Chipotle Lentil Burgers

Chipotle Lentil Burgers, page 123
with oven baked potato wedges

I've been meaning to make these for a while now, and I figured this was a good chance to try them, while my Dad is here visiting. We were out all day, and I was tired and not really in the mood to cook by the time we got home, but the burgers actually came together pretty quickly. Dinner was on the table in less than an hour. That is one of the things I've come to really appreciate about this cookbook: most recipes are simple, straightforward, and ready to eat with loads of flavor but not much fuss.

Isa takes an unusually stern tone with this recipe, warning the cook that you must follow the recipe to the letter - otherwise, the texture might not come out right. I used store-bought bread crumbs and canned lentils as she said to, even though it seemed like it probably wasn't that necessary, but I did deviate slightly with the chipotles. I knew these burgers would be too spicy for my kids with the chipotle peppers, so I mixed all the ingredients together, per the recipe instructions, except for the chipotles. I made two patties chipotle-less, and then I mixed some finely minced chipotles into the rest of the mixture and made four more patties.

The end result was pleasing to everyone except SweetPotato - she is not a fan of bean-based burgers, and this proved to be no exception. Everyone else loved it! El Hombre's reaction upon taking his first bite was, "Ooooooh, mmmmmmmm." My Dad nodded his head in approval and said, "It's good, Julie." Later, he admitted being pleasantly surprised at how good it was, and he went back and ate the sixth burger. SweetPea devoured her burger, and part of her sister's. I thought they were really good, too. The texture was nice - crusty on the outside with a softer interior, and the flavor was just right. They reminded me of one of my favorite recipes from Rick Bayless, his Crusty Lentil Cakes from his cookbook, Mexican Kitchen.

Spicy Blue (or Red) Potato & Corn Salad

Spicy Potato & Corn Salad, pg. 18
with mixed salad greens

First, the obvious. Those are not blue potatoes up there. I had no luck finding blue potatoes, so I went with baby reds, instead. The other minor substitution I made was shallots for red onions, because I used up all my red onion in last night's korma. Oh, and I took a lazy shortcut and used about a cup and a half of thawed, frozen sweet corn, instead of slicing the kernels from 3 ears of steamed corn on the cob.

Now, I don't want to seem disingenuous by gushing about practically every single recipe in this book, but seriously, again, this was super, duper good. The amount of chipotle called for gave immense flavor with just the right amount of heat. The pinto beans rounded everything out to make it a filling salad. When tasting the finished dish to determine if I wanted to add any more salt (no) or smoked paprika (yes), I found myself going back for more than one test bite. Maybe two, or three. Possibly four. Okay, maybe five. You know, to get it right.

For this recipe, Isa gives instructions to steam the potatoes, which I had never done before. I had always boiled potatoes before, when making a potato salad. The steaming technique turned out to be brilliant, however; the potatoes were tender while still firm, never mushy or falling apart.

This would be a great potluck dish; it's sure to impress folks.