Thursday, September 30, 2010

Easy Week Night Dinner

The last week and a half has been very busy at work. I've had a big research project that's kept me at my desk later than I'd like. Because of this, I haven't been cooking dinners much lately and since I was officially done with the project this afternoon, I wanted to get home in time to make dinner. Plus, I was still feeling great from my run in the morning and wanted to end the day on a healthy note.

Tonight's menu: Black Bean Cherry Burgers with Farmers Market Beans & Russian Kale

Black Bean Cherry Burgers
ingredients:
1cup black beans, drained & rinsed
2tbs whole wheat flour
1tbs onion, chopped finely
1tbs dried cherries, chopped finely
1/4tsp chiptole powder
Worcestershire sauce to taste

1.  Mash black beans, add flour and chipotle powder. Mix well
2.  Add onion and dried cherries, mix some more
3.  Add Worcestirshire sauce and combine
4.  Shape into two patties and heat on each side until the mixture darkens and forms a light crust
5.  Serve on bread or a small roll with lettuce, and other favorite garnishes

Farmers Market Beans & Russian Kale
ingredients:
handful of green and wax beans, washed with ends cut off
handful Russian Kale, washed
2 pinches of herbs de provance
fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Put beans in a pan sprayed with  cooking spray sprinkle with herbs de provance and pepper, cover and cook over medium heat until slightly tender
2. Add kale (wet is fine), cover and cook for a few more minutes until kale is bright green
3. Serve and enjoy


Woody had his burger on a small whole wheat roll I picked up at Whole Foods yesterday and I had mine on Ezekial 4:9 bread. While the beans are pretty much the easiest veggie side dish to make, the burgers did take a bit of time to mash together. Still though, it wasn't too much to do after work and the deliciousness more than made up for the time spent in the kitchen!

Now for this week's Chobani Greek Yogurt Giveaway -
According to a report released earlier this month by the CDC, the percentage of people eating the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables has actually decreased in 10 states since 2000. One of the reasons people say they don't eat many fruits or vegetables is that they're inconvenient to carry and vegetables are difficult to prepare. Well, I just showed an easy way to prepare veggies and there's a whole peach sitting on my plate. Not too hard, right?

To win this week's Chobani coupons, answer this question by Midnight tonight:
Do you eat the recommended 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of veggies each day? If not, what keeps you from it?


The rules: only one entry per person, per week. You must answer the question(s) posed the day of the giveaway. Because the coupons don't specify they are only allowed in the US, anyone can enter (as long as you know they'll be accepted in your country). You must be willing to provide me with your address so I can send them to you and you must be willing to try Greek yogurt! Contest ends TONIGHT at MIDNIGHT! Winner will be announced in tomorrow's 5 for Friday post.

Good Luck!

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Today's Workout -


8 comments:

Silly Girl Running said...

Yummy! Will try this week!

Katie @ Health for the Whole Self said...

Love the idea of adding dried cherries to the burgers!

I always get the recommended amount of fruit, and most days I hit the veggies too. On days I don't, it's because I've eaten too many meals out and not enough cooked at home.

Stephanie R said...

That sounds totally delicious!

Now that I work from home, I generally get the recommended amount of fruit and veggies, but trying to transport fresh fruits and veggies to the office was difficult, plus I had less time to prepare them.

JC said...

I try to have veggies and fruit daily yet not quite sure it they are 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of veggies.

Zaankali said...

Nope. I wish I did but I think it's just poor planning on my part. Not being intentional about it. I probably come closes to hitting the veggies then the fruit.

Emily N. said...

I always get plenty of fruit servings each day but I don't usually get 3 servings of veggies probably because I don't generally eat veggies at breakfast time so that leaves me with just one serving at lunch and one at dinner.

Shannon, Tropical Eats said...

I agree with Katie, adding cherries to your burger is GENIUS!

you should submit that recipe somewhere!!

i definitely don't get enough veggies in :( fruits are so simple because they're grab and go and taste sweet! need to work on the eating more veggies thing for sure

Tracey said...

Wow, thanks for such a great giveaway! I don't get enough fruits and vegetables because whenever I buy them they always go bad before I have a chance to eat them, so I never have them on hand. I've got to try harder, and I will!