Nothing Beats A Good Burger ...

Hello again, Gnawers!  Happy Friday to you.  I want to start by saying thank you for all of the messages I got from several of you after last night's post.  You opened your hearts, shared your stories, and truly inspired me to keep doing what I am doing.  Thank you for taking the time to write to me.  I appreciate it more than you know.  I have still been a bit down today.  I just haven't been feeling well since Tuesday and that always affects my mood.  I had a high fever this morning and have just continued to feel sort of out of it.  I am hoping that a lot of good rest this weekend will get me back up to speed.  The good news is that I had no urges to run to food for comfort today.  In fact, my body was craving the good healthy stuff.  That is exactly what I gave it!

I started the morning with a "green" smoothie to try and pump my body full o' vitamins and nutrients.  I call this one "Simply Strawberry".  I can't help it ... I was born with this creativity (note sarcasm).

Simply Strawberry Green Smoothie


Ingredients:

• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2 tablespoons flaxseeds
• 3 cups fresh organic baby spinach 
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Preparation Instructions:

• Blend until smooth.
• Serve and enjoy!!!

Dinner was just what the doctor ordered.  Seeing as how I am technically a doctor, I can order anything I want ... which works out quite well if you ask me.  Anyway, this doctor ordered a giant burger.  No, no, no ... I did not fall off the deep end.  In fact, I actually jumped head first into the pool of healthy vegan recipes once again.  

Tonight, I adapted a recipe for Olive Lentil Burgers that I found on the Post Punk Kitchen website.  I've said it before and I'll say it again ... it is a pretty awesome website.  Anyway,  a good burger was exactly what I was craving.  These babies did the trick.  I can't even tell you how delicious and satisfying these burgers were.  I mean, good Lord ... they were AWESOME.  I felt like I was cheating or eating something that just had to be horrible for me ... but I wasn't.  They were divine.  I will be making these again for sure. I feel quite confident I could get away with making them for my non-veggie, non-vegan pals too.  They were that good.  I ate mine like a typical American burger.  I topped it with a little vegan cheese (Diaya brand), tomato, red onion, lettuce, dill pickle slices, Vegenaise, and ketchup.  I didn't have any sprouted grain burger buns, so I used lightly toasted Ezekiel bread.  It was a plate full of gluttonous goodness ... healthy gluttonous goodness that is...  YUM.  I am stuffed. 

Olive Lentil Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• garlic salt to taste
• 1 large yellow onion, diced 
• 1/2 pound baby portabella mushrooms, sliced thinly or in chunks
• 6 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press or finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives (plus a little bit, maybe 2 tablespoons, of the juice they are in)
• 1 15 oz. can cooked lentils, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups gluten-free breadcrumbs, divided (I like Glutino brand)
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed 
• organic olive oil cooking spray

Preparation Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Preheat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add oil, garlic salt, and onion and sauté for about 5 minutes (until onions are getting soft).

3.  Add mushrooms, garlic, black pepper, thyme, and tarragon.  Sauté for 7-10 minutes until mushrooms are cooked.

4.  While mushrooms are cooking, put kalamata olives with a little bit of the juice in food processor or VitaMix.  Pulse or process at low speed until the olives are chopped (but not pureed).  Remove and set aside.  You do not need to clean the food processor or VitaMix before the next step.

 5.  Once mushrooms are cooked, add mushroom mixture to the food processor or VitaMix.  Add lentils, soy sauce, and lemon juice to food processor or VitaMix.  Also add 1 cup of the breadcrumbs (saving the other cup for next step).  Pulse or blend until mostly smooth, but make sure there is still a little texture/chunkiness.  

6.  Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining 1 cup of breadcrumbs, ground flaxseed, and chopped olives.  Stir and mix very well.

7.  Divide burger mix into 6 equal parts.  The best way to do that is to divide it in half and then cut each half into three equal portions.  I did this right in the bowl. 

8.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.  

9.  Form burger mixture into patties with your hands and place on baking sheet.  Spray with a little more cooking spray.   

10.  Place patties in oven and cook for 15 minutes.

11.  Flip burgers with spatula after 15 minutes, spray again with cooking spray, and put back in the oven for additional 10-15 minutes, or until nicely browned.

12.  Serve on sprouted grain kaiser rolls, toasted sprouted grain bread, or alone.  Garnish with your favorite burger toppings and ENJOY!!!

Mmmmmmmmmm.  So good.  I do have to admit that I did have one thing on the "no no" list tonight.  I broke down and had a diet coke with my burger.  I haven't had diet coke since January 1st.  It was calling my name and it didn't seem right to have a burger without one (or a beer, and the diet coke seemed like the lesser of two evils).  My bad.  I believe in all things in moderation, so I am not going to beat myself up over it.  I used to drink like 4 diet cokes a day!  Having one after nearly 2 months of none is really not a big deal.  :)

Well, that is all from me for tonight, Gnawers!  Thank you so much again for your messages, comments, support, and for continuing to read day after day!  I hope that you all have had good weeks and that you have some fun and/or restful weekend plans.  Until next time ... take good care of you!!!