The Fresh Cooking Patio at this year’s Realtors Home & Garden Show promises to enliven your taste buds with a packed selection of cooking demonstrations from area chefs and food experts.  Read more and get the full Cooking Patio schedule.

On Thursday, March 26 at 6 p.m., Karen Gill, personal chef at Down to Earth Chef will present a session entitled "Different Meals, Same Ingredients," showing consumers how to make the most of their grocery dollars while still eating delicious, varied meals.

Gill’s garbanzo and cashew burgers are part of a multi-recipe plan featuring tomato, garbanzo beans, cashews, onions, bell peppers, parsley, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes in oil.

Garbanzo & Cashew Burgers with Raw Marinara

Two 15 ounce cans (4 cups) cooked garbanzo beans, drained of any liquid
1.5 cups cashew pieces
1 medium onion, diced
½ each of medium sized red & yellow bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
small handful fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil, more for cooking burgers
1 teaspoon each cumin, paprika, dried oregano (or use small handful fresh oregano leaves)
few grinds each of salt & pepper
cornmeal for dusting burgers
buns, if desired

Place all ingredients, except cornmeal, in the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse until well blended, yet slightly chunky. Add a bit of water if mixture is too dry or thick. Using a ½ cup measure, scoop out mixture and form into 6-8 patties. Dust lightly with cornmeal. If patties seem too lose, form and place on a baking sheet and freeze, about 20 minutes, in freezer. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place patties in skillet and cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes per side.

Marinara
2 fresh Roma tomatoes or any tomatoes you have (try 8 oz diced tomatoes from a can)
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
handful fresh parsley
½  small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
small handful fresh basil leaves
few fresh oregano leaves
salt & pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Chop and seed tomatoes.  Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until well combined. Add olive oil if needed to thin mixture or add a touch of water. Leave chunky if desired, or blend until a fine sauce is created. Serve alongside veggie burgers.