Sunday in the Kitchen

The first thing on the agenda today was to use up some mushy bananas before they went completely bad. I found this recipe for "Banana Breakfast Bars" and thought that sounded like a good idea, because we've gotten used to having baked goods of some sort for our weekday breakfasts. Once I started mixing them up, though, it was pretty clear they are basically just dessert. That's okay, though; they're tasty and they DO contain bananas and ground flaxseed, so that's healthy enough for me.

While those were in the oven, I made Vegan Diner's Great Smoky Mountain Cheeze. I made a faux goat-style cheese once before from cashews and was underwhelmed; this stuff, however, kind of blew my mind. It tastes just like the kind of cheese spread you'd get in a Hickory Farms gift basket. I was very pleasantly surprised and will be eating this stuff all week on sandwiches for lunch.

Then this happened.

Oops! Our big 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup shattered all over the kitchen - and I do mean ALL over. It was behind the computer desk, in the fruit bowl, in the garbage disposal, etc. Disaster! And a real bummer, because we use that thing all the time. Oh, well. The cats were extremely interested in the (extensive) clean-up process.

So, after all that, here is my dinner. I made veggie burgers ("Incrediburgers", from American Vegan Kitchen), the first time I've made a non-bean-based veggie burger from scratch. The main ingredients are TVP and vital wheat gluten, plus about a dozen different spices and herbs, and then they're steamed for an hour to firm up. When you're ready to eat, you can grill or cook them stovetop or even bake them. I did these in a skillet because it's too hot to go outside. Anyway, I was VERY impressed with the burger. I've been toying around with the idea of getting The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet and now I definitely will. I'm excited to try other ingredients and flavor combinations. The good thing about veggie burgers is that they freeze well, so even if they're a pain to put together, it always makes enough for two or even three meals, since there are only 2 of us McClures.

I also made a side dish of sauteed coriander-flavored mushrooms with cherry tomatoes. I'm usually sort of lazy about vegetable sides but I'm going to start trying to mix it up a little.

I put avocado and the smoky mountain cheese on the burger, along with lettuce and ketchup. It was great! A really perfect summer dinner.