Legu-me? Legu-you!

In America, protein is king. What did you have for dinner? The answer, most of the time, starts with the protein. "I had chicken with roasted vegetables." "Salmon and broccoli." Protein is king in these United States.

In most other countries in the world, legumes and grains are king. Fish, poultry, and meat are way too expensive to be had every day for lunch and dinner like we do in 'Murica. So, third world countries turn to grains and legumes. Rice, lentils, barley, chickpeas, and beans are all loaded with protein as well as carbs. Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I like a good veggie dish. Friday was (for the most part) vegetarian day.

We all started by making veggie burgers. Now, these are WAY different than the Morning Star ones you find in the freezer. These were absolutely amazing. Some ingredients included barley, chickpeas, oatmeal, eggs, and a bunch of great spices.

We used round cutters and measured them with the buns we were going to use. You want your burger to be slightly bigger than the bun. We cut the patties and put them in the fridge to set.

In the meantime, we got to work on the moneymaker.

Polenta. Sounds fancy on a menu, and appetizers with polenta usually cost $15-$20 and are about $1.50 to make. The plates look a little something like this:

We also made a spicy green bean recipe that Bubs would love. We plated our burgers with some slaw and green beans, and I added an avocado jalepeno sauce that went great with the burger. Chef says in America you can't serve a burger without a sauce. 

Stay tuned for stocks and soups tomorrow! 

Tip of the day: When toasting buns for burgers, turn your oven on broil and put the buns on a cookie sheet in the oven. They need 30 seconds, maybe 45 seconds, and take them out quickly! I left mine in for a minute and everything started smoking!