The Current State of the Food Industry

If you are an omnivore, a carnivore, a vegetarian, a vegan, a locavore, or really if you ever eat anything, ever, you should watch this:


http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html


Mark Bittman a food journalist and writer most well known for his weekly column in the New York Times (on Wednesdays) and his cookbooks.

Ginger Goodness

There are a few things that, if I only had myself to please, would probably sneak their way into every dish I ever made. Cilantro is first, vanilla a close second, and flax seed can be third (the latter for the omega threes, not for the taste). Garlic would be an obvious fourth pick, but I don't think that putting garlic in everything is at all unique (as it's in practically every dish out there, though to be fair I like it in significantly higher amounts that most recipes call for).

But ginger, now ginger deserves to be in every dish. It's cheap, it lasts a long time without refrigeration, and it's fun to chop. And it tastes great (at least when cooked. I am able to eat it raw, but it's not really something I particularly enjoy. Though it's easier to eat raw than garlic, which is not a pleasant experience, either for you or the next twenty people you talk to).

And one of my favorite ways to eat ginger is the pickled ginger you get at sushi restaurants. When I eat at a sushi restaurant (like at my favorite place in Cleveland), I ask for extra ginger when the first sushi plate comes, as in, before I've even eaten a single piece of the ginger they give you. I know it's a little low class, to ask for more ginger when I haven't even finished the ginger on the plate, but I love pickled ginger enough that I let myself do it anyway.

I've been thinking for a while now that, if I love pickled ginger so much, why not make some myself? Aha, ask and ye shall be answered. So I tried it. It was super easy. Though to be fair, most pickling is pretty easy. But if you like pickled sushi ginger, you should try this too.


Pickled Ginger

Ingredients

Ginger root
Rice Wine Vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

The amount of each of these depends on how much vinegar there is, which depends on how much you are pickling, which depends on how much you chopped, so basically it's all by feel. I think it's hard to screw up, and after a few attempts at picking you get a sense for it. (If you need a recipe, try this one. Note that it advocates an overnight soak, which might be beneficial, but does nothing for sterilization, which is dangerous from a getting-deathly-ill perspective. Also, don't be fooled by this blog, which despite being named Ginger and Pickles, is about neither ginger nor pickling.)


Start by chopping your ginger. Yay getting to chop! Chopping if so fun when you have a fancy knife that your awesome sister got your for your birthday last year. Especially when it's really sharp. I just bought a knife sharpener for $4 on amazon so my knives are crazy sharp.



You don't actually have to chop it that thin (though you can) but the thicker the slices are, the longer it will need to sit in the jar before you can eat it so the vinegar can get all the way through. So thinner is probably better.



Now, I'm not a big waster of anything, including vinegar (especially rice wine vinegar), so my method is to add whatever I'm picking to the picking jar, then to add vinegar so I get the amount needed to cover it exactly right.





Pour the vinegar out into a saucepan. You also have to get the ginger back out so you can sterilize the jar. Here's the jar sterilizing:




I usually just add water to a saucepan so that it's more than halfway up the jar when its on its side and then start to boil it, and rotate it every few minutes. I guess in theory you're supposed to cover it completely, but I don't see the need.


Meanwhile, add the salt and pepper and sugar to the vinegar.

Then boil the vinegar. It should be on a lower flame than the sterilization water (to make sure the jar is ready before the vinegar boils). Once the jar is sterilized, use the tongs (which you also sterilized) to pour out the water and put it right-side up in the boiling water. You also can reduce the heat.

Add the ginger to the jar. When the vinegar just starts to boil, pour it into the jar. Here's me using the (sterilized) tongs to push down the ginger.



Since you already measured the exact amount of vinegar needed, it will just cover the ginger. Yay not being wasteful!


Next, and last step, sneak the top onto the jar (use those tongs!) and seal it off using a dish towel (it will be hot!). Turn the flame back to high and get that water boiling.






Let it sit for at least 10 minutes. When the liquid inside the jar is steaming (I think you're supposed to let it boil, but I personally think steaming is hot enough) you know it's all sterilized in there, so you can turn off the heat and remove the jar from the saucepan. Let it cool on your counter for a bit of time, and then put it in the fridge. And now to test your will power! To be honest, waiting a week is probably enough, but the longer you let it sit, the better it will be.

