veggie burger experiment.

i eat a lot of veggie burgers.  there's probably three to four boxes in the freezer right now.  i get anxious if the supply drops below two boxes.  i like to have a variety of choices; black bean and "chicken" patties are a necessity.
considering my near addiction to these easy meal makers, it's a wonder i waited so long to try my hand at making them from scratch.
i figure the best place to start is an attempt to replicate my favorite frozen burger flavor-black bean.
i would say that the outcome was positive.  on the next try, i will certainly bake the burgers longer, perhaps at a higher temperature.  they were a little soft on the inside for my tastes, but were otherwise delicious.


chipotle black bean burgers
adapted from veggie burgers every which way by lukas volger

3/4 c TVP (textured vegetable protein)
2/3 c boiling water
1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed (1 1/2 c)
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus 1 TBSP sauce
1/2 c frozen corn, thawed
juice of one lime
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp dried chile pepper flakes
1 cup cooked brown rice
3 TBSP whole wheat flour
3/4 c panko bread crumbs
2 TBSP oil

•preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
•reconstitute TVP by pouring boiling water over it.  let sit for 10 minutes.
•combine 1/2 cup black beans, garlic and the onion in a food processor and pulse until coarsely pureed.
•place remaining beans in a bowl and coarsely mash with a potato masher or a fork. add the bean-onion mixture to the mashed beans, and then gently fold in all the remaining ingredients. let stand for 10 minutes.
•shape into 6 burgers.
•in an oven safe sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.  add burgers and cook until browned on each side, 6-10 minutes total.  transfer pan to oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the burgers are firm and cooked through.

earthlings.

"as long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields"  leo tolstoy



for those who thought that food, inc. was a movie that everyone should watch, i would challenge that earthlings is twice as enlightening.  i suspect that earthlings didn't get as much attention as food, inc. because it is difficult to watch and shakes the curtain of ignorance; whether you don't know or don't want to know.

earthlings is an intellectual and comprehensive look at the five ways animals have come to serve mankind; as pets, food, clothing, entertainment and as test subjects.

(you can watch the entire movie from the website and it's available via netflix)

meatout.

if you weren't already aware, this weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the great american meatout. 
honestly, i am not doing anything special, mostly because i've been a vegetarian for about 20 years.  of the many types of vegetarianism, i adhere to a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.  i haven't knowingly eaten a meat product since freshman year of high school.  while i do consciously prepare vegan meals, i have never tried to completely convert to this type of diet.
as the years have passed and i've become a little less teenage angsty, being vegetarian has morphed into a normal part of my life.  i rarely point out this personal, ethical choice to others and am not on a mission to preach the vegetarian way of life.  the only times it is brought to my attention as out-of-the-ordinary is by non-vegetarians, which are most of the people in my daily life. 
my non-scientific observations suggest that the general public is a bit more educated about vegetarianism than it was two decades ago, but often people have a visceral reaction to meeting vegetarians.  i still get comments about how i can't possibly be getting enough protein.  (what am i, some kind of body builder?  this is one of my trigger statements as it shows people's lack of understanding of nutrition...or it suggests that they subscribe to that whole adkins phenomena.)
i can always tell when someone doesn't know many vegetarians (or perhaps they only know vigilant preachy ones?).  we can be eating together and they will ask, "does it offend you that i eat this [insert non-vegetarian food item here] in front of you?".  it does not offend me when other people eat meat, because it is only fair for me to assume that they made an educated decision to do so.  while i feel that eating a vegetarian diet is ethically and environmentally responsible, other people can (and do) disagree.
ultimately, it's important that people are aware of the impact of their choices.  my knowledge of the meat industry practices and it's inhumanity are too much for me to overlook.  i will not personally support those activities when i can eat satisfying, healthy and delicious meals without meat.
anyone else out there vegetarian?  do you ever get quizzed or lectured and if so, how do you deal with it?

a quick book review.

being a vegetarian for 20 years, i was looking forward to Melanie Joy, PhD's book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows and her concept of carnism.

in the book she writes: "we don't see meat eating as we do vegetarianism-as a choice, based on a set of assumptions about animals, our world and ourselves. rather, we see it as a given, the "natural" thing to do. we eat animals without thinking about what we are doing and why because the belief system that underlies this behavior is invisible. this invisible belief system is what I call carnism."

unfortunately, i felt that the carnism concept wasn't examined in enough depth. granted, it is a short book, under 150 pages when you remove the resources and bibliography but much of the book is composed of descriptions of slaughterhouse practices and the suffering of animals. while I feel this is important to be aware of, it is not something that hasn't been covered by other books (Animal Liberation by Peter Singer) and movies (Food, Inc.).

i liked what she had to say about how society justifies the eating of meat through myths. she calls these myths the "3 N's of Justification"; that eating meat is Normal, Natural and Necessary. she discusses how "carnists" are able to continue eating meat through the objectification and abstraction of animals, hence blocking feelings of disgust triggered by empathizing with animal suffering.

overall, i think this is a valuable book, but not one that covers any new ground.

no words.

please be forewarned that this is heart wrenching. do not watch if you're having a particularly emotional or otherwise sad day. as a vegetarian (not vegan) this triggers a mixture of guilt and rage for me...

erebus chili.

it's been a while since we took a hike with crosbi and we've been feeling bad about that. we decided to stay close to home and head up to what i still call knapp estate. it's a large parcel of land on the east side of lake george that the state of new york purchased from the knapp family around 1941.
we chose to hike erebus mountain. unfortunately, nothing of interest happened. except for the fact it rained. we aren't even sure we summited. here is one of the few good pictures we took.

a chilly and wet fall day screams for a bowl of chili, so there was no question what dinner would be.
here is my basic recipe, adapted over time from Robin Robertson's book, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. please note that when i say basic, i really mean it, as i change/add to it every time i make it.

29 ounce can of tomato puree
three 15 ounce cans of beans, drained and rinsed (i usually use black, garbanzo & kidney)
1 can chipotle in adobo sauce
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup frozen corn
3 fresh chile peppers, diced
3 TBSP vegetable oil
14 ounces Gimme Lean ground "beef" (or your choice of veggie "meat")
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
black pepper to taste
1/2-1 cup water

place the tomato puree in a slow cooker. add cumin, cayenne, paprika, allspice, black pepper and cinnamon. add two tablespoons of the adobo sauce and two diced chipotles. add beans and corn.

saute the onions, chile peppers and garlic in the vegetable oil for a few minutes over medium high heat. add the "beef" and saute for a few more minutes. if you use Gimme Lean then be sure it gets "chopped up" into small pieces. add to slow cooker.

set slow cooker to high and add 1/2 cup water. add more water to achieve desired thickness.

cook for 4+ hours.

can't beat that title...

i got this in the mail today and am very excited.

i may not be able to go completely vegan,

but i am making a concerted effort to have a few days each week be animal product-free.