
4. Turn the heat up to high and add the shrimp. Stir to combine and cook, stirring constantly, until the shrimp turn pink. This shouldn't take more than 4-5 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and toss to combine. Serve at once.  Serves 4-6.

While I quickly cooked up some of these…

…I made a bowl of grits with diced tomatoes, onion, and garlic. All the different spices in this dish give such a simple recipe so much flavor. The whole thing took less than 20 minutes to make and would have taken even less time had I not dropped the shrimp twice, knocked over a bag of grits, and let 3 cloves of garlic burn. Clearly, I was trying to work too fast.

Speaking of speed, I have been highly irritated by all things slow today.

• slow laptop
• too many slow drivers on the way home
• too many slow people walking around the gym
• a slow woman who felt it was safe to walk in the middle of the parking lot

It’s not that I’m impatient, really. I just know that when I want something, I am on a mission and I don’t like things blocking my way. I’m like Hurricane Xtina and everyone around me needs to get on their evacuation route.But on the other hand, I absolutely cannot stand the feeling of being rushed. Does this make any sense? 

In blogger news, I met two readers this weekend! On Friday night, Jessica approached me at Trio wearing a blue wig! She was at a Bachelorette party and everyone was wearing different colored wigs. On Saturday night, I met Mo, who I didn’t know was a reader. That made me super happy. Thanks to both of you for saying hello! That’s just one of the many reasons I keep blogging. And yes, I have been absent for a few days because I needed some time to focus on other things like work and friends. Sometimes you just have to check yourself before you wreck yourself.  

What is your #1 favorite thing about blogging?

Do you ever feel the need to take breaks from blogging? What helps you regain focus?