V-day My Way

It was Valentine ’s Day, so naturally I was in the mood to use a sharp blade over and over in a very intentional and premeditated manner.  And so I embark on a food exploration that ends in something I like to call, salsa burgers with black beans and sliced avocado. 

The victims of my stabbing rampage were onion, garlic, tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, red bell pepper, lemon juice, black beans, adobo seasoning, black pepper and mushrooms left over from Monday’s dinner.  I probably should have used my mini-prep food processor, but it has stopped working well and smells like a live grenade every time I need to run it for more than a few seconds.  So I chop…all except the mushrooms and the beans.  I chop it until it is a mushy even pureed texture, then I added the mushrooms and chopped some more, while folding them into the mush.  Finally, I added the black beans, which I had previously rinsed clean, so as to eliminate that smelly black crap it comes canned in.  At this time I also add a generous dousing of adobo.  Then I coarsely chopped the beans into the mash and folded the mixture over and over with the large blade of my chopping knife, mashing the beans further until I have a pile of blended veggies that I mixed into the ground beef to create the ‘salsa burger.’  There is something stress-relieving about taking the time to really cut things up.  I molded two big round patties of meat mixed with the salsa mash into two patties and covered them in sesame seeds before placing them in the pan, and then in the oven to bake.

 
Black beans…this was not a comfort zone for me.  So I sauteed the remains of the veggies  and cilantro that I started cutting for the mash, and deglaze with water when done to make a broth to simmer the beans in.  I throw the remaining beans into the simmering veggie broth and watch them simmer.  This made me smile as I had imagined that all the those little black beans were the heads of my ex-lovers drowning in veggies.  Morbid, I know.  There are two more things to cut – the lemons (in ½), and the avocado (in ½, and then each half the short way into thin slivers).  I squeezed one whole lemon into the beans, and then put ½ the other lemon on my plate for later.  I fanned ½ the avocado slices out on my plate, put the burger in the middle, and filled in beans all around the side and sprinkle with the last remains of the the cilantro.  If I wasn’t being so healthy, I would have smothered it in sour cream too, but it’s not that kind of party.  The end product was really good...ah, sweet satisfaction.  I would have preferred a date, but I don't know how well my need to cut things on V-day would translate to dating.   

The next day I will go out and buy the same12 roses that were $17.99 on v-day for half price and they will be beautiful. 

These are the actual day-after-valentines-day-roses.  TWO dozen roses for $9.99.  And yes,  that is my blender.  I plan on picking up some vases at the yard sales this summer.