For this batch, I waited 2 weeks before cracking it open. And when I did...

Homemade Veggie Burgers

Summer is finally here (or is it Spring?), which means a major shift to social events centered around...a grill. Cookouts can be a little stressful (and also a little lonely) when you don't eat red meat. If I'm going to an outdoor party, I usually pray that the host has purchased some Boca burgers so I don't get stuck eating tomato slices and lettuce with mustard on top (much as I like that combo...no seriously). But though I enjoy the occasional Boca, I wanted to try out a veggie burger recipe to see if I could make something a little tastier and perhaps with less salt (which is high in most store-bought veggie burgers). I recently happened upon a black bean and beet veggie burger recipe and decided to try it, with a few tweaks here and there. And the result was a winner - great taste, lots of spice, and tons of protein and fiber, and almost no fat or sugar to speak of.



Lentil Black Bean Burgers

makes 3 burgers
adapted from http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/restaurant-reproductions/restaurant-reproduction-bestever-veggie-burgers-from-northstar-cafe-096967

1/4 cup brown rice
1 onion, diced small
1 cooked large red beet (about 1/2 pound), or 1/2 cup canned beets, mashed with a fork
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs cider or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup black beans, presoaked
1/4 cup lentils
juice from 1/4 lemon
1/2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and pepper (to taste)

Add the lentils and presoaked beans and add them to a saucepan with a good amount of boiling water. Reduce the flame to low and simmer until tender, usually 20-25 minutes.

I really enjoy cooking with lentils because they afford all of the protein and fiber of beans but don't require an overnight soak, so I added them to this recipe. Note that neither is a complete protein (nor is rice). But I also kept in the black beans for flavor. I did the lentils and beans in separate pots but in retrospect I don't see why you couldn't do them together. You can also see advice on cooking with lentils here (I didn't know that older lentils take longer to cook!). Here are the lentils floating around in the water.




Add just over 1/2 cup water to a saucepan and add the rice. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. It's important to note that brown rice, with all of its fiber and whole grain goodness, takes longer to cook than white rice. However, if you make it a little underdone for these burgers, it actually adds some nice texture to the burgers.

While I waited, I ate an orange.


It was a really good orange. (Health link: does Vitamin C make your cold last less time?)

Next, heat the olive oil (or cooking spray if you prefer) in a frying pan and add the onion. Saute until brown.

Here are the pre-chopped veggies:




And post chopping:




Here's the onion in the pan:




Mmm, browning:




Add the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes.

Sadly, there were no fresh beets at the grocery store, so I had to go with canned. I mashed the beets with a fork, and found that worked better than dicing. Add the beats and, a few minutes later, the garlic. When it is sufficiently cooked, remove from heat.

Here's everything in the pan together:




Next, put the lentils and black beans into a bowl, and mash them with the same fork you mashed the beets with.

Add the rice and the veggie mix and keep mashing. Then add the olive oil (important for holding it together, but can be left out to cut the fat to virtually zero), the lemon juice (fresh if possible!), the vinegar, and mix it around. Add the spices, salt, and pepper, and adjust to taste. Feel free to add more red pepper flakes for more kick. Now, add about 1.5 Tbs of whole wheat flour to the mix and stir it around. You probably need to add more flour than this - I actually wish I had added more, because it would have made it congeal better when cooking - and in the end it should be pretty thick.

Here's what it looks like:




Respray the now empty frying pan with cooking spray and put it back on the heat. Using your hands, make patties from the bean/veggie mix and when the pan is hot, add them to the pan. Cook on medium for 6-8 minutes per side. When it turns, it should look nice and crisp:




Interestingly, with the red from the beets they almost look like ground beef.


When the patties are done, put it on a piece of multigrain bread and top it with tomato, onion, mushrooms, relish, lettuce, ketchup (now corn syrup free?!) or whatever else you like and there's your veggie burger! I used tomato, onion (from the unused half), and sauted some mushrooms to throw on top too. Add your favorite condiments and enjoy! Mmmmm protein!