Vegetarian Falafel Pita Pocket Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

This is a fantastic recipe for making 6 half pita falafel burgers. Once you try in you’ll think to yourself, “vegetarian isn’t all that bad!” I can eat this every day for lunch.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 large handful parsley, chopped
• 1 cup of bread crumbs or you can make your own.
• 3 to 4 tablespoons flour or whole wheat
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• ½ tablespoon chili powder
• 1½ teaspoons turmeric
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Milk or Soy Milk for coating
• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 pita pockets, regular or whole whest ,cut in half
• Romaine lettuce, shredded
• ½ seedless cucumber, sliced
• 2 vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced

Tzatziki Sauce

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1 cup greek yogurt, strained
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Using a whisk, blend the yogurt with the sour cream. Add the olive oil mixture to the yogurt mixture and mix well. Finally, add the cucumber and chopped fresh dill. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Preheat your over to 350° to heat up the pitas. Drain and rinse the garbanzo (chick peas). Pat the beans dry with a paper towel and place into a food processor. Add in the onion, garlic, parsley, flour, spices and seasonings, and process until fairly smooth and very thick – so you can form patties. Form 6-3 inch patties, cover them and put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Place the pita pockets in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, to heat and soften.

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a cast iron or regular skillet and bring it up to medium-high heat. Remove the veggie burgers from the freezer. Brush them lightly with milk and dredge carefully coat them with bread crumbs; patting them down to absorb a nice coating. Cook 3 at a time for approximately 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Remove the vegan patties and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining three veggie burgers.

To assemble your falafel vegan pita burger, line the inside of one half of pita with tzatziki sauce, add the veggie burger, tomatoes, romaine and drizzle a little more tzatziki sauce over the top.

Poor Man’s Pasta Carbonara

Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value:  7
Servings:  2

Preparation Time:  15 min
Cooking Time:  15 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

 This is a great meal to start off the day, with 7 power food ingredients. Always eat your carbs early in the day.  For only 2 points more add 1 more ounce of noodles.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp parsley, chopped  
• 1/4 cup(s) green pepper(s), diced  
• 1/4 lb mushroom(s), sliced  or diced
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes  
• 2 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced (medium)  
• 1 shallot, finely chopped  
• 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped  
• 2 tsp Filippo Berio Extra virgin olive oil  
• 3/4 cup(s) fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth  
• 2 item(s) egg  
• 2 oz uncooked whole-wheat spaghetti  
• 1 tsp black pepper, cracked  
• 2 tsp shredded parmesan cheese  
• 1 slice(s) uncooked reduced-fat bacon  
• 1 tsp fresh oregano  
• 4 leaf/leaves basil  
• 1/4 cup(s) frozen green peas
• Salt

Preparation:

Cook pasta according to directions, al dente. In the meantime set up a small soup pan for poaching. Bring water to the point of slow boiling (barely bubbling). Add a little salt and white vinegar to the water. Once the pasta is done, drain (setting aside 1/2 cup of pasta water) and cool, set aside for later. Microwave or cook bacon to a crisp, crumble or chop and set it aside for topping.

In 1 tsp of olive oil, sauté all the vegetables, leaving the garlic for last. After a few minutes, add the peas, green and red peppers, pepper flakes and cook for a minute or two. Add stock, ¼ cup of pasta water and the cooked spaghetti mixing well, reduce by half. Then lower the heat and add rosemary, basil and oregano and simmer. We’re almost done… Now toss the pasta with the mixture to coat the noodles. Turn off heat and mix in parmesan cheese.  There should be some liquid left in the pan, if not add a little pasta water.

To poach the egg: Swirl the water in your poaching pot in a clock ward motion, carefully crack your egg into the poaching liquid while slowly rotating the water around it. Poach for about 4 minutes or until the egg whites are firm.

It’s time to plate the pasta. Pour the remaining sauce evenly over equal servings of noodles. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon (drain) and lay it on top of the pasta. Drizzle, ½ tsp of olive oil over the top of each serving and garnish with chopped parsley and crumbled bacon. Add salt if you want, however, it’s probably not necessary.  Crack pepper over the egg. The sauce will thicken when you break the egg yolk and mix it into pasta.

Creamy Mushroom Chicken Primavera

Course: main meals

PointsPlus™ Value:    6
Servings:  2

Preparation Time:  15 min
Cooking Time:  15 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 small raw onion, finely chopped  
• 1/4 cup (s) sweet red pepper(s), diced  
• 1/2 small carrots, julienne  
• 6 oz. broccoli Florets (plain)  
• 1 lb mushroom caps, sliced and diced
• 4 oz cooked whole wheat pasta
• 1/4 cup(s) pasta water  
• 1-1/2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth  
• 3 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced (medium)  
• 1/2 cooked chicken breast, 1/4 inch cubes  
• 1/8 cup(s) water chestnuts  
• 4 tbsp condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 scallions finely sliced on the diagonal
• 1 tsp Argon Corn Starch  
• 1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
• 2 tsp reduced grated parmesan cheese
• parsley

Preparations:

Boil pasta, drain and reserve ¼ cup of pasta water. Cool and put aside for later.  Fill the sauce pan again with water and bring to a slow boil. Keep it on standby while you prepare the sauce.

In a nonstick skillet start cooking mushrooms until the mushrooms release water and shrink. Once you see the mushrooms have darkened and shrunk, it’s important to add the garlic. After about 1 minute or so, add ¼ cup of the chicken stock to the pan to stop the garlic from burning.  Toss in the onions and carrots, cook for 3 minutes. Throw the broccoli, water-chestnuts into the pool next. After sautéing for about 2-3 minutes add red peppers.  Mix in the rest of the chicken broth, skim milk and condensed soup to the pan and stir to work out any lumps. Toss in the cooked chicken breast, reduce to thicken.

Turn up the water on the pot you have standing by.  Mix corn starch and pasta water together in a small cup. Turn up the heat to medium, adding half of the mixture at a time to adjust the thickness. Continue at this temperature for a few minutes to cook out the starch flavor.

Portion out equal amounts of pasta per person.  Drop the serving of pasta back into the boiling water you have on standby. Strain out the portion and plate. Repeat this for the second plate. Let both pastas sit for a minute to evaporate the surface moisture. Then pour the sauce over the pasta on each plated serving.  Garnish with parmesan cheese, parsley and scallions.  There will be a high veggie to pasta ratio …is that a bad thing?