Tonight I made Black Bean Burgers (pg. 86) and Cajun Home Fries (pg 30).

First, the burgers: Oh wow, they were so good. I honestly didn’t think they had enough stuff in them, I figured they might be boring. They weren’t boring, they were delicious! I put them on gluten-free focaccia bread and used gluten-free bread crumbs in the recipe.

But the best part is, my nine-year-old son adored them, and I’ve been working so hard at finding things he’ll eat. He said, and I not kidding, “These are the best burgers I’ve ever had!” I was stunned. We all were, you could hear crickets for a few seconds at the dinner table. “Really?” I asked him. “Yes! Whatever these are made of is really good.”

And then the adults all changed the subject really quick so that he wouldn’t hear the word BEANS. Heaven preserve us.

Next the Cajun Home Fries: Just NOM. Here again, I’m not yet used to eating low-fat, so it seemed wrong that we weren’t covering these babies with oil before baking, but Lindsay was right, they were still delicious. The kids even loved them, although they said they were “too spicy” which was my fault: have you ever noticed that cayenne pepper and paprika look a lot alike? I KNOW, RIGHT? Once reassured that next time the potatoes wouldn’t be as spicy, she also declared the dinner a total success.

I just made a meal that pleased three adults (two of which are unrepentant meat-eaters), a nine-year-old who believes that “food” is either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or bacon, and a six-year-old who last night told me she didn’t like beans because they taste “foggy”.

I know that pictures of food look better when someone isn’t halfway through stuffing their face, but too bad, I was hungry and I forgot to take a “before” shot.

I know, I know, there is mayo on there. BABY STEPS. Hey, at least I’m off meat. Also – that mineral water comes in various flavors, and it’s very tasty. You can get it at Whole Foods for $1.37 a bottle. I go through one a week.

I likely won’t make these again anytime soon, but when I do I’ll try it in the oven and see if that makes a difference. I have to say, the leeks in the bowl did make for a lovely photo.

I’ve been using Pamela’s Gluten-Free Baking Mix to make my waffles, and they’ve been delicious. Here’s a photo I took last Sunday of those:

NOM NOM NOM. NOM. WITH EXTRA NOM.

Alas, I ran out of mix. But at least this happened in a normal way, and not through some waffle chain-eating incident, like what happened with the eggnog. Nothing’s worse than eggnog detox.

This morning, desperate for waffley goodness, I tried to make some from an oat flour-based recipe in You Won’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free, and unfortunately they didn’t come out well. They looked great, but they had no structure. It was difficult prying them off the waffle iron, they kept going limp and folding over onto themselves.

The passive resisters of the waffle world:

I’m not sure why they were so bendy – is that an absence-of-xanthan gum thing? The recipe called for xanthan gum, which is a binder (incidentally it also called for three eggs – are there GF vegan waffle recipes out there? I’m going to find one and/or invent one), but we didn’t have any, so I used flax meal, which seemed to work great in the batter. It was nice and thick. The waffles, however, had no body.

They tasted merely okay, nothing special. I’m going to work on this. I think the world needs better waffles.

A few days ago I made this recipe from the book, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are. The author, Robin Robertson, has a website called Global Vegan Kitchen, and a blog; Vegan Planet (lots of other recipes here!). I’m sure I’ll be visiting both frequently.

I was stunned at how delicious this chili was, and so was non-vegan Greg. I guess I’d never thought of lentils as being something you’d put in a chili, but man, give it a shot.

Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chili

From: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, by Robin Robertson

1 T olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chili powder, or to taste
1 1/2 C dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/3 C dark unsulfured molasses
1/2 t ground allspice
Cayenne pepper to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 C water
1 C apple juice

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cook 30 seconds longer.

2. Transfer the mixture to a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the lentils, tomatoes, molasses, and allspice and season with the cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Stir in the water and apple juice, cover, and cook on Low for 8 hours. Add more water if the chili gets too thick.

My notes:

I used a white onion because I didn’t have a yellow one, and it didn’t seem to matter. I thought that a whole tablespoon of chili powder was insanity, but I did it anyway, and it was incredibly delicious. Moments like that I realize what  novice cook I am – Robin clearly knows what she’s doing. I completely forgot about salt and pepper, and I used orange lentils because I couldn’t find the dark ones I thought I’d put in my pantry. It didn’t matter: STILL YUMMY.