Vegan Sesame Bugers and Ginger Carrot Salad

I've never really liked frozen veggie burgers. I think they're bland and "off" tasting and I'm never really satisfied with them a few hours after eating. The veg patties we serve at work are extra bad, bordering on inedible, so I got to thinking about trying my hand at veggie burgers from scratch.

These burger patties are mainly TVP (which is a first for me) flavored with sesame oil and sesame seeds for a nice nuttiness. The burgers themselves are vegan but I can totally imagine eating them with bacon and swiss cheese. They came out a bit gooey as well .. perhaps more flour would help? The recipe, found in Lucas's copy of The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook (snort) is as follows:

2 cups TVP
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 small onion, chopped finely
3/4 t. fresh garlic, chopped finely
1/2 t. black pepper
3/4 t. salt
1 T. tamari
2 T. ketchup
1/4 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
3/4 t. oregano
1/2 cup flour

Rehydrate your TVP in boiling water for 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients in with the TVP and form your patties. Pan fry in oil until browned on both sides. Simple! I eyeballed all of the spices, adding extra cumin and salt, and also added 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and a palm-full of sesame seeds. I'm planning on serving them with arugula, alfalfa sprouts, avocado and a sriracha-peanut sauce. I'll omit the sesame flavor next time .. maybe I'll try some liquid smoke or BBQ sauce too.

The carrot salad was even easier! I grated five or six carrots in the food processor and mixed with a handful of raisins, then added lemon juice, brown sugar, mirin and ground ginger to taste. It is a little less tart than I expected .. more like a japanese-style sweet pickled condiment. Roasted potatoes will appear on the side to counter the sweetness of the carrots.

Yes: It's That Awesome

I don't really understand why it's necessary for anyone to make a "video" for favorite songs with nothing but footage of nature, clouds, or jellyfish (a la Pale Saints). However, this Yes YouTube video has the best sound quality and I present it for enjoyment! Am I the only one jamming out the Yes? Out of all the classic bands that have a huge stoner following, Yes is the one that really grabs me.

The Beatles - car jams
Pink Floyd - okay, but not my thing
Grateful Dead - meh
Led Zeppelin - more car jams
Jimi Hendrix Experience - rips, but only once every six months

I know nothing about Prog so I can't examine the album in that context, but Close To The Edge is my favorite Yes album. It's probably my favorite album in general as of late. The musicianship and awesome production are enthralling. The hooks are thick and woven back and forth through the album in a masterful way. The video contains only half of side A, so I totally recommend downloading the full tracks.

In other news, Eric has been encouraging me to release a tape on his up and coming project DIY United, so I'm actively working on all of my bits and pieces of songs. I'm still down with the idea of using the audio directly from my videos for the tape .. keeping true to the fuzzy, makeshift quality and to his DIY ideal.