It's ALL vegetable, baby

It's been one heck of a busy but awesome week. For not working, I sure am working a lot. I'm starting up my business officially as Find Your Balance Health Counseling and Yoga. Like I mentioned before, the site will be up soon but until then all my blog posts will remain here on Blogger. (Conveniently, because you are already here.) And at the end of this post there is an invitation for all of you in the Boston area to come to my new Sunday Cooking Club and some info about an awesome yoga retreat with my friend Lauren.

Despite all the work, I've made time to cook. Max really loved these burgers, declaring them the best thing I ever made. Wait, what? What about my homemade raviolis? My soups, my cookies? Well, I have to agree these were amazing. I ran across the recipe on Gourmet magazine's website, but of course changed a few things to keep costs down.

The biggest change I made was to serve the patties over whole rye instead of sandwiching on rye bread. Call me crazy but it worked out great, and sauerkraut was a perfect match to round out the meal. You might look at this and say, "Hey Michelle, Miss Health Counselor, where's the vegetable?" And I will tell you, it's ALL vegetable, baby.

Mushroom Kasha Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise
adapted from Gourmet Magazine
For rye:
2 cups whole rye kernels
4 cups water
1 sheet nori, finely cut with scissors
olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tamari and S+P to taste

For burgers:
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup coarse kasha (whole roasted buckwheat groats)
8 oz portabella mushrooms, including stems
24 oz. white mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red cabbage
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon tamari
1 and 1/2 cups panko or breadcrumbs, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup ghee, butter or olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Tabasco chipotle sauce, or any spicy sauce you have
1 cup sauerkraut

1. Optional but recommended: Soak rye in a bowl of water overnight with a splash of vinegar. Drain and rinse before cooking.

2. Add rye to a pot with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 1 hour. While you wait, prepare the burgers.

3. Bring water to a boil in small pot, then stir in kasha. Cover and reduce heat to low, then cook until kasha is tender and water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool.

4. Break mushrooms/portabellas into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, then transfer to a bowl. You may want to do this in batches.

5. Cook onion and red cabbage in butter in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 min. Add chopped mushroom mixture, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, then stir in kasha, parsley, tamari, and 1/2 cup panko. Mix well. Cool 10 minutes, then stir in egg until combined.

6. Get a cookie sheet ready. Put remaining 1 cup bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.

7. Form mushroom mixture into a 3/4-inch-thick patties (3 1/2 inches in diameter), then dredge in panko, knocking off excess, and transfer to cookie sheet. Chill patties in refrigerator for about 1 hour.

8. Heat ghee in cleaned skillet over medium-high heat, then fry patties, turning over once, until deep golden, about 4 minutes total. (You can also use oil but I prefer ghee which has a higher smoking point and creates less drama with the fire alarm). Carefully transfer patties to dishes or a platter. They will be soft, but if they crumble its ok, they still taste good!

7. Meanwhile, whisk together mayonnaise and chipotle sauce. Add oil, vinegars and seasoning to the rye once it's done cooking and stir well. Serve burgers over rye with chipotle mayo on top and sauerkraut on the side.
Serves about 4.

Ok, onto the invitation for all of you in the Boston area! I am going to start hosting a Sunday Cooking Club, held once per month. The upcoming dates are April 5th and May 3rd. If you are interested check out http://findyourbalancehealth.com/sundaycookingclub.

And you are all invited to check out my friend Lauren's yoga retreat for June 25th - June 28th. It will be held in New Hampshire at Newfound Lake. If you'd like more details see her website or contact Lauren at info@laurenegavian.com.