WHITE BEAN QUINOA BURGER WITH CREAMY RANCH SAUCE

I hope everyone had a super chill and relaxing long weekend. We used the extra day off to do a few home improvements, including a much needed paint job in the living room (what's with landlords painting every room the worst shade of yellowy brown, anyways?). It was basically our own version of Trading Spaces, but without the weird neighbours who'd think we'd like a tiki style living room. After a couple of coats of bright white paint, we used the rest of the long weekend to take quiet neighbourhood strolls to the beach, did some bike tuning, whipped Adam up a extravagant succulent themed birthday cake (I used this video for inspo), and I played my first round of pingpong (so much harder than it looks!). How about you guys? Get up to anything around this house this weekend?

Keeping summer dinners simple, we've been mainly eating salads from the garden, but for something a little extra special, burgers have also been making the rounds - because nothing tops a big ol' burger after a long day of yard work. These white bean burgers come together pretty quickly and don't use up a tone of dishes or equipment which is major thumbs up. Beyond the cooking of quinoa and a quick bake in the oven to set the burgers, cooking time is minimal.

Most of the time I'm not a big lover of canned beans (mainly for the mush factor), but on a hot summer day, they surely come in handy. Mixed along with some other pantry staples like quinoa, sunflower seeds, onions, and spices, you got a summer staple in no time. I opted for a ranch style dressing as a garnish, which is something out of the norm for us. I think I have some weird associations with conventional ranch dressing which dates from the years I worked at Tim Hortons as a teenager ( French Vanilla and the itchiness of polyester pants flash backs). This ranch is a far cry from that fast food version. I loosely based the recipe on Laura's and Kristina's raw versions. It's super creamy and rich with cashews and hemp heart, but being raw it isn't heavy - instead it's more  like a light aioli. If you plan on eating these burgers over lettuce instead of a bun, try adding a little more water to the sauce and make it more like a salad dressing.

Finally, I know I'm a little late on the weekend links, but given that it's now already Thursday, let's pretend I'm early for next week 🙂

WEEKEND LINKS + LOVES

• I'm supper pumped about this foraging app created by Renè Redzepi. I don't know how applicable it will be here in North America, but maybe I'll download it just on the off chance I head to Europe soon.

• Loving this little bit of urban gardening inspiration from Healthyish. It's never too late to start. And from my experience, herbs and micro greens are a small apartments best friend.

• If we needed any more inspiration to buy high grade cosmetics and soap, more information has come out on how easy it is to sell products without testing. If you have any concern about the products you use, check out my favourite product website. Speaking of which, my hair was feeling coated with soap and grim this last week, so I did an apple cider wash. Seriously life changing.

• My childhood icon Georgia O'Keefe is the inspiration behind a healthy new cookbook- and who knew she was an organic fan, yogurt making, smoothie drinking lady nearly 100 years ago. More reason to love her!

• This week I'm loving Renee's version of Shelly's Roasted Carrot White bean Hummus. It looks like a weekend must!  And speaking of musts, I keep on seeing these pulled oats every where! I wish we could get all those cool European oat products over here soon. Finally on the 'want to eat list' is Lily's vegan banana pudding pops which totally have my name on them, and Malin's beautiful Bánh Mí which is basically summertime in baguette form.

• Finally, this weekend has me wanting to watch Okja, although it looks a little sad. Let me know if it's a tear jerker, okay?  I also hope to check out some fun new shops that have popped up around town including Vancouver's first all vegan grocery store, a new dairy free ice cream shop, and a new plant based Californian style cafe.

• .... and just because. It is that time of year again for the Saveur nominations. So if you enjoy WHE, I would be honoured if you let them know. 

WHITE BEAN QUINOA BURGER WITH CREAMY RANCH SAUCE

Makes 4 Burgers. Print Recipe Here

½ Cup Quinoa (Raw)
1 ½ Cup Cooked White Beans or 1 x 398 mL (14 oz) Can 
½ Cup Diced Shallots (about 2)
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tbsp. Oil
¼ Cup Chopped Parsley
2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce (vegan if necessary)
½ tsp. Sea Salt
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast
⅛ tsp. Cayenne Powder
Zest of ½ Lemon
1 Tbsp. Chopped Green Onion
2 Tbsp. Chickpea Flour
⅓ Cup Sunflower Seeds (Coarsely chopped in a Vitamix or by hand)

1. Begin by cooking the quinoa (I add the ½ cup quinoa to 1 cup water and bring it to a boil. I then cover and and turn it down to simmer on the lowest heat for 20 minutes).
2. Next, add the oil to a frying pan and sauté the shallots over medium low heat until they soften. Next add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Remove the mixture from the heat and combine it with the ingredients in a large bowl. Once the quinoa is cooked, measure out 1 cup and add it along with the other burger ingredients.
3. Gently mix the burger filling together, mashing some of the beans to  help bind, but ensuring some remain whole for texture. If your mix isn't holding together, try adding a little more flour.
4. Next form the mixture into four patties. They can be cooked right away, but I like to stick mine in the fridge to help film up for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. When you're ready to cook the burgers, heat a heavy bottom frying pan (I love to use a cast iron) over medium heat. Add a splash of oil for frying. Once the oil is hot, add the patties (two at a time) and fry on both sides until browned and crispy.
6. When all the patties are browned, bake them on a parchment lined try for 10 minutes at 190 C (375).
7. Serve on a bed of greens or a bun with creamy ranch sauce (below) and your favourite condiments.

CREAMY RANCH SAUCE

½ Cup Cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 30 minutes
¼ Cup Hemp Hearts
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Dijon or Grainy Dijon Mustard
½ tsp. Garlic Powder
½ tsp. Nutritional Yeast (I had the powder, not the flaked, use 1 teaspoon if you have flakes)
1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp. Lemon Juice
4 Tbsp. Water
Pinch Pepper and Salt
¼ Cup Finely Chopped Mixed Herbs (I used dill, chive, green onion, and parsley)

1. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the hemp hearts, oil, mustard, garlic powder, yeast, vinegar, lemon juice, water, and salt and pepper. Puree until smooth. Add chopped herbs and onion and taste to adjusting seasoning as needed.

xox Sophie