Veggie Burgers

These easy tofu and veggie burgers freeze well and are great for getting loads of veggies into your kids whilst letting them believe they're getting "junk" food ;) My two like these burgers with sliced cheese, lettuce and pineapple and homemade kumara chips on the side.  Yum.

Below are the rough weights and types of veggies I use - but I tend to add whatever we have lurking in the bottom of the veggie drawer in the fridge as this is a good way to use them up.

Veggie Burgers

Makes 8 - 10 burger patties

1 tablespoon butter

200gm mushrooms, chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, grated

100gm steamed broccoli

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

100gm unsalted raw cashews, finely chopped

1 package firm tofu (approx 290gm) - available in the chiller (fresh) at the supermarket or in the Japanese food aisle (long life)

Breadcrumbs from 2-3 slices of whole grain bread 

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Flour for coating burgers

Olive oil spray for frying

Melt butter over medium heat in frying pan, add chopped mushrooms and sauté for 3-4 minutes until they're just tender.  Allow to cool slightly then transfer to food processor with remaining ingredients and blitz until well combined.  If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand but will need to chop all the ingredients very finely before you mix them in a large bowl.

Form into 8 - 10 burgers around the size of the palm of your hand.  Coat each burger lightly with flour before frying them over a medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

Freeze cooked patties by allowing them to cool and separating with baking paper and sealing in ziploc bags or an airtight container.

Teriyaki Chicken

This is my go-to recipe for an easy win with my boys.  It's so simple and so much better than any of the bottled stuff from the shops, you'll never go back!  In fact, it's such a staple in our house I thought I had already blogged about it years ago.  Oops.  We have teriyaki sauce on chicken most often but it's also fab on salmon - otherwise known as pink chicken around here - or on leftover hamburger patties.

Teriyaki Chicken (serves 4)
400gm chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless but if you have bone-in thighs they will still be fine!  
1 tablespoon cooking sake
1 teaspoon salt reduced soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin
1 tablespoon reduced salt soy sauce (Kikkoman is the best for this and available in the supermarkets here)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Combine sake and first measure of soy sauce in a shallow dish.  Marinate chicken thighs for 20 minutes or so; less time is fine if you're in a rush.  Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.  

For the teriyaki sauce:
Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to almost boiling over a medium heat for 2 - 3 mins.  Let it bubble up then turn it down to a simmer for another couple of minutes.  It should thicken up more the longer you leave it on the heat.  Then just turn off the heat and leave in the pan to cool until you need it.

Heat a non stick fry pan over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken thighs in batches then remove to an ovenproof dish big enough to place the thighs in in one layer.  Spoon a tablespoonful or so of the teriyaki sauce over the chicken thighs and then bake for 45 mins, or until the chicken thighs are cooked through.

When you're ready to serve the chicken, slice about 1cm thick and serve over steamed rice.  Reheat the reserved sauce and pour over the chicken and rice.  My kids love this with edamame and miso soup served on the side!  But a green salad also works well in summer.

PS - this recipe is really easy to scale up if you like more sauce or if you are cooking for a crowd.