Pick today's lunch/dinner side dish! Please!

[Flaxbee]

OK, we're going to have spicy turkey/tofu burgers (turkey for him, tofu for me). They're fantastic, seasoned with paprika, ginger, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, hot sauce, cilantro, cumin, onions, dry mustard... generally very good.

Choice of side dish is either a) cilantro rice (would be cilantro-lime rice, but I'm out of limes) OR
b) angel hair pasta with spinach sauteed in garlic and red pepper flakes.

What say you? I need to start cooking soon, so I'd love to have some opinions!

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Option 2!!

Yummo! :bounce:

And, spinach is wicked good for you :)

[Flaxbee]

2. that's what I'm leaning toward, as well....

I looove spinach, cooked or raw. But found a good recipe for the pasta last night, so cooked it'll be.

What are you guys having, aside from snow cones?

[bicentennial_baby]

4. Not sure yet!

We went grocery shopping yesterday, so the options are many. I kinda want chickpea spinach soup...We shall see. I think I'm getting hooked on this soup, it's sooooo good.

:hi: eat well!

[Flaxbee]

6. I'd love the recipe if you can share...

chickpeas and spinach being two of my favorite things. :hi: back, stay warm!

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Here it is:

3/4 cup Chicken Broth (you can easily sub, Veggie, I assume)
2 Carrots, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups cooked chickpeas
4 cups packed, torn spinach

1) In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over moderate heat. Add the carrots, garlic, sage, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until the carrots are tender.

2) Add 3/4 cup of water and the chickpeas and return to a boil

3) Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 7 minutes, or until the soup is flavorful and the chickpeas are piping hot.

4) Stir in the spinach and cook for 1 minute, or until they are just wilted.

Serves 4.

Enjoy! :hi:

[Flaxbee]

9. thank you! Adding needed ingredients to my shopping list right now...

:hi:

[hippywife]

3. Since you're out of limes

the pasta sounds better. Can you share your tofu burger recipe?

[Flaxbee]

5. it's from a turkey burger recipe, I just substituted tofu...

but because of consistency issues with tofu, I'll also usually blend in some bread crumbs or uncooked oatmeal. The recipe is for 2 lbs ground turkey, so substitute tofu accordingly...

1-2 blocks firm tofu
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced (fresh) ginger (I tend to use a tablespoon or more of ginger b/c I looove it!)
2 fresh green chili peppers, diced (I often skip these and substitute red pepper flakes)
1 medium red onion, diced, or 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, choppped
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp ground dry mustard
dash of ground ginger (if you have it)
1 tbsp ground cumin
dash of hot sauce like Tabasco
1 dash Worcestershire sauce (I often use more than a dash, or also add some artificial smoke flavoring, to the tofu to add flavor)

I also have a tendency to just toss the spices in w/o measuring -- no matter what, they all seem to blend well together.

Then just mix all ingredients together, form into patties, and grill or saute. When it's cold outside, I use some non-stick spray like Pam and saute the burgers on the stove top. Plus toasted sesame seed buns, fresh tomato and lettuce, whatever other condiments you like and it's delicious!

[hippywife]

8. Thanx!

I'll have to give that a try. :hi:

[NMDemDist2]

10. I'm going with the angel hair/spinach

sounds like a good foil to the cilantro/cumin mix