Veggie Burgers

I remember my first veggie burger.  I was at a local chain restaurant in Columbus, Ohio and it was delicious!  I have been hooked on them ever since.  Oh, don’t get me wrong…I still love a good beef or turkey burger, but these are pretty yummy and much easier. 

Last night – we decided to introduce the boy to the wonder of the veggie burger.  We already know that he goes bonkers (in delight) over the veggie sausage patties, so I didn’t think that this would be a very big leap.  My husband sautéed some onions and green peppers in a skillet and then added the burgers on top of them when they were about halfway done.  He covered the skillet and let them all steam and cook together.  He flipped the burgers and then cooked the other side in the same way.  This really keeps them from getting too dry.  When they are just about done, he puts all the onions and peppers to the side and puts the buns (we use whole wheat ones) on top to warm them up.  Normally, if he were just cooking for the two of us, we would keep the peppers and onions underneath the burgers, but if the boy sees them all touching….it could be a disaster! 

The boy was excited because we were having burgers for dinner.  He used his favorite condiment (BBQ sauce) on top and took a big bite.  He ate it up!  He took a second bite and while eating it, he happened to glance at the burger.  He was fine until he saw it.  A carrot.  A carrot sliver was sticking out.  Calmly he put the burger down.  Next thing I knew there were strings of carrot slivers on his plate.  We told him to stop picking out the carrots and to just eat it.  He did.  I believe that if he had been blindfolded for the whole meal, he would have eaten it just fine without any issues.  Hmmm….blindfolding during dinner….might have to put that on the “try” list.  In the boy’s mind, it doesn’t get a thumbs up because it had carrot slices.  However, it didn’t get a thumbs down because he ate it.  In my mind, it gets a TOTAL thumbs up because I know that it was LOADED with other veggies that the boy ate and didn’t even notice (thanks to the carrots!).  This will be a repeat at our dinner table and maybe the boy will find other ways to trick himself into eating it without the carrot dissection.  Or, I may have to implement the blindfold idea.  Either way, it will be on our table again!