Deep Spirits

One week into this journey, and I hit my first major meat craving. Fortunately I long since learned to handle stuff like that; instead of focusing on what I cannot have, I go through the list of what i can have until something sounds good. In this case, a double-handful of sunflower seeds. Whatever it is my body was asking for must have been in those seeds 'cause I heard myself making happy sounds as I munched through them! More to the point, the craving felt satisfied.

In other news, I did make one hysterically funny mistake. Apparently at some point I left a bottle of my favorite salad dressing out a bit too long before returning it to the refrigerator. It's pretty strong stuff, so I didn't notice a significant difference in taste when I used it the other day...until I noticed that I was giggling and oddly lightheaded. Apparently, the dressing had fermented. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I got drunk on SALAD DRESSING.

That takes talent.

Ingredients

2 Cups Black beans, cooked, rinsed and drained
1 Cup Brown rice, cooked
½ Cup Oatmeal, dry
2 Lg Eggs, lightly beaten
½ Tsp Garlic salt
½ Tsp Fresh cracked black pepper
½ Tbsp Olive oil
4 Each Whole wheat hamburger buns
4 Leaves Lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1 Cup Salsa
½ Cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1. Place black beans in a medium bowl and slightly mash some of them with a fork or potato masher, leaving about half of them whole.
2. Stir in the rice, oatmeal, eggs, garlic salt, and fresh black pepper. Mix well to incorporate. Then divide the mixture into 4 even portions, shaping into 1-inch thick patties.
3. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat and brown the patties for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and heated through.
4. Place each patty on the bottom portion of each bun, then top each with ¼ cup of the salsa, 2 tablespoons of the Gorgonzola cheese, and add lettuce and tomato to the top half of the bun.

Thanks, Sabina! Those look great and will be taste-tested in the very near future. Please hank your chef friend for me as well.

And yes, the salad dressing incident was entertaining. Of all the bizarre ways to become intoxicated!