Sunday, August 2, 2009

Elly's Idea of a Burger

Elly and I are interested in vegetable gardening, and we've had a few over the years. Some have been more successful than others. This year, our tomatoes have overrun the whole garden (yes we planted too many!). The plants are well over six feet high. It has been cool and wet this summer, however, and tomatoes prefer hot and dry summers. As a result, we keep getting more and more growth, and more and more green tomatoes. Few are ripening.


The solution? Fried green tomatoes, naturally. :-)

Our favorite recipe comes from Deborah Madison. It's simple to prepare, involving only a small amount of corn meal, and pan frying with ghee (a clarified butter used in Indian cooking). The result is spectacular. At least, we think so.

Basie, it turns out, is not a fan of cooking that involves sizzling, smoke, or the exhaust hood on our cooktop. His opinion on the matter emerged quite suddenly. One day, we fired up the indoor grill. An instant later he went sailing over the puppy gate like a gazelle, clearing it by a good 12 inches and heading for a remote region of our home. (He had never previously jumped over it.) He's shown here watching the green tomato proceedings from a safe distance.

Traditional burgers are off the menu for Elly, who is a vegetarian. However, we have discovered Morning Star Chipotle Black Bean Burgers at Costco. They are hands down the tastiest veggie burgers we have tried. So here is Elly's idea of a burger, served with sauteed mushrooms on a bed of lettuce with a side of fried green tomatoes. Quick and easy to prepare, and nothing short of fabu. I had the same thing and loved every bite.

1 comment:

Cedarwaxwing said...

You're making me hungry. I love fried green tomatoes and that veggie burger looks delicious. I'll have to pick them up next time I'm at Costco. (considering going mostly vegetarian myself these days)