The perfect veggie burger

I’ve been experimenting with making several different types of veggie burgers lately using ingredients from corn to peppers to beans. By far, the best pseudo beef burger was made with beans. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:  2 cans of beans (i prefer black and pinto but can use chickpeas or lentils), medium yellow onion (chopped), 1 cup oats, 2 eggs, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, pinch of salt and pepper

Recipe:

1. Drain and wash the beans and put them in a large bowl. Add the chopped onion, oats, eggs, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

2. Mix together and put mixture in food processor until all ingredients are well chopped.

3. With wet hands form  thin to medium-thick size patties.

4. Grill the patties on a flat surface (versus a grated one) for approx. 10 minutes on each side on high heat (350-400F).

5. Eat and enjoy immediately or put the grilled patties into individual plastic bags and freeze (taste even better when frozen and reheated!).

And yes that’s the McVeggie at McDonald’s in India – when are they going to bring it to the States?!

Democrat is to Republican as Broccoli is to Pork

Out of the presidential hopefuls, which party overwhelmingly prefers meat? Repbulicans. The Associated Press recently asked candidates what foods they like to cook. Rudy Giuliani prefers “hamburgers or steaks on the grill,” as does Mike Hukabee, and Mitt Romney likes to cook hotdogs.Democrats clearly prefer lighter, more veggie-friendly fare. Joe Biden likes to make pasta, Hillary Clinton scrambles eggs, Barak Obama prefers chili, and Bill Richardson blends a mean diet milkshake.Does eating meat make you more likely to be a Republican? Just in case, I’ll continue to avoid McMurder and Chick-kill-A.

YOU’RE A VEGGIE WHAT?

I dropped the V word at a holiday party last night and you would have thought I had just committed murder. I tried to quickly explain the many reasons why I don’t eat beef or pork but I think most people already had their preconceived notions that all vegetarians are tree hugging, liberal hippies. While I am liberal and not opposed to hugging trees (I’d prever eco-conservatist over tree hugger), I am a vegetarian (that also eats fish occasionally) for many other reasons – health being the main one. Altering or restricting your diet forces you to think about the food you order and cook.

If you’re curious about the vegetarian lifestyle, give it a whirl sometime. I’ll be posting a few basic recipes in the next couple of days to help get you started. If you can’t wait, try a few of these tofu recipes or do a quick search on my favorite recipe website, All Recipes.

Eating Meatless in the District

After moving from NYC to DC I thought it would be much harder to be a vegetarian. Recently I discovered two places you have to check out if you are vegetarian or veggie friendly:

Java Green is on 19 between K and L streets and serves chicken and beef but check the menu closely because you’ll only find soy flavored meats. I recommend the spicy chicken rice bowl.

Nirvana is on the south side of K between 18 and 19. Go for lunch to enjoy a buffet of all veggie dishes from South India.

Let me know if you have other suggestions. If you have non veggie fans with you I’d suggest Thai or Ethiopian. Keep an eye out for my next post featuring veggie recipes for your crock.

Turkey Sans Tryptophan

You might be asking yourself, what is that little meatless, brown lump next to the dairy section at Whole Foods? It’s a Tofurky roast – a tofu loaf stuffed with mushrooms, herbs and wild rice that is supposed to offer vegetarians a gobbleless alternative. Best of all it contains little fat and is high in protein.

The next time you stroll past the meatless section of your local organic grocer, make sure to notice the variety of Tofurky products. Try disguising it next to the Brussels sprouts and see if anyone notices.

Check out Turtle Island Foods website to learn more about their products.