Black Bean Sliders and Corn Chowder

Black bean sliders are my week's fave new discovery. Turns out, the same process for making meatballs can apply easily to black bean burgers.

1 can of drained black beans, salted and peppered
1/2 cup whole grain bread crumbs (toasted, if you can)
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (I got some at zehrs... holds the burgers together)
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 minced red onion (in really small pieces...)
1/4 cup of water

Ingredient cost?? $1.50

Mush everything together (I used a potato masher) and then my (clean) hands.

Golf ball sized patties on the George Foreman grill cooked up beautiful and brown in about 10 minutes.

Ina Garten, despite her very North American food emphasis is an amazing cook because she simplifies everything hard and fancies up everything that is easy, resulting in INCREDIBLE food. Like she'll make simple pancakes (which I did yesterday) and then fancy them up by adding a pattern of fresh raspberries and lemon zest. Delicious!

Today, she made a pot roast, and inspired me to do something in my casserole dish. I browned some onions, salt, pepper and olive oil and then waited for inspiration. I forgot to buy carrots, but I chopped up some celery and garlic.

In the back of my pantry was a box of Knorr soup called "Yellow" which I used for a risotto a while back, but only used one of the two containers I bought. The second has been patiently waiting in the pantry, and got poured over the carmelized onions, etc.

Bill walks by and asks what I'm making. My reply "I have no idea.>>"

I had bought 6 ears of fresh corn which (instead of Ina's hunk of chuck) went into the casserole. Suddenly, I think I'll just drop the ears of corn into the pot, let them braise while we're all at the pool, and then make a corn chowder.

11:58. Corn is beautifully tender, but not mushy. I shave the nibs off the ears into a bowl. The rest of the thick stewy soup was pureed in the blender. I add the liquid to the bowl of corn niblets and mix, adding some water to make it a bit more like chowder and less like a stew.

It is fresh, summery, and creamy - satisfying and simple.

Summer Corn Chowder

1 onion chopped thin in rings
4 stalks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
1 box of stock or 1 canned soup
6 ears of corn, salted and peppered

Ingredient Cost?? $5, not including the soup which was waiting in the pantry...