I have a dream . . .

A completely ridiculous, far-fetched, never happen sort of dream, by the way. I think it's a great concept, but unfortunately I lack the talent in that department. As I've stated before, I am completely, 100% Food Network obsessed. Right now, it's the 4th season for The Next Food Network Star. The show just started up again (2nd episode tonight) and so the contestants are all whittling down their culinary points of view. And it got me fantasizing about my own culinary point of view. I think a fantastic viewpoint would be a flexitarian-type deal. I know that an all vegetarian or all vegan show wouldn't appeal to a large enough demographic, but an increasing number of families are mixed veg-heads and carnivores. To be able to create menus that appeal to them, whether they're strictly vegetarian meals or using tofu and chicken with the same sauce, there's a broader interest on that level.

The problem is creating dishes. While I've become increasingly competent at following recipes, I wouldn't even know where to start with creating them. It takes such a strong knowledge of ingredients/flavors and an enormous level of creativity that I'm pretty sure I lack.

Anyway, I tried my hand at adapting Ellie Krieger's turkey burger recipe tonight, and that's what made me think of it. I made the meaty version for Jim a while ago and decided that I wanted to give it a whirl myself. I used packaged imitation ground turkey, which I quickly realized lacked the sticky texture needed to adhere the burgers together. I tried to add a bit of flour at first and that helped, but not enough. So I thought and thought and threw in a beaten egg. That was the magic trick, and I was able to assemble my burgers.

The recipe is super simple. I roasted a red bell pepper and then diced it up. I made mini burgers and sandwiched the diced pepper and shredded mozzarella cheese between the two mini burger halves. Then I pan fried them until they were crispy on each side (no need to worry about cooking the meet all the way through here!). Then all I had to do was toast a whole wheat hamburger bun and dinner was done.

The burger was pretty good. I don't think the red bell pepper taste came through all that strongly. Maybe I didn't use enough. Or maybe I diced them too finely. When I made the recipe for Jim, I used bigger chunks. Anyway, it was an easy enough recipe and I would totally do it again. Maybe there's a way to make it with tempeh instead? Hmm.

Jim and I went to Rubio's for his dinner before he left for work. He got a Baja chicken burrito combo meal (no fish taco, just beans and chips) and nachos with the sour cream and guacamole on the side. The chips were ridiculously salty this time, as were the beans. But Rubio's is Rubio's. They're still grubbin'.

I watched The Next Food Network Star while eating dinner. I think I like Aaron. I like Kelsi, too. Nipa is still blech, but Lisa was surprisingly less annoying this time. We'll see how it plays out. You can kind of tell who can't keep up and who will be moving further and further along in the competition.