Burgers

It's funny (well, I find it kind of funny...) how in the summer we want our food to be able to fit into a bun, so we can eat it with our hands.  Or is it just that we crave mustard and relish and can't find another legitimate way to use them?  Whatever the reason, burger season is here.
Vegan burgers come in many varieties. Some of the store-bought, frozen ones are really yucky. I don't know if it is just because they try too hard to make it look like meat, but it certainly isn't very appetizing to stare down a grey patty of unidentifiable ingredients. I have recently tried a store-bought, frozen, chicken-like thing that tastes pretty good, but I am aware that it is not the healthiest choice. It's kind of like choosing fries, when you should have had the baked potato :). I also recently had falafel in a pita when we went for "burgers" at John and Lynn's house. The taste was good, but there's something about putting a patty between a bun.....
Of course a grilled portobello mushroom is delicious, and the black bean burger recipe in the Whitewater Cookbook is really good (but it falls apart when I leave out the egg - I need to play with that recipe a bit...)
I did find this Black Bean - Quinoa Burger recipe in the summer edition of Vegetarian Times magazine. I made them yesterday, and although my technique needs a little refining, I was really happy with the resulting patty which fit very nicely in a bun - thank you very much! 

Black Bean - Quinoa Burgers
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked with 1 1/4 cups water (boil for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed)
1 cup finely chopped onion
6 oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped finely
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 can, rinsed and drained (divided)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. Montreal Steak Spice
1 1/2 cups water

While quinoa is cooking, saute onion and tomatoes until the onion is tender. The oil left on the tomatoes should be enough to cook the onion.  Beware... the smell is really awesome... Stir in 3/4 cup beans, garlic, steak spice and water. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Now, this is where I may have needed to add some time. I think that I didn't simmer for long enough, so make sure to cook it down well. 
Transfer the bean/onion mixture to a food processor, add 3/4 cup quinoa and process until smooth. 
Transfer to a bowl, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup quinoa and 3/4 cup black beans. Allow to cool.
(takes a long time.)
Once cool.... Heat oven to 350. Generously grease a flat baking sheet.  Drop large spoonsful of the mixture onto the sheet and flatten into patties. Bake 20 minutes or so, until the patties are crisp on top. Flip over and cook another 10 minutes or so, until both sides are crisp.  These patties can be frozen, then reheated on the BBQ or in the oven before eating. 

I thought these patties would be simple because of the lack of ingredients, but they are definitely a do-ahead kind of thing. They are delicious, and really worth the time. I now have 8 ready-made burgers in the freezer!!!

I'm looking forward to trying a brown rice and mushroom patty, but I hesitate to put carb on carb when I put it in a bun.  Am I thinking about this too much?  I think not. I like to be included in the summer BBQ tradition. 

About Protein...

Funny how when you stop eating meat, the first question is, "Where are you getting your protein?" I'm guilty of asking it to Lynn's daughter, Jacy when she first became vegetarian. It's like we are programmed to think that protein is the most important nutrient that we take in.
After a year and a half of researching (I even read a paper from the World Health Organization, on protein production in people who are malnourished - that was a tough one to get through....) I have decided to share some of my findings here.

Have you ever known, or even heard of, someone having a protein deficiency? Even in countries where malnourishment is a problem, no one ever mentions protein, or lack of meat, being the problem. That's because our bodies can actually make protein. It's true.
Protein is made up of amino acids (not be be confused with fatty acids - omega 3s and 6s, etc - that's a story for another day.) Depending on what you read, there are between 20 and 23 amino acids. You might recognize some of the names - tryptophan, phenylalanine, lysine....anyway - there are 20 more names like that. Our bodies can actually create 15 of those amino acids, but 8 of them (9 for children), are considered "essential" to get from food. That's why those 8 are called Essential Amino Acids. When a food (like meat, soy beans, hemp seed, buckwheat, quinoa, etc...) contains all 8 of the Essential Amino Acids, it is called a complete protein.
The really cool thing is that most foods contain at least some of the essential amino acids, and our bodies have a nifty way of storing those amino acids in a bit of a storage bank, while they wait for the rest of the amino acids to join them to make a protein. The tricky part is eating enough of a variety of food to build those protein chains. Not all of the amino acids need to be consumed in the same meal, or even the same day. That storage bank holds them there for a while. It's really cool how the body works. Pretty fascinating.  :)

July Already

Ethan and I just had the most yummy treat for dessert tonight.
It was a toasty hot day, and we needed a little something delicious to cool us down, so I whipped up a little gelato of sorts.
Here's the recipe:

Mixed Berry Gelato
Into a blender or food processor (I used a magic bullet) put:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen raspberries
-or 2 cups of any frozen fruit
1 Tbsp agave syrup
-or any equivalent sweetener
1/2 cup coconut milk

Process until smooth, pour into dishes and serve immediately.  Oh my, it was delicious!

We went to help celebrate our friend John's birthday, and we weren't even tempted by the beautiful looking black forest cake that John's mom made. :)
...enjoy the warm weather.... then eat gelato for dessert!!! :) Life is good.