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You are here: Home / Archives for health

Seasoned cauliflower & quinoa burgers

May 7, 2021 by Jason Leave a Comment

My take on the cauliflower burger. I love cauliflower and have always just made the steaks where you slice drizzel with oil and season the way you like before baking. The first time I tried a cauliflower burger, I was in love all over again.

I drove over to a friends house, and pulled into his driveway… before I could get out, he jams this sandwich in the window and said “here, try this and tell me what it is.” Being the foodie I am, I happily obliged.

A nice bun, onions, pickles and something that appeared fried. Taking a bite, it was firm and steamy. Delicious. With the pickles and onions, I said “a mild white fish.” Wow, I couldn’t have been further off. The sandwich was from a reputable local establishment. They had their process. Cauliflower. Steamed just enough, pulsed in the food processor to leave some chunk… and mixed with a delicious spice profile.

I had to try and recreate it. So first, like always… Google. There is no shortage of cauliflower recipes out there, each with their own take. I selected the one that sounded like it could render the result I was looking for. It turned out pretty good, but it was far off. The texture was much finer than the chunkier, white fish-like interior of my first. It also lacked the caramelized crust that I actually thought was breading.

So for the next attempt, I spent more time thinking about the process. I cut the florets off a head of cauliflower and washed fewer bigger pieces.

Then, laid them out on parchment paper in a sheet pan. I keep olive oil in a sprayer for times like these. Spray the florets (or drizzle) liberally with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin.

Bake for 30 minutes. While it’s baking, rinse 1 cup of quinoa, drain and add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Don’t ovecook this. After 30 mins, take the lid off and fluff, and leave aside to cool.

When the cauliflower comes out of the oven, you want it soft enough to bite, but still firm. You don’t want it anywhere near mushy as they still have to hold up in the food processor and the mixing.

Transfer these big, seasoned chunks into the food processor in shifts, not all at once. No stacking.

Pulse a few times and dice it to your desired consistency. I like it chunky, but there is a point where too large of chunks will not let it hold together and they will break apart during cooking. Let’s say no smaller than rice, and no larger than peanuts. Well, for me, maybe a bit larger. Finish pulsing the rest of your cauliflower.

Next, make up your spice mix. The options are unlimited here, but here’s what I did.

To a mixing bowl, add 1 cup of fine breadcrumbs and the quinoa. To that, add 3 eggs and 3/4 cup of grated asiago, parmesan or your favorite hard cheese, 1 Tbs of olive oil, 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic and 1 tsp of cumin. I also added a Tbs of my homemade Worcestershire sauce. If you want it spicy, add cayenne pepper flakes. I had to hold them this time because this was the family dinner tonight.

To this bowl of goodness, add your grated/pulsed cauliflower and mix well. During this mixing, you may break up some of the larger pieces as well. Again, too large of pieces won’t let the binder hold it together (which is mainly the eggs and gluten from the breadcrumbs).

Form the patties and heat an iron skillet with some olive oil up to high heat. Add the just-made patties, listen for the sizzle, then turn the heat down to medium. They fry up nice in the iron skillet right away.

I make a double batch, form them into patties and par-freeze before vac sealing. They make a quick meal later. I have also laid the frozen patties on the grill and slow grilled, flipping only once.

With about 6-7 minutes on each side over medium heat, they caramelized up nicely, and had the crispyness of something battered and fried.

From here, choose your bun. I’ve tried a basic potato bun that was fantastic, and this go-round, I used some sourdough I made earlier in the day. Add your favorite condiments. Pickles and onions are essential for me, and on my next ones, I’ll add pickled onions. Some cilantro doesn’t sound half-bad… and if you really want to be bad, add a dollop of chipotle mayonaise. Tarter sauce if you are heading toward a fish-like sandwich.

You can see how easy it is to change these up to your tastes. You can even manage to make it vegan or vegetarian. Hold the eggs and cheese, and cook the quinoa longer. The gluten from the bread crumbs also helps bind. You can drop the breadcrumbs and find a more preferred binder to add in to help hold it together when cooking. Have fun.

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Filed Under: food/culinary, health, recipe Tagged With: food/culinary, health, recipe

Ran my first marathon in 3:46:20

November 20, 2013 by Jason Leave a Comment

A good friend of mine challenged me back in July to run the Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Marathon with him. I was never a runner, and I mean… never, a runner. Here’s how it happened.

Around mile 22, clearly tired.
Around mile 22, clearly tired.

I was commuting 45 minutes to my Newport, KY office Mon. Wed., and Fri’s. Since my job primarily consists of working on the computer and talking on the phone, I didn’t get a lot of exercise. However, I had already started going to the gym on my lunch breaks earlier in 2011. From about Oct. 2011 to Mar. 2012, I was hitting the gym diligently for a 30 minute workout. First thing I did when I got to the gym was run on a treadmill for 15 minutes. This, to me seemed counter-intuitive since I I have a treadmill at home, and didn’t need to be paying a gym to use theirs. Since the gym was about a mile and half up the road from the office, it made perfect sense to run to the gym, skip the treadmill, and jump right in to my workout upon arrival. As a bonus, I got a quick “cool-down” run back to the office. It worked so well, I didn’t miss a beat, and I felt energized for the rest of the day. The run to the gym one way was about 1.5 miles. It was an easy run, but perfect before and after my workouts.That equated to about 6 miles per week. In March of 2012, I began working from home exclusively. So, I cancelled the gym membership and needed to find something else to do. I got a lot of exercise building a chicken coop and installing a pool myself before our July vacation. This is when my good friend suggested I run a marathon with him.

