veggies to burgers

I've seen a lot of lists of things parents should never say to kids.  The old adage "don't play with your food" should be on that list.  I mean, I don't think my parents ever had to scold me about that because I was always too busy reminding myself to chew before swallowing, but isn't the reason why we have so many delicious choices due to people who play with food?

Play with veggies.

Inspiration

Fun Food and Frolic

Minimalist Baker

The Kitchn

The Kitchen Whisperer

Euphoric Vegan

Natural Comfort Kitchen

Every so often I just want a giant veggie burger.  Vegetables are one of those all-of-nothing things for me.  I get wildly carried away when trying to create meals centered around one veg... can't be done.  Maybe I learned from my dad, but the correct answer to "What would you like on your sandwich?" has always been "All of it."

So after getting carried away during one of my monthly Woodman's trips, I spent a night washing and chopping and baking and sauteeing and mushing and mixing to turn 80% of my groceries into patties

...and made use of them weeks later.

I really should've kept track of what went into the mix, but that's the thing about versatile things like veggie burgers.  Put in anything and everything.

Beet patty - a base of beet (of course) and refried beans (because the can was taking up space on our condiments lazy Susan for too long) with garlic and Italian herbs like oregano and thyme.  Bound with panko.

Eaten on sweet potato bun with cucumber carrot slaw* and panko crusted asparagus fries.

Mushroom patty - base of sauteed mushrooms, quinoa, and those refried beans again with garlic and garam masala and probably other spices.

Eaten also on sweet potato bun with confit red peppers and oozy fried egg.
It was kind of a mess after just one bite.  This is the importance of having a good binder.

Which is why I ate the rest of my dozen patties smashed into a slice of sandwich bread with more slaw and cilantro dressing amongst other sauces and things.

Cheers to the end of my first summer in Madison and summer things like trying to spot Jupiter from the roof of the Children's museum, log rolling (record = 7s, woo), camping...once, and picnics (classy Capitol concerts, Epic, or otherwise).

*cucumber carrot slaw

1 cucumber, ribbons

1 carrot, julienned

1/4c rice wine vinegar

1/4c white vinegar

several sprigs dill

1/8 c sugar

1 t salt

boil vinegars with sugar and salt

pour over cucumber ribbons and carrots with dill