Krispy Kale Farro Cakes (or Salad)!

Delightfully crunchy, savory and full of healthy kale and good for you grains, the Krispy Kale Farro Cake is here!  They are simple to make and really versatile.  You can stuff them into a burger bun, pita or roll it up in a big collard leaf with fixins, serve them up on top of a salad or pasta, or eat them alone as a snack.  You can also just eat the KKFC mixture (without cooking it into cakes) as a delish grain salad!

You can't go wrong.

KKFC with Sriracha flowers.

Krispy Kale Farro Cake Base (the Salad)
(Can be made gluten-free if brown rice is used instead of farro)

1 (8.8 oz) package "10 Minute Farro" (TJs makes it) prepared per package directions. 
(You can also make regular farro or use any other grain you wish, I just didn't test it with other grains. I'm sure brown rice, bulgur, barley, etc. would all be good).
1 cup cooked kidney beans 
(canned is OK, I used frozen ones that I had made from scratch)
1 large bunch fresh, organic kale, washed and chopped finely
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 tsp Kosher salt
*1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
*1 tsp sweet paprika 
*1 tsp ancho chili powder
freshly ground pepper to taste

*you can substitute any other herbs or spices you like here!*

Simply mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.  If you want a salad, you can stop here.  This yields a lovely grain salad:

Kale Farro Salad.

You can eat this as is, it's delicious! But, if it is CAKES your heart desires, press on...

Krispy Kale Farro Cakes:

Take 2 cups of the KKFC mixture and add about 1/4 cup of your favorite mayo and about 2 T. of matzoh meal.  If you want it drier, add more matzoh, if you want it moister, add more mayo.  If you want it gluten-free, use rice flour, chickpea flour, oat flour, etc. or a combo of those instead of matzoh.  I haven't tested a GF version, but I'm sure a GF version would work well.  If you want an oil-free, home made, vegan mayo, try Bryanna's recipe!

It will stick together when you squeeze it:

Form it into cakes (any size you like, really, just not *too* huge).

To cook them, heat a cast iron skillet for about three full minutes on medium heat.
The skillet will be nice and hot (but not too hot).  I linked to my skillet below.

Now, spray the pan evenly (or lightly coat) with some olive oil.  I love my Misto sprayer for this job (I linked to it below).

Cook the cakes for about 3 minutes, then re-spray or coat the pan and cook on the other side, about another 2-3 minutes, or until nice and golden brown.

Krispy Kale Farro Cake on my Cast Iron Crepe Pan.

When cooked like this, the raw kale in the salad gets lovely and crispy and tasty, (almost like kale chips!) and even the kale on the inside of the cake cooks through. YUM.

You could also grill them like I do my Black Bean Burgers of NJ:

The link to grilling instructions for the burgers/cakes is here.

I ate my KKFCs as is, served with sriracha.  They are addictive!

I hope you guys give this a try!!

Storage: I stored the salad mixture in my fridge and then just whipped up some cakes when I wanted them.  I ate it both as the salad and as cakes and loved it both ways.  The mixture lasts about a week or so in the fridge.  You can always make the cakes and let them cool, then freeze them.  If you wrap them well, I'm sure they will last for months in the freezer.  Just re-saute to cook them, it will just take a little longer than the 3 min per side since they will be frozen.

Equipment: I really love my cast iron crepe pan.  It gets nice and hot and cooks everything evenly.  Here's a link to it:


Also, here's a link to my Misto sprayer.  I spray the cakes on top really well and then I flip them.  It's easier than lifting the cake up, holding it on the spatula and using your other hand to pour oil into the pan.  That's just awkward!

I actually have two sprayers, one for olive oil and one for a neutral oil (like safflower, sunflower, organic canola, or you could use it for nut oils).  I just found this link to a 2-pack of Misto sprayers, and I wish I had known about it earlier! Only like $8 per sprayer if you get the 2-pack!


OK guys, stay cool! More warm weather recipes comin' atcha soon!

Grain Parade!

I know I missed posting for the 4th of July with her crisp gingham picnics and luscious fruit pies, sorry guys!  I get cranky in a hot kitchen in summer.  I need something fast and easy to go with my CSA hauls, something that I don't have to cook for a long time (or, preferably at all)...

During a trip to TJ's today, I came across these grains, all are quick cooking (excepting the steel cut oats):

Ten minute Farro, Bulgur and Barley, come to momma! 

Precooked brown rice, it would be nice if you are also delicious since you say to only microwave you for a minute!  Also included are TJ's organic, rainbow quinoa (I have not tried their brand of quinoa before) and I'm finally trying the steel cut oatmeal that everyone raves about.

I think I'm going to try the farro first...

Yes, yes I am.

Here are some light, delish grain salads I have been making with my organic CSA farm hauls and some quick cooking grains I already had in my pantry:

Blueberries + Basil...what grows together goes together! 

P.S. That's a nice longish orzo I used there for the grain.

Hubby created this one and I added my Golden 'Fu:

He used that boxed tabouli mix from Fantastic Foods and jazzed it up, it was really delish.  

Perfect with my Golden 'Fu!

Let me know if you'd like to see the recipes for either of these grain salads here on Vegan Fazool and I'll see what I can do :-)

In the meantime, I am going to experiment with those quick-cooking TJ's grains and get back to you guys if they are really good (or really bad, or just ordinary).

More low to no heat posts are coming soon to the VF, stay tuned...

What do you guys like to make (or not make) in the heat of summer?

The Beans, Grains & Greens Burger

Did you guys know you can pretty much make a veggie burger out of any combination of beans, grains & greens? Provided you get a consistency you can shape into a burger (even if it is delicate) you really have myriad options in the v-burger department.

Here's one I made recently:

Winter Risotto, Russian Kidney Beans, and Kale Burger!

I just took my leftover Winter Risotto, added my Russian Red Kidney Beans (was a pressure cooker recipe I had made recently), mashed those up with a fork, added more cooked carrots, whatever organic kale I had left in the fridge (I just chopped it up raw and put it in), added some roasted red peppers, organic raisins (I love raisins in balls & burgers!), fresh lemon juice, olive oil (jalapeno oil!), chopped raw organic walnuts, salt, pepper, and then mixed in some old fashioned oats to dry it up a bit.  You could also just use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, or any kind of flour, really, to dry up a very moist burger mix.  I like to use oats because they are tasty.

Here it is in the bowl:

I wish I had this right now!  I could totally go for these, they were awesome (esp. since all the work was already done, leftover grain dish + leftover bean dish= awesome burgers).

And here it is formed into patties and placed on a well-oiled, rimmed baking sheet:

 Bake at around 400 to 425 for like 15 minutes per side.  You want them nicely browned on each side. You'll know your oven better than I do as far as the specifics.

Delicious, crispy, totally flavorful burger.  I love the crispy kale parts, it's like having kale chips in your burger!

I had mine in a burrito, I get into burrito phases with everything!

And hubby had a more traditional burger, but still Mexican themed:

So, check your fridge.  Do you have leftover grains, beans or greens? If so, make a BGG (beans, grains & greens) burger. 

You won't be sorry!