Saturday Night Special - Beets and Patties

For the sixteenth day of the cleanse (it is hard to believe the cleanse is now officially half way through!), I started with a fruit smoothie for breakfast and then had the hummus and fresh veggies prepared last night for lunch (see Jan 1 post for hummus recipe). For supper, I started with a red leaf lettuce, dandelion greens, and arugula salad and then had beets and patties for the second Saturday in a row! This week, I had purple beets rather than candy cane beets and I had black bean patties rather than black eyed bean patties. I first put the black beans on (they had been soaked earlier in the day, drained, rinsed, covered with enough water to fill the pot, brought to boil, reduced to slightly lower heat for 60 minutes), and then I prepared the beets. Once the beets were in the oven, I started 1 cup of wild rice blend rice to round out the meal (1 cup rice, 2 cups water, brought to boil, reduced to simmer for 40 minutes). I added 1 cup of finely chopped green and purple kale (and 2 tbsp of extra water) to rice cooking pot when 15 minutes were remaining - this lightly steamed the kale and did not impact the cooking of the rice.

Here is the recipe for the baked beets (see top picture to the left):

6 medium beets, chopped, 1 medium onion, chopped, 3 garlic cloves, minced, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp dried rosemary, 1 tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil bottom of casserole dish with canola oil and add remaining ingredients. Cover dish and bake for 60 minutes or until beets are tender.

Although olive oil (which I use when cooking on the stove top) has a better balance of monounsaturated fatty acids than canola oil, I do use canola oil when baking in the oven because it remains stable at a higher temperature than olive oil.

Here is the recipe for the black bean patties (see middle picture to the left):

2 garlic cloves, minced, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1/2 small zucchini, chopped, 2 celery stalks, chopped, 1 medium carrot, chopped, 1 green onion, chopped, 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, 1/2 cup parsley, chopped, 2 cups cooked black beans, 1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup nut or seed butter (I used a combination of almond butter and tahini), 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place garlic, onion, zucchini, celery, carrot, green onion, cilantro, and parsley in food processor and blend to finely chopped consistency. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl. Place black beans, lemon juice, sea salt, nut/seed butter, paprika, oregano, and cumin in food processor and blend to chunky consistency. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl and blend with vegetable mixture. Add water to help mixture stick together and form into patties. Lightly oil baking sheet/dish with canola oil and place patties on baking sheet/in baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 40 - 60 minutes (until browned).

Once all the dishes were ready, the food was dished up and seasoned with flax oil and sea salt (see bottom picture to the left for final meal). This was another very delicious and fun meal!