I started reading Skinny Bitch last week. I had heard about it, but didn’t know if it was a diet plan, a book of recipes, a fiction, etc. Its actually a book about being Vegan.

The book is written in a really aggressive way. For example it begins like this “Okay. Use your head. You need to get healthy if you want to get skinny. Healthy = skinny. Unhealthy = fat.” Harsh huh? Though I do love what she says about the crazy Atkins diet “Eat the flesh of dead cows, dead pigs, and dead chickens. Avoid fresh fruit. You are a total moron if you think the Atkins diet will make you thin. Or you are a gluttonous pig who wants to believe you can eat cheeseburgers all day“

I could not finish Chapter 4: The Dead, Rotting, Decomposing Flesh Diet. It went into detail (and I mean detail) the conditions of slaughter houses and farms. Now, I don’t believe everything I read. My aunt and uncle are ranchers, and their cattle are not living the life the book tries to make you believe ALL do. Their cattle are not in cages so small they can’t lay down. But the slaughter house conditions and testimonials from ex-employees was horrible and nasty.

After reading the first half of this book I admit I haven’t eaten any meat. I have used yogurt and nonfat milk in my morning smoothies, but that’s just because times are tough and there is no point in throwing out good yogurt and milk. I also used an egg in this recipe.

I had some left over Quinoa from a dinner I made the other night for a few friends. I planned on making Roasted Pepper Veggie Burgers for dinner, but decided to up the protein and make Roasted Pepper Quinoa Veggie Burgers. I made a red pepper hummus to go with the burger, and also topped it with baby spinach, alfalfa sprouts, pickled red onions and avocado. I used Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffins, which were supringly delicious and not as ‘wheaty’ as other brands.

Roasted Pepper Quinoa Burger with Red Pepper Hummus
Yield: 5 patties

2 Red Bell Pepper (1/2 reserved for the hummus)
2 Poblano Pepper
1/2 can ground chickpeas
1 cup cooked Quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1/2 onion, small dice
1 garlic clove, crushed and roughly chopped
1 handful Alfalfa Sprouts
1/3 cup – 1/2 cup Japanese Panko
1 Egg
Salt, Pepper, Paprika

1. Roast the peppers until nice and charred. Place the pepper in a ziplock bag for at least 5 minutes, this will make taking the charred skin off much easier.
2. Clean the charred skin off the peppers and remove the stem and seeds.
3. Cut one of the red peppers in half and reserve half of one for later use. Puree the peppers and and chickpeas until smooth. Let cool if warm.
4. In a large bowl combine the pepper mixture, diced onion, garlic, alfalfa sprouts, eggs and season to taste. Add the panko until the mixture is easy to work with and patties can be formed.
5. Spray a baking sheet with PAM and bake each patty for 10 minutes on each side.

Red Pepper Hummus

1/2 can chick peas
1/2 roasted red bell pepper
1 garlic clove
1 TBS lemon juice
handful parsley
Pinch Salt, Pepper, Cayenne
EVOO

Blend all together until smooth. I add EVOO at the end to make it the desired consistency.

This was my first time ever making Veggie Burgers, and they were delicious. It was even better the second day when I heated the patty up in a hot pan and it became ultra crispy. This recipe is a keeper!