Sarah Willets | Cook’s Corner

You may be wondering why a news reporter is writing a column about food. I’ve found myself wondering that same thing several times while drafting this.

But writing articles and cooking meals aren’t really so different. And my reasons for loving each are largely one in the same.

Both begin with lots of prep work, making sure all your components are balanced. Into the oven goes a slosh of ingredients. And out comes tangible, shareable evidence of all your hard work. The beaming face of a reporter seeing her name on something she is proud of looks remarkably like that of a chef unveiling a successful dish.

I’ve grown up around good food, as I’m sure many of you have. If one could absorb culinary talent, I’d be a regular Julia Child — just a foot shorter.

My older brother was graced with that talent naturally. A chef since the age of 10, his ability to cook or bake just about anything without a recipe still mystifies me. He taught me how to eyeball a tablespoon dead-on, whisk in a flash and introduced me to the Food Network.

Now, cooking shows are on so frequently at my house we have to ration episodes of Chopped and Top Chef like the final bites of gooey homemade brownies. I have 15 cooking blogs bookmarked on my laptop — all of which I visit regularly — and 278 recipes saved to my online corkboard on Pinterest. So far, I’ve made 67 of those recipes. I hope through this column, we’ll add a few more to the tally.

But I haven’t always been such a sophisticated culinarian. As a child, I subsided almost entirely on chicken nuggets and chocolate pudding. Seriously, ask my parents. They will probably tell you some story that involves myself, a spoon and projectile green beans.

I stopped eating meat around age 14. I still eat fish on occasion — it’s healthy, tasty and something I can enjoy with my meat-eating loved ones. I also live with a meat-eater. My significant other has embraced the veg-head lifestyle, but every once in a while he needs a protein fix.

Through this column, I hope to show you that going meatless — even for one dinner a week — doesn’t have to be a compromise. Vegetarian food can be affordable, easy to prepare and filling.

In case you need a little more convincing, I’m busting out my secret weapon against nay-saying carnivores: hearty, satisfying veggie burgers.

OK, OK, I know what you’re thinking — there is no way a burger made of vegetables is going to be as good as one with meat. That’s probably true. But consider this a tasty, guilt-free alternative that’s just about as close as you can get without the real thing. Or at least something you can serve up to vegetarians at your Fourth of July cookout.

These burgers make frequent appearances on my table. Worcestershire sauce and portabella mushrooms add some meatiness to black beans and finely chopped broccoli. Plus, you can make extra and freeze it. Just pull the mixture out of the freezer a few hours before dinner time, defrost and add some more breadcrumbs to counteract any excessive moisture. I recommend serving with provolone or Swiss cheese, avocado and your condiment of choice.

If you make these burgers, please let me know what you think. You can reach me at the paper, or follow me on Pinterest @skwillets. Comments, questions and recipe suggestions are more than welcome.

I’m Sooo Full Veggie Burgers | Adapted from The Kitchen Whisperer

Makes six large burgers; here’s what you need:

• 1 cup portabella mushrooms, gills removed and cubed into 1/4 inch pieces

• 2 cans black beans, rinsed

• 1 cup minced fresh broccoli

• 1/2 cup red onion, minced

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, not the powdery kind

• 3/4 teaspoon each salt, black pepper and paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder and cumin

• Olive oil

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mash black beans with a fork or masher. If you want some variety in texture, reserve 1/2 cup of the black beans and add whole to the mashed beans.

2. Add mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, onion, Worcestershire and seasonings. Feel free to change these seasonings to your liking. Mix.

3. Mix in eggs, cheese and bread crumbs until combined.

4. Using about a 1/2 cup of the mixture, form your burgers, adding more breadcrumbs if they are too mushy. Put burgers on a plate and stick in the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. Add oil to a pan and heat over medium-high heat until it glistens.

6. Cook two burgers at a time for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until a crust has formed on each side.