Meatless Mondays!

Okay, every day is meatless for me, but my husband has decided to join me for Monday night dinners! I am so excited about this! It is a bit of a challenge because he is allergic to nuts, coconut, and fruit unless it's been cooked. And he wants to stay low on soy. So far I've come up with a couple of options, and the one we had last week he said he'd eat again-- yay! So last Monday we had Black Bean Sliders with Sweet Potato Fries. I already knew he liked the sweet potato fries. Those are one of those things that I've never blogged about because it seems too simple or plain, but when I'm able to cook, we have them a couple of times a month, they're that good. So now I'm sharing!

Black Bean Sliders
makes 8-10ish patties

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 red bell pepper
Tony's Creole Seasoning, to taste
3 tablespoons wheat germ
Oil, olive or vegetable, to cook
Slider buns
Earth balance MindfulMayo or other vegan mayonnaise

• Broil the red pepper while it's whole, until the skin begins to bubble
• Chop the pepper finely-- Sam said a little more chopped would be good next time, so chop to your desired fineness.
• Add the pepper and beans to a mixing bowl and smoosh the beans somewhat with a glass or other smooshing device.
• Mix in the seasoning and wheat germ-- I used about 1.5 tablespoons seasoning I think.
• Add about 1 tablespoon oil to a skillet and allow to heat to medium high for a minute or two.
• Using a spoon to scoop and your hands, form the bean mixture into slider-sized patties.
• Fry four or five at a time, adding more oil if needed, a couple of minutes on each side, until browned.
• Serve on slider buns with mayo and sweet potato fries (below).
• Notes: 
• Sam didn't like the buns toasted, how I tried them at first, but you can do toasted if you want. Just brush with some vegan margarine (I used Smart Balance Light) and put the buns straight onto the baking rack in the oven for a couple of minutes while your fries are cooking.
• MindfulMayo is my favorite vegan mayo. It's super tasty, uses brown rice syrup as the sweetener, and is soy-free! Sam even gave it his approval, and he doesn't generally like new products, so that was a bonus for us!

Sweet Potato Fries
makes one big baking sheet of fries

1 big sweet potato-- I only used half of mine this time
Light drizzle of olive oil
Paprika

• Cut the potato into fry shapes.
• Pile onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with oil, and use your hands to work the oil onto all sides of the fries.
• Arrange the fries in one layer on the baking sheet and stick in the oven set to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bake for about 35 minutes, turning each fry halfway through. Once turned, sprinkle with paprika-- you don't want to add this too soon or it will burn.
• Finish cooking -- they're done when you can poke your tongs or a fork into them easily.