How to Diet and not Die (or wish you had): Recipe 1 - Vegan Black Bean Burgers with Guacamole

So the hubster and I are presently retraining ourselves in the way we eat- how to do so more healthily, particularly now that we've gone vegetarian, and still enjoy life. We've been eating better, monitoring calories, fat, carbs and protein for two weeks now and exercising regularly. It's always nice to have a partner in crime in such scenarios. Food-wise our lovely flatmate has joined us in much of our culinary revision, at dinner-time anyways.

Our tofurky looked even scarier than this.

I went veggie for five years after high school in the 90s- a time when all these freezer type ready foods were just being popularised- and they weren't that great. I still shudder at my attempt at making a homemade tofurky for Thanksgiving one year. Yikes. I put on 20 lbs then due to eating nothing but pasta and cheese for the most part (and quitting smoking... and going to college... and having a serious BF- what a deadly combo!). Now to work off some of *those* pounds plus others that have since attached themselves to my otherwise tiny waistline.

Lots of what we're eating is actually vegan, purely because I can only take dairy in small doses (perhaps due to the cheese binging I did while veggie last time, I've exacerbated an existing 'allergy' to dairy that I've never had medically confirmed, thus the quotes). Rob's also working at a local vegan cafe that serves the most tasty vegan faire so we're enjoying experimenting and knowing that you don't have to put cheese on everything to enjoy it. One thing we really enjoyed involved our veg box that we get weekly from local growers and some strange looking items known as salsify. They look not unlike sticks and I peeled them and chucked them in boiling water for a few minutes. While they cooked I mashed up some tofu with chard and nutritional yeast and it looked a bit like ricotta. We then layered some other veggies, the salsify and topped it off with the cheesy mix and baked it. I'd put the cheesy mix in with the veggies next time as it did burn just a bit but overall was amazingly tasty. This tofu mash concoction will no doubt come into play for many future meals.

Tonight we had some defrosted black bean burger patties I'd made a batch of last week. As they were a bit dry last time, though tasty, Rob whipped up some guacamole (avocado, lemon juice, garlic & tomatoes) to top it off and give it a bit more moisture. It was pretty heavenly- and a boost for protein! Fortunately for you I'm keeping track of how much of what is used for foods simply to monitor calories and such- otherwise I turn my nose up from measuring ingredients. Sadly the camera didn't make an appearance so you'll have to paint your own imaginary picture of these delights to tempt your own taste buds.

Vegan Black Bean Burgers with Guacamole


1 can/box of black beans (I actually used dried beans, soaked them overnight and cooked them for about 45 minutes so they were extra fresh)
100 g Oats
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp Olive Oil + some for cooking
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
Various spices, to taste (salt, pepper, chilli powder, paprika, some herbs if desired)

For guacamole:
2 Avocados
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
Using a fork, mash the avocado to desired consistency and mix with other ingredients. Chill and avoid nomming right away.

Mix burger ingredients well. When you can mix no further, get your hands wet, plunge them in and mix it up some more. When you're happy that it's mixed well enough, form approximately 7-8 patties. Fry patties in a skillet for 3-4 minutes, turning half way. For lower-fat cooking, use a spray.

Eat with or without bread, topped with a good helping of guacamole, salad, cheese (if desired).

Nutritional Info for Black Bean Burgers

• Servings Per Recipe: 7
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 129.4

• Total Fat: 6.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 18.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 18.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.8 g
• Protein: 4.1 g

* not including extra calories and such from guacamole!

Oh yes, and just to prove that this diet is working, I've already lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks without starving! Could use some pointers on exciting protein sources though, so do share!

Jesus wants to save gophers.

Recently I've found inspiration from the strangest of places. My only brush with these creatures in real life has been in the dreaded appearance of mounds of dirt in my parent's garden while I was growing up. Caddyshack famously expressed most people's loathing for these little furry beasts when the character Carl Spackler said, "In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher'" as he attempted to dynamite the earth burrower's hole. Yet while on holiday at my in-laws' house I found myself strangely identifying with gophers- those of Mt. St. Helen's to be specific.

While watching PBS a NOVA programme came on called 'Mt. St. Helens: Back from the dead'. Being a bit of an ecology nerd (apologies to my fellow geek friends) I was consumed by the telling of the explosion that happened in 1980 resulting in death, destruction, and sweeping panoramas of ash and black. Scientists told how they wondered if anything survived and how on earth anything would ever make a comeback to such a desolate location. As the ground continued to shift and rumble while the volcano remained active for some time, brave scientists began walking and flying around in search of signs of life. Months and months in to this search with absolutely no hopeful glimmers, a man in a helicopter spotted something different- a fresh mound of earth. As the pilot landed and the researcher walked towards the soil which stood in stark contrast to the dense blanket of ash, fresh revelation hit: some little critters that had lived below the surface of the earth- pesky varments though they were- had survived the eruption and their lives continued on, though with fewer fresh roots to chew on. 

A gopher mafia family

These underground inhabitants kept on doing what they do- digging. Not because they were trying to be at all helpful but because, well, what else were they going to do? As they dug and carried on, fresh piles of soil appeared on the surface, mixing in nutrients and spores to an otherwise inhospitable landscape. As a result of their survival, life began gradually to return to the blast zone with plants growing, amphibians and mammals returning and birds having a place to nest and bring in fresh seeds. All thanks to a pest.

As I sat watching these gophers and life return to Mt. St. Helen's, I felt a sort of pathetic kinship (don't worry, I'm not going to say I cried). Having moved from a place of doing 'alternative ministry' where things are dressed up a little bit differently and feeling 'edgy' but the gist is still the same, and now moving to a place of truly 'underground ministry', going to subcultures that the church has rejected outright, I resonate a bit with the gopher. 

Firstly and most critically, I see that as we dig our way underground, we are able to draw up fresh nutrients to feed the church itself. Most truths and movements that have changed culture (and the church) have not come from the 'top down' or a place of influence and prominence (humanly speaking) but from the depths- the culturally radical and dissident. As Leonard Sweet says in Nudge, 'The centers of power and wealth are a long way from the margins of our society, where the most creative stirrings of the Spirit are born and bring new life into the whole. It is hard to score semiotic (ed- the art of reading the signs) hits from the centres of establishment power.' These underground folk are causing a stir, and one that Jesus can often be seen at the heart of- if you're perceptive enough and willing to point him out. It's exciting to work within these deep underground cultures and see Kingdom truths in operation that mainstream society and church culture has neglected or compromised on- ideas of community, equality, advocacy and solidarity with the poor, shunning materialism, and so on (whatever ideas you've conjured up right now about how your church might live these out, you likely don't go as far as these underground scenes). We've set out to Nudge these people into recognising the Jesus values they are operating under, and also to bring these revelations to the church itself. 

I believe that we have so much to dig up from these underground cultures to fertilise the imaginations and intensify the richness of the life we as Christ followers can live here on earth. Church-folk so often find their heads in the clouds, looking for Christ elsewhere, yet we must start recognising the creatures under our feet that are enriching our every day lives, whether we know it or not, and see where we can sight Christ in their very existence. To be honest, I find my gopher-y self learning a lot from the underground scene- not at the sake of compromising my understanding of all things Christ, but in finding out that Jesus is a whole lot more omni-present than I dreamt and far, far ahead of the dawdling church- myself included. Now, THAT is good news!