Puts You There Where Things Are Hollow

I love full veggie burgers so I'm not sure why I always feel the need to keep a bit of real meat in the mixture when I experiment with new flavors.  Back up perhaps, security?  This time I was trying out a version using my seasonal favorite sweet potato with spinach and black bean.  These ingredients would of course stand on their own especially with added onion, oatmeal and garlic and fresh herbs.  

I would never call myself overly confident but it's not like I have no spine. I can and have handled quite a bit in my life but I've never understood the reasoning for advertising one's own qualities. To me that only points to potential weakness.  Or worse, arrogance. On TV anyway, Americans are portrayed as unduly confident and super competitive.  This is where I feel like I come from a different ape.  I know this tenacity is what the good 'ole USofA is built on and what people seem to admire so dang much but is it the only road to travel?  And are we raising a bunch of self important little shits?

 Just because you think you rock, doesn't necessarily make it so.  I had to stay home the other day so I watched a marathon of the show Chopped on Netflix and loved it.  But what struck me was how smug people either feel they need to be or are coaxed to be from the producers of all these programs, even the good ones.  We have a whole country of peacocks.

 I do my own mental surveys all the time and it turns out people are writing checks all over town (and the tube) that their ass can NOT cash.  They do not back up their bullshit with the goods.  I remember when Paris Hilton was about the only celebrity that was famous just for being famous.  Now we have a stadium full of stars that achieved their status by being waved in by the bouncer.   And it seems as though people do not demand talent anymore.  How could that become irrelevant?  Even well dressed commoners reporting on these craftless wonders have deemed themselves notable personalities.  There is an epidemic of inflated sense of importance.

At least we can see further than our small towns or neighborhoods now with the internet. It's wonderful to see and read that just because it appears everyone thinks one way, there are huge amounts of free thinkers and people that are living against the grain, driving their own thoughtful paths.  Living more humbly, learning, listening, exercising modesty instead of showboating or taking pics of their duck lips or big round asses and then crying about it. But you can forget sometimes this is not at all how a good portion of real people live their lives here in America.

 These burgers ended up sorta special and so was my savoy cabbage just wok sauteed in garlic and a few slices of turkey bacon, a little black pepper and salt.  Simple and yet exceptional.

 But you don't hear me boasting all over town about them.  They were good though.

Sweet Potato Spinach Black Bean Burgers

Can of black beans drained and smashed
1 large sweet potato shredded raw or cooked
1 package of drained and squeezed frozen spinach
1 lb ground chicken
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion minced
fresh herbs
1 egg
1/2 cup of whole oats
1/4 cup of flax seeds
s & p

Mix all ingredients, form into patties, cook on hot grill about 5-7 minutes on one side, then flip and 3-4 minutes on second side.