Mediterranean Diet in the news again

"Adopting a Mediterranean diet - olive oil, nuts, oily fish, plenty of fruit and vegetables and a moderate amount of red wine - after a heart attack is almost three times as powerful in reducing mortality as taking a statin", writes Dr Malhotra.

He also warns against too much sugar which play a crucial role in heart disease (and also diabetes).

You don't have to wait for a heart attack to start benefiting from a Mediterranean diet.

Veggieburgers!

I've been trying different recipes for veggie burgers and finally arrived at a good, healthy burger.
Store bought veggie burgers are just terrible. They are pathetic lumps full of industrial food chemicals, too much salt and often contain cheese or other non-vegan ingredients.
I found a recipe for black bean and brown rice veggie burgers that was pretty good and tweaked it to my taste.

Vegan Southwestern Black Bean and Brown Rice Veggie Burger Patties Recipe

makes 10 patties (I make these as a batch and freeze them)
2 cups cooked brown rice (day old rice works well)
One 15 oz can black beans (I prefer to cook black beans from dry beans so you can avoid the unnecessary salt and packaging chemicals)

sauté
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small red (or green) bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon store bought taco seasoning (substitute with 1/2 tablespoon cumin powder + 1/2 tablespoon paprika or red chile powder)
(I've been using cumin and Costco organic no salt veggie seasoning)
salt
3 tablespoons flour or gluten flour (this helps them stick together better)


Drain the canned black beans. Again, make sure it is drained very well.
Heat a large  non-stick skillet with the oil. Add onion and red pepper. Cook till onions are soft. Add garlic, stir for about 30 seconds. Add seasoning and drained black beans. Stir on high heat for about a minute. Turn off heat. Add salt (remember store bought taco seasoning already has some salt).
Using a potato masher or fork, mash the black bean mixture. Mash roughly, so that some black bean pieces remain. Add cooked, drained brown rice and flour. Using a spatula, mix everything together. Taste and adjust salt and taco seasoning.
You can form the patties by hand but I prefer to use the lid and ring of a wide mouth Mason jar as a mold. You can fill the lid and compress the mixture and set it out on a cookie sheet. The ring can be easily removed first and then the lid.
I recommend putting the cookie sheet in the freezer. When the burgers are frozen, they can be wrapped individually.
To cook, put the frozen patty in a fry pan with a little oil and cook until brown on both sides. They hold together better when they are frozen to start.

Heat about 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick skillet.  Place 2 burger patties on the skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat on each side. Remove when a crispy golden crust forms on both sides. Add more oil to the skillet and fry up 2 more patties at a time. Repeat till all patties are cooked.