Vegan's Day

Humble hodge podge dinner.
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Happy Lunar New Year, everyone~ I'm in Cheonan right now with the family, busy eating too much holiday food, but I thought I'd take a time-out from the feasting and share some pics from this past weekend. Instead of going out and spending a bunch of money on restaurant food, some friends got together for a small dinner at my place.

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I made these baked bean burgers using a 'mash-up' (no pun intended) of different recipes, and just winged it with what I could find in my pantry. I used dried beans that were soaked overnight and boiled with a pinch of baking soda for them to get suuuper soft, but you could ofcourse use canned.

Kidney Bean Burger Patties

3 cups cooked and drained kidney beans
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. preheat oven to 400F or 200C.
2. Mash beans with a fork (you could pulse them in a food processor). Add all other ingredients and mix.
3. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Form patties and place on sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the patties are browned and firm.

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I also made the curried carrot dip from Veganomicon. I've been eyeing this recipe for so many years and only just got around to trying it out. Yummy!! I used toasted walnuts instead of sunflower seeds, and only 1 tsp sesame oil instead of 2 tsp of grapeseed. It turned out really great. I especially liked the deep nutty flavor of the toasted walnuts.

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Especially tasty when paired with the bean burger patties.

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Chris brought vegan bread from Pain de Papa at Garosugil. Love that bakery!

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Fresh salad of lettuce, cabbage, and carrots. Can you tell that I was trying to get rid of some carrots? haha.

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Yunseo came and cooked some delicious fried rice with button mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. This was so good, I had to have seconds.

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Salad with apple-ginger dressing.

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Some fresh kiwi to cleanse the palate. :)

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Bunny getting her noms on.

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Banana sorbet with dried fruit and chocolate chips for dessert...

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more sorbet...

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Oh, and we ended up baking some late-night brownies, jus coz. Thick, dense, and very chocolately. Can't think of a better way to end the night-- on a chocolate high.

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The end.