Good, Better, Best: A Simple Way to Make Food Decisions Who knew that Mother Goose was into zen? Here's the evidence from her book of rhymes:Good, better, best.
Best foods . Better Foods . These are plant foods, which are either naturally packed with extra calories, such as nuts, or whole foods which are lightly processed or contain some concentrated calories from refined sugar or oil. Anything made from whole grain flour fits in this category, since the refinement of the grain exposes more surface area to the gut, making it easier to suck every single calorie into your hungry little fat cells. Soy products like tofu, tempeh, seitan, and meat analogues in the frozen section of the store fit into this category too. Good Foods. This category includes pre-packaged vegan meals, either frozen or shelf-staple. Low sugar, whole grain baked foods. Energy bars which don't look like pretend candy bars, but more like granola bars. Granola and other moderate sugared cereals. Also, think of anything that a manufacturer might market as vegan and health sustaining as a 'good food.' Especially, if it is clearly marketed as a substitute for something else. I'm thinking of things like fruit leather instead of roll-ups. Just eat an apple, people! You know it's better for you.
Ultimate Veggie Burgers
A couple of weeks ago, I made a double batch of these ultimate veggie burgers , immodestly, but aptly named 'ultimate' by the developer of the recipe. But after reading the story of how she trial-and-errored her way to veggie burger perfection, I must agree with her. Published in the Jul/Aug 2005 issue of Cook's Illustrated , this recipe is an absolute keeper, despite all the trouble it causes.
For one thing, I freeze these in neat little patties which look so damn con-VEEEEN-yent. My husband will amble into the kitchen, slap one on the grill, and crow about what a great cook he is. I try to remind him of all the effort that goes into producing these in the first place, but it never does any good.
"Admit it!" he'll chide, "I'm the King of the Grill. NO ONE can make these babies taste as good as I do."
"Oh, right!" I'll retort with a long-suffering sigh, "I dirtied every dish in the kitchen. Spent hours. I suppose you expect me to giggle like a contented Keebler elf now, right?"
These ritualized communications happen virtually every time he grills an ultimate veggie burger for himself, but in reality, it is just our playful way of acknowledging that these veggie burgers rule the universe, no matter who takes the credit for the luscious result!
So, here are a few pictures to give you some idea of the various steps which go into making these ultimate veggie burgers. No step is particularly difficult to do, but there are quite a few steps, so prepare to spend some time in the kitchen.
I always start off with washing and drying the mushrooms, since keeping all the ingredients as dry as possible makes for better results. Letting the washed mushrooms sit on paper towels while you do other steps in the process is good planning.
Next, I pulverize the cashew nuts, as pictured below. If you want to make your own homemade bread crumbs, instead of using panko crumbs, this is a good time to do it. I always have stale bread around, so I customarily make bread crumbs several days a week, and put them in my freezer.
Now, don't be scared. We are almost half way through at this point. We have pulverized cashew nuts in the top right hand corner. Sauteed onions, leeks, celery and seasonings in the bowl in the lower right hand corner. Mushrooms in the pan to the left, ready to be sauteed, and bread crumbs to the right of the pan.
Even though the mushrooms start off dry, as you saute them over a high heat, they release fluid. Keep sauteing and stirring until the mushroom juices evaporate.
Okay, getting close to being done. Here you see the lentils boiling on the stove. Bulgar is draining on the top right hand corner. Cooking bulgar is easy--you just pour boiling water over it, cover the pan for 15 minutes or so, and drain.
Here are the cooked lentils, pressed between paper towels to dry them out.
Here's everything going in the same pan, including a good-sized dollop of Vegenaise, a delicious vegan mayonaise available here in northeastern USA.
Here are the ultimate veggie burgers ready to be put in the freezer, and then stacked into bags:
Here are the patties frozen and awaiting my husband's brilliant grilling expertise. I promise a follow-up, showing the grill-master at work, since it happens so quickly, I need my camera ready.
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