Camps, Weddings, Subs and Burgers

All eyes are on Rhinebeck, New York, this morning.  Today Chelsea Clinton gets married in that historical little town. Mitch went to summer camp in Rhinebeck (Boiberik) and that camp, has since, become the Omega Institute.  I went away to volunteer at a camp for kids with Muscular Dystrophy when I was 15.  That was also in Rhinebeck.  It's the town my appendix ruptured in!  Needless to say, Mitch and I both have some attachments to that small town, where in 2000 the census reported only a little over 3,000 residents.  A beautiful town should make for a beautiful wedding.  Congrats to Chelsea, her soon to be hubby, and their families.

Last night I had enough uncooked veggies left from the night before to make another veggie sub.  I not only grilled the veggies directly on the grill (instead of on a rack) but also sprayed the cut in half sub roll with olive oil and grilled it for a few seconds, too.  Mitch threw together some wasabi and soy sauce for his 4 skewered shrimps, and he suggested I try dipping my sub in the sauce.  Good suggestion.  My simple sub morphed into a very tasty "Asian Grilled Veggie Supreme."  YUM!

Here's the recipe for the veggie/bean burgers I made Thursday night.  This recipe is courtesy of Guy Fieri.  He uses an egg to bind the ingredients.  I did not subsititute anything for the egg, I simply deleted it.  I did NOT have any problem binding the ingredients without the egg.  A bit more moisture might have been ok, perhaps adding just a drop of something like tomato sauce but once they were topped with lettuce, tomato and condiments, they were not dry at all, so if I were to make them again, I would do them the exact same way, again just deleting the egg.  They were enjoyed equally by the vegans and the non.  Try em and let me know what you think.  Though it looks like a lot of work, most of the ingredients are spices!  The beans and veggies mashed up very easily with my hands and the whole process did not take very long.

Morgan's Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

• 2 ounces olive oil

• 3 tablespoons diced red onion

• 2 tablespoons diced black olives

• 2 tablespoons diced red bell peppers

• 1 teaspoon diced jalapeno

• 1 1/2 tablespoons diced garlic

• 1 tablespoon diced artichoke

• 4 ounces black beans, drained

• 4 ounces chickpeas, drained

• 4 ounces white beans, drained

• 6 ounces rolled oats

• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage

• 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs

• 1 egg

Directions