Tilapia Burger

I served this with Scalloped Tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen. The recipe comes from Canadian Family magazine, Summer 2011.

Makes 6 burgers.

1 tblsp chopped garlic
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 1/4 lbs tilapia filets
3 tblsp soy sauce
1 egg white
4 green onions
1/2 cup red pepper, seeded and diced

Multigrain buns
Lettuce
Red onion slices
Mango chutney
Mayonnaise

In a food processor, chop garlic and ginger. Cube fish and add to food processor, pulsing until everything is the consistency of ground meat.

Stir in soy sauce, egg white, green onion and red pepper. The original recipe also had you add 3 tsp sesame oil, but I chose not to. Form into 6 patties and place in fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium high heat and add a bit of olive oil. Pan fry patties for 6-8 minutes each side (until cooked through). If the edges are burning, turn the heat down (duh).

Assemble burger. Mayo on one bun, mango chutney on the other, lettuce, red onion, whatever else you want to add...

The original recipe also suggest eating it with pea shoots and chopped pickled ginger. Also, they suggest it would taste awesome with honey wasabi mustard (which I'm going to have to try.

Honey Wasabi Mustard
1 tblsp honey
1 tsp wasabi
t tblsp Dijon mustard

Bean and Portobello Burgers

I saw this recipe on Self Magazine's site and adjusted it to suit us.



4 tblsp olive oil
2 medium portobello mushrooms, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper
2 egg whites
1 tblsp honey mustard
1 tblsp worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup oatmeal, ground (or more - or you can use breadcrumbs)
4 whole wheat pitas, naan, or buns
Barbecue sauce
Spring mix (or lettuce leaves)
Tomato slices
Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat 2 tblsp olive oil in a large skillet and cook mushrooms, onion and bell pepper until pepper begins to soften (6 mins or so). Add beans, paprika, garlic powder and black pepper. Stir and smash beans with the back of the spoon for another couple of minutes

Transfer mixture to bowl and let cool slightly (a couple of minutes). Add egg whites, honey mustard, worcestershire sauce, and oats.

Note: Grind oats in a food processor to help bind the burgers. You can use breadcrumbs instead. You may need to eyeball the measurement depending on the moisture content of your mixture. You want to be able to form it into a patty and have it stay together (without it being as heavy as a rock).

Wipe skillet and heat remaining oil to medium. Form mixture into four patties (or more) and cook in the skillet until burgers are golden brown and have a nice crust.

Dress burgers with lettuce, tomato, barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese (or anything else you may like).

I served mine with a cold broccoli salad (raw broccoli dressed with a combo of mayo, apple cider vinegar, sugar, a touch of salt, and fine dice of red onion).

We all really enjoyed this burger, but it needed...something. Maybe a little cilantro would brighten it up. Next time!

Dad's Birthday Lunch

My Dad is always complaining that I never invite him over for dinner. If he says this to you, he's lying. I have invited him to dinner quite a few times when he's been here and he always turns me down...I think he's afraid of driving in the county at night. Who can blame him, really? Tomato zombies and all...

So it was his birthday this past week, and we invited him over for lunch. I picked up a delicious Black Forest cake from Lakeside Bakery and made burgers and pasta salad.

I made Roger Mooking's Pasta Salad with Green Onion Dressing. I made it the night before to let the dressing mellow out a bit, and to ensure it was cold for lunch today.

Green Onion Dressing



1/2 cup olive oil
1 bunch green onion, white bottoms and green tops separated
1 small garlic clove, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon honey (this is not in the original recipe)
1 box bowtie pasta, cooked
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, cut into 1/4" inch thick rings
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
chopped parsley
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

Heat up the grill (I've also done this on the stovetop in a pan). Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the white bottoms of the green onions and the red onion slices. Grill until slightly softened and charred.

Set red onion aside. Roughly chop grilled whites of the green onions and place in blender with green onion tops, garlic, white white vinegar, dijon mustard, honey and olive oil and puree until smooth.

Transfer to a bowl, stir in sour cream, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

I added a touch of honey to this dressing to cut the sharpness of the onions and to make it taste a little richer, but you could totally omit it if you like.

Place cooked pasta in a large bowl, chop up grilled red onion from earlier and add to the pasta, throw in peppers, and slop in the dressing. Add chopped parsley, taste for a final seasoning with salt and pepper, and put in fridge.

Granted, you could serve this lukewarm or room temperature, there's something awesome about a cold pasta salad.

I toasted some coconut on the stovetop and put it on the table in case someone (like my Dad) doesn't like coconut.

This is an "occasional" recipe. I prefer potato salad with things like this (and my potato salad recipe is golden) but, since we had eaten potato salad recently, I wanted to make something different. This isn't the best pasta salad I've ever had/made, but it's pretty tasty.

The Burger

Based on Michael Smith's awesome hamburger recipe.



1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, grated
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soya sauce

I read somewhere that you shouldn't overwork your meat. Since then, I've mixed all my bits and pieces first, and THEN added the meat in to combine. Not sure if it makes sense, but whatever. It's what I do...and this is my blog, so there.

I also tend to grate my onion so that the pieces are small (which is really good if you have pickypants to feed, thankfully I don't...yet). Today I used shallots, because that's what I had and they needed to be used up, so I just chopped them finely.

So throw the onion (or shallots in this case), Worcestershire sauce and soya sauce in a medium bowl. Season with pepper and mix. You won't need salt (unless you like your burgers extra salty) because you are using soya. This is a genius move on the part of Chef Smith. The flavour it lends the meat is very impressive.

