To put this blog entry into context; well I purchased "The Thrive Diet" for fellow "349a" gang members Jules and Anita... not that any of us particularly need to go on a "diet" as such - that's not what this book is about. The book is written by the long distance triathlete, Brendan Brazier, who also happens to be a Vegan. Now none of us are Vegans, indeed I am a meat lover. Jules on the otherhand is a vegatarian... Anita and I have long mused and been concerned about the variety of beans he has been including in his diet so when I saw this I thought it would be a good addition to his vegatarian cook book shelf - and particularly apt given he's doing his first Iron Distance race this year.
So the comedy Christmas present was purchased and duly sent to Anita and Jules:
Now on getting this present I explained to Anita the reasoning... to which she replied "You know Jules may not get it.. he could take one look at it and put it to one side".... so I asked him after Christmas... "Jules - what do you make of the book then"....(ha ha ha) ... the reply came.... "well yes I looked at it but I've put it on the side at the moment"... DAMN.. Anita knows Jules well... oh how we laughed!!... So the poor book had been propped up on a shelf in Scotland... Humm not to be outdone I have thus set us all a challenge... We would all take it in turns to do a receipe from the receipe section (Jules this is the section towards the back of the book) and give each other a debrief on it... and so Jules and Anita... this is for you... My debrief on the Walnut Hemp burger.
Sourcing Material;
As you may soon see the "normal" ingredients in the thrive diet book are not the kind of ingredients you would not normally find down your local Tesco (or Waitrose for that matter). I have done some internet scurring around and found a good website in http://www.naturallygreen.co.uk/.... (so Jules has no excuse as they deliver to Scotland...), anyway having done the research I had my "comedy" Christmas present from Anita... the ingredients no less for the Walnut Hemp burger (this is the only reason I'm writing about it now let's be honest!).
Ingredients:
Walnuts, Hemp Seed, Cider Vinegar, EFA Oil Blend, Basil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper I set about it
Process
Chuck it all in a blender and blend!
Cooking time
Can be eaten as is (although I found this slightly heavy on the vinegar) or bake for 30mins in a moderate over, I did the later.
I decided to eat this with a little salad (I didn't bother adding any balsamic vinegar but did drizzle in extra virgin olive oil) and cooked some rice (I cooked the rice with a half onion, a cinnemon stick, some stock and blackeye beans; basically golden the onion, put in the rest of the ingredients boil up, lid on, temp right down and wait for 20mins).
The Walnut Hemp burgers were actually quite deliciously... clearly a little nutty but not overly so. The vinegar had calmed down in the baking process so actually could have gone with Balsamic in the salad. They were quite crunchy but strangely wholesome tasting.
I'd score this dish as follows;
Ease of making: 5/5 (as long as you have a blender)
Ease of baking: 5/5 (you don't need to but if you want to just put on a baking tray and bake!)
Taste: 5/5 (suprisingly)
Appearance: 1/5 (resembles something a cat with bowel trouble may have left in a litter tray)
Here's a picture after the salad was added (looking more edible now rather then cat crap....)
Ummmm Walnut Hemp burgers... I'll be doing that one again (although I think I need another bag of Walnuts as I went through the bag Yones got me...)
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