Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Burgers n' Stuff

Even one of the local weather guys said it was going to be the first rain-free Memorial Day weekend in a hundred years. Yeh, it’s an exaggeration, and instead of rain it’s like a hundred degrees outside, but we are all about family tradition and were glad to be able to light up the grill on Memorial Day. And it actually DID rain at my house Monday morning!

A long time ago when I was shopping with my dad, I couldn’t decide between two items to purchase (can’t remember exactly what, something trivial) and after listening to me agonize long enough, he said “Do what I do, get both!” He was such a smart and practical man. I loved that he said that, and it makes sense to apply that advice to simple decision-making. In my case, spend a couple of extra bucks and save yourself hours of torment. While I wavered between two holiday burger recipes, I could hear him whispering to me, Make both! So I did. Certainly no food would be wasted, and bonus – leftovers for Chase AND me!

I thought Vegan Addict’s Blackeyed Pea Soul Burgers were outstanding and I really wanted to make them again. I used black beans this time, but basically kept the recipe the same. You can tell you’ve got good burgers when the patties are easy to form.




When I found this recipe for Caramelized Onion and Chickpea Burgers, it was practically irresistible. It would also allow me to come up with things other than the usual mustard, lettuce, and tomato for accoutrements. These patties came together nicely too. The recipe says they’re smaller because they’re so rich, but really they are huge! (Look, Aunt Sara, I'm using the platter you bought me - thanks again!)




I baked the bean burgers in the oven and cooked the chickpea burgers in the cast iron skillet.




I know, I got a little extra iron in a couple of my burgers, but I figure I can use it. And I may have mentioned before that Chase and I actually like burnt food. I think it’s from all the years of eating meat that we would only eat extra well done, which I’m sure is because we didn’t actually want to taste the meat! We were so brainwashed into thinking we couldn’t live without meat. Anyway, we grilled up 2 of each of the patties for dinner.

I made a sauce of Tofutti with cilantro, lemon juice, garlic for the chickpea burgers, and sliced some radish, cucumber, cilantro, tomato, and purple onion.


I made slaw too. Packaged broccoli slaw to which I added green onions, bell peppers, cilantro, and a mix of Italian and Asian dressings so it was spicy sweet. It was good on and alongside the burgers.



And I made a fresh fruit salad. It was awesome with apple, red grapes, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, pear, apricots, and mango.




It was too hot to make fries, so I bought sweet potato chips. Here’s our table.




Chase remembered to grill the buns too.


Here’s my bunless chickpea burger. I have never been able to find glutenfree vegan buns.




Here’s Chase’s monster chickpea burger. We both really really loved these.



I didn’t take a picture of the giant bean burger he ate too!


I may be confused with 4th of July, but I was sure you had to grill AND have ice cream on Memorial Day. I hadn’t had frozen banana ice cream in so long. Thanks to Dreena for reminding me to make her Cashew Banana Ice Cream from ED&BV. Of course I only had peanut butter on hand, but OMG this is soooo good! Chase had his unadorned.




I had mine with fruit.




Oh, and here’s a slice of the banana bread I made a couple of days ago. Another winner from Happy Herbivore!




What a fun, delicious, and satisfying dinner. I wish all weekends were three days long.....

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooh such yummy varieties you have of veggie burgers!!! Yum!! Summer is so exciting for grilling, I'm going to have to try making my own burgers one day. Mm.

Isn't Dreena's Banana Ice cream the best thing in the world?! I think it would be perfect with chocolate chips on top. =D

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Ahh, it rained all day here on Memorial Day - AND it was super humid :0( Oh well, haha.

Wow, all of those burger varieties are FABULOUS!!

Mmm, can't go wrong with a fresh fruit salad, ice 'cream,' and banana bread! :0)

Peggy said...

Those burgers look AMAZING! I'm going to have to bookmark that recipe!

Anonymous said...

Yay! I am so glad you enjoy those burgers! I made them for Memorial Day too, but with kidney beans instead. I think these are definitely the most versatile burgers ever! Never fail! Your slaw and fruit salads are so colorful. Vegan food is just too good.

Amy said...

Yum! I love burgers. I haven't had any for ages, I should try those black bean ones. They look awesome!

Anonymous said...

so funny, the only way I used to be able to have my meat back in the days was to have it burnt to the point it was black! I thought I was the only one.

Anonymous said...

You always have the most delicious looking food! Now I've got veggie burgers on my mind...

Anonymous said...

Those burgers look incredible! And, I agree with you. You need burgers AND ice cream on Memorial day :)

Erin said...

Hehe, Chase's burger is hilariously large, there's no way he fit it in his mouth. Both the burgers look really tasty, I'm copying the black eyed pea recipe to hopefully try. And I love the dish your fixings are in. All around a really nice holiday grilling meal!

Lovlie said...

Hmmm so much yummy goodness! The burgers look great making me very hungry!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Those burgers look great. I like my burgers charred on the barbeque. Lovely! Your slaw would be the perfect side dish to serve with them :)

JENNA said...

i want one of Chase's monster chickpea burgers! they look amazing.

jessy said...

WOW! that all looks AMAZING! and broccoli slaw = my fav! yay!

Unknown said...

I completely, 100% love you.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I've had the recipe for Vegan Addict’s Blackeyed Pea Soul Burgers posted up on my fridge for a month now; I even thought about making them for Memorial Day, but then ran out of time. But someday I will get around to making them-- they look so good!

Ruby Red said...

They should make it a law for all weekends to be three days!

Whoa, you had an excellent and healthy Memorial Day feast! I love that you ended up taking the dad's advice and making both burgers -- they sound especially good with all the fixins you prepared. Chase's burger really is a monster!

I have been fantasizing about Dreena's ice cream recipe too, and I also only have PB. I did actually freeze a banana today in hopes of either making that particular ice cream or a PB-banana smoothie. It's so great that ice cream weather is here!

Catherine Weber said...

Amen to that! I wish all weekends were three days long, too! (I'd even be willing to work four 10-hour days to make it happen!)

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

wow! this looks like the very best meal ever. those burgers look just perfect.

urban vegan said...

Gorgeous burgers and such pretty, colorful photos--reflecting all the healthy, varied phytochemicals you get in your diet.

bazu said...

Yay for your dad's advice- pretty smart words, and in this case, pretty delicious-looking results! I love your burgers, they do both look amazing. That photo of the fixins looks so beautiful and elegant- I could stare at it for ages!

Anonymous said...

Your spread looks fabulous--would love both those burgers. And clearly I must try Dreena's ice cream--I've read about it lots lately. Glad you had a good weekend (ah, we really should always have those 3-day weekends!).

Sheree' said...

YOur burgers look wonderful. I am gong to make them this weekend and use my new VEGAN grill from my DH. OH, I have to agree about the banana bread, it is the best!!!

Anonymous said...

So, you never said, after all the agonizing, which burger did you prefer?

Vegan_Noodle said...

Right now I'm definitely wishing it was another three day weekend....

I made burgers last Monday too, but didn't turn out as good as yours! I'll have to mark those recipes for the 4th! Do you have an ice cream machine? I'm thinking now is the time to invest in one...

Simple and Divine said...

These (http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog/schar-classic-glutenfree-rolls-hamburger-buns-p-1031.html) gluten free vegan hamburger buns = awesome!!! I'm not gluten free but have had them and they did NOT dissapoint!

Simple and Divine said...

-PS- They're best heated or toasted!