The timing was really great I guess. I had the spring chores wrapped up and was on vacation. What was I going to do to stay in shape when I got back? I took my friend up on his offer. In fact, I bought shoes and began running on my vacation. My first runs were along Lake Michigan and ranged from 2-3 miles each. I kept it up when I got back and ran the month of July… when our real training schedule didn’t start until August. August hit, and I was already in the groove. I was doing 7-8 minute miles and could do them pretty effectively, it seemed. I found my pace, and carried the water on my back.

I did my runs in the mornings. Runs under 8 miles could be done before I took the kids to school. When the miles increased above that, I had to run them after I got home… but before the work day got crazy. I started feeling pain in both my hips if I ran anything over 6 miles. That’s when I took a closer look at my form and got advice from others as well as checking out the local running store. It was a little weird identifying and correcting my running form, but I did… and the pain wasn’t there after my runs. So, I ran forward!

In all, I missed a total of 3 workouts, and 2 were near, the beginning of my training schedule. I missed a later 17 mile run only due to freezing rain. I have run many times in the rain before, but had to draw the line at freezing rain. Once in the groove, I stuck to it and didn’t miss a beat. When the runs got over 10 miles, the pain started coming back. Upon closer inspection, it appeared as I tired, I was falling out of form. Here is where I learned the importance of conserving energy. I slowed my pace. I was running 7:36 miles… and I was forcing myself to run marathon pace of 8:23 at least for the bulk of the run. Then, if I had the energy towards the end of the runs, I would burn out the remaining miles. It worked good for me. Because I conserved my energy, it took longer to “fall out of form.” There’s no doubt that long distance running requires decent running form. When you identify and correct it, the feeling is something great.

My first marathon stats.
My first marathon stats.

As the miles increased, something new seemed to pop up–random pains here and there. Each was a challenge to be conquered. I already eat a decent diet and have been avoiding processed foods since Dec. 2010. Since then, I dropped from 190 (my heaviest,) to 175. I always stayed around 175, but by the time marathon day came, I was down to 160 and it felt great. My diet is nothing calculated, and I don’t spend time counting calories. However, I most meals are made by myself or I’m very aware of what’s in it. By eating “honest” food in moderation… be it plants, meat or anything, you will more easily lose weight, and feel better. The feel better part is the result of keeping preservatives and other scary scrap jammed in to processed foods out of your body. Still, I didn’t eat a serious runners diet, but this year, it will be my goal to gravitate more towards one. I love vegetarian meals, but alas, I also love meat… and in fact, I’m just delving in to Charcuterie… the art of curing and drying meats. This is another blog 🙂

I’ll spare you the play by play of my marathon day run, but let’s just say I’m happy. I did carry my water on my back and blazed past all the water and Gu stops. My friend and I set out to do a 3:40 marathon, and I nailed a 3:46. I didn’t know how decent that was at the time until I told other runners ad got their response. When the final results were in, I saw that of the 5000 people who ran the full marathon, 2900 people finished it, and I was number 386.  Looking back, I can count a number of things that slowed me down, or things I could have done better. Because of this, I now feel I have to do it again! However, the next marathon will probably be a half marathon. Why not? I’ll do a half marathon… then, perhaps commit to another full one later.

So, to all the people that have heard me mention this was my first marathon, and likely my last, sorry to disappoint. It’ s looking like I need to step it up a notch, all in the name of good health. For any novices that are interested, here is the training schedule I maintained for my first 26.2, along with my actual times for each run. The 3 items in red were the 3 runs I missed. Items highlighted in green meant that I beat the suggested run time. I hope this inspires at least one person to possibly give a full or half marathon a try. Maybe I’ll see you at “the pig.”

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Filed Under: friends, health, outdoors Tagged With: friends, health, outdoors

Company and Friends Pig and Paddle 2009

September 20, 2009 by Jason Leave a Comment

There was no shortage of people, happiness and fun on Sat. September 19 at the Brookville Canoe Livery. Brookville played host to our company pig roast, family, friends, and even the Boy Scouts. From homemade BBQ sauce, coleslaw and two styles of pig, to tons of desserts and other food, there was no shortage of appetite.

We had about 40 canoes down the 8 mile trip and most people stayed and camped. Naturally a campfire jam ensued. The fireworks display was the perfect end to a beautiful fall-like day. We appreciate everyone who came and thanks for leaving the campsites spotless!

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Filed Under: friends, health, outdoors Tagged With: friends, health, outdoors

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About AllMorgan

AllMorgan started as a family blog to keep extended family and friends around the world apprised on what's going on at the Morgan Ranch. Over the years, it grew in to something so much more.

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Welcome to AllMorgan

AllMorgan started as a family blog to keep extended family and friends around the world apprised on what's going on at our Indiana homestead. It always been a cross between a family diary and photo … Read more

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The queen bee doesn’t decide what happens in a colony. The workers do. They adjust her feeding to make her do what the majority says. The queen can’t feed herself.

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