Hello friend.
There are so many choices these days….. bean burgers, bean and walnut burgers, and if we are talking about fast food, Burger King has genetically modified (created in a lab) Hume burgers called Impossible Burgers, which friends have told me makes their stomachs growl, making it Impossible to eat, lol (ingredients) while Carl’s Junior has the Pea Protein burgers called Beyond Meat (ingredients). I vote for Beyond Beef. I would much rather eat Pea Protein than SOY.
So let me have you cast your eyes on my at home ‘junk food’ meal. And if you’re thinking that’s not enough food, remember: your stomach is the size of your fist. Nice to also know, (as Tony Robbins puts it), this meets the criteria of 75% of your plate containing veggies. Whoo hoo! We might actually lose weight with this meal! lol
Ok. Back to the burger. It’s that round thing on the right. Not pictured the best, but I wanted you to get the idea of the meal. (Ralph’s usually sells them for $5.99 for two, Smart & Final has them for $4.99 for two).
You cook them 3 – 4 minutes each side on a grill or your stovetop. It still looks pink in the middle. And it smells great!
I think the key to have a great meal at home is what you are doing with everything but the burger. They do it right so you can cook it right and just leave it alone.
Now let’s get to everything else in the picture: coleslaw, a great bun, lettuce and pickles. And not shown here, sugar free organic tomato sauce or some nice sliced tomatoes – or both!
Lately I’ve been eating Dave’s Killer Bread, Bagels, and Buns. So that’s what I went with. And grilled with grilled marks, that was great!
Here’s another heavier version of that same meal. I added potatoes and
sweet potato French fries done in the oven (olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika). On this one, you get to really see the bun.
Bubbies Dill Sour Pickles. It absolutely has to be Bubbies. Slice it more on an angle than not.
Next — grilling onions. What flavor! Don’t forget what I told you in other blogs …. if you don’t want gray onions, cook them on high heat first, get a little crisp going then turn it down to medium for the rest of the ‘grill’. Since we want to get it brown, because brown is flavor, no salt until the end. Salt draws the water out of an onion.
One more thing about onions …. ever cut open an onion and it looks old? The rings are way too wide? And it’s way too sharp? Cut and soak them in water with ice cubes. You will be amazed at how they smell and taste (way better).
Ok. Let’s take a look at my coleslaw. Here are the KEYS: Both flavor and technique. I took a cabbage and thinly sliced it up, cutting here and there for long but shorter strips. Then I took fennel (yes fennel) and thinly sliced that in. So that’s half a green cabbage and one whole fennel. Really thin strips. Then, I took a peeler and took my baby carrots and cut them into tiny strips adding one by one, until it looked right. Some carrot, but cabbage dominating.
Now, how about the flavor? Simple. Equal parts vegan mayo and horseradish broken up with two or three pours round the bowl of apple cider vinegar. Salt. Pepper. Mix, refrigerate then eat.
So that gives you our and now your junk meal at home. Give yourself and your family both a break and a treat. The most important part? Lots of different flavor profiles. Very satisfying.
Knock that ball out of the park!
Happy Healthy Eating,
