Long Live Orange Marmalade

June 6 - Today’s meal: veggie burgers. The verdict: SO GOOD. Brenda, a self-proclaimed veggie burger enthusiast, says they were the best veggies burgers she's ever had. The surprise ingredient that changed everything: orange marmalade.

I got the recipe for these burgers from Diet for the Mind by Martha Clare Morris, so it was not only delicious, but fairly healthy. Like many other veggie burgers, it had black beans, egg, and various veggies, but it also called for brown rice, which added a nice grainy crunch to the burger when cooked. Once assembled, we chilled the patties in the freezer for a half hour before cooking, which definitely helped to keep them formed together. After a quick few minutes on each side in a sauté pan, the burgers were golden and ready to eat. This is where the orange marmalade came into play, used as a sauce on top. I swear to you, I know it sounds weird, but it’s a game changer. Add it to a veggie burger sometime and you’ll be converted for good.

Along with the burgers, we ate an arugula salad, also from Morris’ book, filled with pistachios, radishes, and covered in a homemade orange dressing. It was not objectively bad for sure, and in fact I really did enjoy the dressing, but this part of the meal fell a bit flat for me, and I doubt I’d make it again. We were a bit overwhelmed with arugula, and would've been better off chopping up the nuts.

To top it all off, Brenda also put together orange slices with olive oil and black pepper, a trick she has learned about in her time in Italy (a trip her and my mom will never let me forget about). All in all, these veggies burgers did not disappoint, and we finished our meals happy and filled with orange flavors. A successful first week of the summer!

#food #dinner #cooking #veggieburgers #recipe #salad #cherrytable