Another Bean Patty

Veggie patty with lettuce and avocado salad and marinara-olive oil dressing.

It's a full week. I have to concentrate on one thing at a time so I don't get dizzy and silly wishing I had a staff. Servants would be nice. Tomorrow the tree trimmers are coming. Saturday I'm going to a lecture in the morning. Saturday afternoon 3 fine lady athletes will grace my home, share a meal and spend the night. Sunday morning they are off to run a race in Malibu and I will head north for a calmer hike with the CA Native Plant Society along the beach. In between I have stuff.

It was my plan to dust off my lawn mower and hit the weeds in the backyard this afternoon in preparation for the tree trimmers. I am not exaggerating when I tell you the weeds are knee high in my backyard. I've been working on the romantic idea that I could hire a couple of goats from the local 4-H-ers to take care of the weeds and with perfect timing a 4-H lady returned my call this morning and gave me hope. She gave me a list of people to call who might be able to help me. It was a good excuse to put the lawn mowing idea out of my head. I made 3 more goat calls, leaving messages each time. Just before dark, I got a call from a knowledgeable woman, owner of 30 goats, who explained to me that a goat in my backyard was not at all what I envisioned. She lead me to the truth. So never mind a goat or a sheep. I will continue to pull weeds. I am stubbornly refusing to use chemicals. And the tree trimmers will be wading through the weeds tomorrow. Oh dear.

I was craving a veggie burger and remembered a recipe I posted a couple of months ago. I dug it out and realized that I was missing a few ingredients. No time for marketing today. I would improvise. It was delicious. I served it with spinach, lettuce, parsley greens, 1/2 an avocado and a dressing I made with Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce, a little salt and olive oil. After taking the picture, I poured the dressing over everything.

Bean and Seed Vegan Burger

1 Tbls vegetable oil

1/2 Cup diced onion

1/2 Cup shredded carrot

Caramelize vegetables in a small frying pan. Cool.

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sunflower seeds - ground

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 Tbls flax seed ground in a coffee grinder

1 Tbls corn starch

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

15.5 oz garbanzo beans, mashed

Combine everything in a bowl. Add juice from the garbanzo beans if you need more liquid. The mixture should hold together when you form the patties.

Fry in a little oil, 7 minutes each side at med low heat.

The Dressing

1 part Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce, 1 part olive oil, salt to taste. Shake it up.