veggie burgers are good. who knew?

I know, I know, veggie burgers are not exactly a ground-breaking discovery. They've been pretty mainstream for years. But they are new to me. I've always been of the persuasion that some things should not be messed with. I don't eat a lot of burgers, so if I'm in the mood for a burger, I'm gonna have the real, juicy, flame-grilled deal. Sometimes, there's just nothing better. But to me, a good burger isn't about tasting the beef. It's about delicious savory seasonings, bright, crisp toppings like fresh onion, lettuce and tomato and gooey, melty cheese.

this is a burger.

I digress. Where was I? Ah, the frozen veggie burger. During my first foray into vegetarianism, I boldly purchased what seemed to me to be the safest option. Boca vegan burgers (I was cutting out eggs and dairy at the time as well). They seemed "safe" because they're found in your local grocery store and I'd heard of meat-eaters even finding these babies tasty. So I put a carton in the freezer and there they sat. For um, about a year and a half. Until yesterday. I knew I needed some more protein in my life, so I bravely opened the box and removed one, individually wrapped meatless disc. Complete with faux grill marks. This cannot be good. I am generally not a fan of foods masquerading as something they're not. Then I think, this must be what some fast food burgers look like before they're covered by a cheese and a bun and I have eaten plenty of those in my lifetime.

yum.

I soldier on. I heat the skillet, the burger hit with a resounding thud. Huh. I waited the allotted eight minutes for  my frozen disc to develop a nice sear, placed it on my toasted ezekial bread and topped with spinach and my favorite dijon mustard. I still did not have high hopes. The moment of truth. I took a bite. It was good! No, really. It was. Not in my juicy fresh off the grill burger kinda way, but that's not what I was expecting.  I baked some sweet potato fries to go with it and lo, it was quite a treat on a Wednesday afternoon at home. I won't be serving these at a cook out, but for a quick, no-prep alternative to cold cuts, they're delicious.