Thursday, January 29, 2009

the spirit is willing, but the flesh...

..oh, the flesh. it's weak. and soooo delicious.

last night's dinner:
burger with bacon, avocado, pesto gouda and a drizzle of miso-sesame dressing

every sunday evening, i resolve that THIS week will be the week we eat less meat. we don't want to become full-blown vegetarians and definitely not vegan, but we would like to eat meals without meat several times a week--to be both healthier and more economical. and yet, we never really get around to doing it.

maybe being raised in the midwest in the heart of beef and pork country is part of it. you grow up feeling that a meal isn't a meal, especially at dinner (which we call supper where i grew up), without meat. and because you know someone who is butchering a cow or a hog or even hunting deer, there's always meat around. of course, i no longer know anyone with cows or pigs, so i get the meat in the grocery store these days (tho' someone did recently give me some some deer meat), so i don't really have that excuse anymore. but the notion is just so engrained.

this week, i felt more resolved than usual, but then the reality of the big-ass packages of leftover hamburger from the birthday party intervened. we had two unopened packages left. one went into a huge pot of bolognese sauce for spaghetti, which we ate on monday (and which i've had for lunch the past two days) and which i froze two dinner-sized portions of so we'd have a quick dinner another day. then, last evening, we had to use up the other package before its expiration date, so we made burgers. if you're going to eat a burger, it might as well be a good one. a bit posh even, so a bit of bacon, avocado and miso-sesame dressing did the trick. and piling on salad makes it seem healthier, right?

so, here we are, it's thursday and we haven't eaten a vegetarian meal all week. i have one of those big ugly knobs of celery root that came in our organic veggie box last friday just languishing in the drawer. and yesterday, i bought some portobellos as we stood in the grocery store and i had a fit of resistance to the hamburger that was home in the fridge. but then, back home, as i stood there before the burgers, my resolve faded and i didn't do the portobellos. so, perhaps today, we'll have a vegetarian dinner. if not, there's always tomorrow.

8 comments:

Gwen said...

that looks so yummy .... except for the burger part. I'm in no way a veg, but for some reason, I've never loved hamburger. All the stuff that goes with it, oh yes indeedy, but the actual ground meat: blech.

You *will* tell us what you did with the portobello, yes?

Laura Doyle said...

That. Looks. So. Yummy.

I really do just love anything with avacado.

You know...I think we unintentionally eat mostly vegetarian meals out of financial necessity. My favorite is Spaghetti Squash with Balsamic Beans. I could eat that forever.

julochka said...

gwen, as soon as i think of what to do with them, i will definitely share it.

starlene, i'm going to need the recipe for those balsamic beans.

hele said...

eesh, i am hungry already and now this. it looks so delicious.

Just Jules said...

ah portobello mushrooms... yummy.
I have a suggestion:

1/4 cup olive oil
@ tbsp dried basil
4 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp rosemary
(1lb chicken breast cut in 1" pieces)
1/2 pound port. mushrooms
1 pound pasta

heat oil, stir in garlic and herbs
add chix (or skip for veg. version)
when chix is done or next -
add mushrooms(chopped)
reduce heat
cook covered for 5 min.
Toss in cooked pasta and serve...

That is my FAVORITE mush. recipe and my kids even eat it (impossible to get all 4 to eat 1 thing!)

Tess Kincaid said...

I love avacado on hamburgers! And I could gobble this one up right now! Yum. We grill a lot of burgers outside on the patio in the summer and actually get a little tired of them. But about this time of year, when we are buried in snow, one would taste devine.

tangobaby said...

I just *felt* you writing about bacon, and like a little hungry puppy dog, here I am.

I guess I'll be having a hamburger for lunch today. That looks insanely delicious.

We were raised with the whole "meat in every meal" thing too. It's something I have a hard time with too.

Maggie May said...

that looks amazing.