Plop in your ground beef, mix, seperate into 4 portions, form into patties no more than an inch thick. In our house, they need to be thinnish. That's how Don prefers them. I also let the meat come to just a smidge colder than room temperature.

I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere too, to not put cold meat on a hot grill (or in a hot pan). My logic (and that's often questionable, admittedly) is that a super cold hunk of meat will contract when placed on a searing hot grill which would make the meat tough in the end. I could be totally off base, and if I am, don't tell me about it. I don't want to hear it.

So where was I?

Heat the grill, and toss the burger patties on. Leave them alone. Seriously. Don't poke at them, don't flip them, and for pete's sake, DON'T SMUSH THEM DOWN WITH THE FLIPPERMAGIG!

Why do we have the urge to press the meat into the grates? All it does is smush the burger flat and dump out a crapload of juicy goodness!

Michael says around 4 minutes each side should do...I'm not sure how long I cook my burgers for. I guess until I think they are done.

While I was cooking the burgers, I toasted the herb focaccia on the grill to dry out the surface a bit. I like that.

This time I dumped some Diana Sauce (Original style) on the top during the last minute or so, and then pulled them off the grill, put them on the platter, and let them rest for a few minutes while I make sure everything else is in order.

I shredded some cheddar to put on the hot, glazy bbq sauce, and dumped a bit more on top.

Why didn't I melt the cheese on the burger while it was cooking, you may ask? I don't like it. It gets oily and weird...and I like the texture of the shredded cheese mixed in with the bbq sauce. Do whatever you want.

I don't like anything else on my burger when I do it like this...I think the bbq sauce and cheese is plenty, but dress it up to your taste.

This is how I make my burgers, generally. They are pretty tasty, and have the texture that Don prefers in a burger - tender and a little crumbly (and if you don't manhandle them on the grill, the crumble factor happens when you take a bite, as opposed to on the grill)...that's why there's no egg involved.

We had our cake, and retired to the living room where Quinn entertained everyone with his spastic form of interpretive dance, and wild boxing style.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Grilled Veggie Burgers

I believe our neighbours think that we're crazy...we all know that when you BBQ, it has include MEATY GOODNESS!! And let me tell you, when they are out grilling, the smells that come from over the fence are divine - but I'm certain that the male counterpart feels so sorry for Don that he's being tortured with "burger substitutes" that one day he's going to sneak a burger over here, stealth style. Yeah, Kevin, I'm talking about you.

Truth is, Don doesn't mind the portobello burger...and I think they are pretty dang tasty too, and I used to HATE grilled veggies. Always thought they were slimy and/or bitter. I have found if they are done correctly, this is not the case.

Tonight we had grilled veggie burgers with grilled radicchio and some leftover potato salad (which is probably one of Don's most favourite things that I make). There is a deli  on Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, NJ that makes THE BEST potato salad I have ever had. This is the closest I've been able to come.

In an attempt to make a couple of friends happy by posting ACTUAL recipies, rather than "throw some of this and some of that in a bowl" ("OMG Jace, how are we supposed to make your delicious food if you don't tell us how to do it??") here you go...keep in mind that this is for 2 adults (and smidgens for the little one). Adjust as necessary.

Potato Salad

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (I've also sliced in 1/8" rounds on the mandolin)
Onions, diced finely (I've used yellow onions, white onions and green onions...whatever is on hand), optional
1\4 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp apple cider vinegar
1 tblsp sugar (or more to taste)
1 tsp yellow mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

Put potatoes on to boil in salted water.

Mix vinegar and sugar to get the sugar dissolved, add mustard, salt and pepper to taste. It should be a good balance of sweet and tangy with a really creamy texture. Adjust as necessary. Stir in onions.

Drain potatoes when they are fork tender and dump the hot potatoes into the dressing. Mix gently (try not to break the potatoes into mush)

Refrigerate and serve cold.

Use whatever potatoes you have on hand, or whatever potatoes you prefer. You can add a chopped boiled egg (which I've done, but am too lazy to do, normally). Throw in diced sweet pepper, celery, add paprika, whatever tickles your fancy.

Grilled Radicchio...not my recipe. I'm not a big fan of radicchio because it's bitter, but Anthony Sedlak's recipe is tasty and a great addition to this meal.

Grilled Veggie Burgers

2 large portobello mushrooms, stem removed
1 sweet pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into quarters
1/4 cup mayonnaise
5 or 6 basil leaves
Squirt of lemon juice (optional)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar or President's Choice Glaze with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
Salt & pepper
Hamburger bun, foccaccia, whatever you have
Arugula, baby spinach, lettuce...whatever you have (as long as it's not that crappy iceburg lettuce)
Balsamic vinegar or President's Choice Glaze with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

Heat grill on high (or you can do it on the stovetop). Drizzle mushrooms and peppers with balsamic vinegar (if not using the PC Glaze), olive oil, salt and pepper on both sides.

Mix mayo, chopped basil, a pinch of salt and a squirt of lemon juice (optional) and pop in the fridge.

Grill for about 3-5 minutes (depends on the size of your vegetables, the heat of your grill, and the alignment of the planets...ok, I was joking about that last one) each side, until the mushrooms and peppers are heated through and softened. If using the glaze, apply during the last 2 minutes or so. You can also grill your bread if you like.

Assemble burger (you know, bun bottom, greens, veggies, basil mayo and bun top) and go to town.

You can use whatever veggies you want in here...you like eggplant? Go for it. Grilled pineapple? Ok then. Red onion? Perfect! You can add a bit of garlic to your mayo, rub some garlic on your grilled bread...avoid the garlic if you don't like it...up to you!

So there you go...that's what was On My Plate tonight.