Monday, December 7, 2009

Vegetarian Big Mac

EJ loves Big Macs. He loves them so much that his elementary school bumped him from second to third grade because they thought he was so grown up, and even in the third grade, he was still the only kid to get a Big Mac on the field trip!

As an adult, EJ has been a vegetarian for some time, but every now and again I can catch his forlorn sigh as he yearns for just one more Big Mac. This evening I thought I would surprise him...and voila! The Vegetarian Big Mac is born.

Ingredients:
2 Boca griller patties
iceburg lettuce - as much as you can pile on
2 slices orange American cheese (i refused to get Kraft singles, so I bought the Land O Lakes brand...its really good!)
2 hamburger buns
thousand island dressing
(a real Big Mac has pickles, but I left them off because I hate pickles)

Toast burgers until cooked. Assemble the bottom of a hamburger bun, one patty, the cheese, some lettuce, pickle (if using), dressing, another hamburger bottom, another patty, another slice of cheese, more lettuce, more pickles, if using, more dressing, top of bun. I wrapped the entire thing in foil, crushing it together, and popped it in the oven for 3 minutes, just to warm it (cause you know McDonald's always has warm lettuce on their burgers).

I also made my own french fries to go with this. I sliced a potato pretty thin, tossed it in about a tbsp olive oil and tossed in a bunch of salt and pepper. I laid them on a greased cookie sheet and baked at 450 for 20 minutes, flipped, and baked another 7-10 minutes.

From Food pics

2 comments:

E.J. said...

Awesome surprise. It was delicious, and it's a must if you're a vegetarian who used to like Big Macs. In addition to the fries, I think it would go well with Gardein Crispy Tenders (http://www.gardein.com/products.php?t=frozen&p=4), which I swear taste like Chicken McNuggets.

Unknown said...

This looks like an awesome meal, I will definately be making a cruelty-free version of it!

I am curious as to why EJ is a vegetarian? Is it due to animal rights-related reasons?

If so, I am rather shocked that you would use land o'lakes cheese on your vegie big mac... given that they torture and abuse animals.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2521&JServSessionIdr004=cx0ltxfb81.app334a

If anything I would think eating meat would be more humane than supporting this cruelty - at least the hamburger has been put out of its misery. Not only that, but any milk product is contributing to meat production as the calves that are the product of cows needing to have them to produce milk are used for veal.

For those who care about animal rights and would like to try a cruelty-free version of this recipe could consider using soy cheese and a "special sause" made from a 1:1 ratio of vegan mayo (vegenaise or nayonaise) and ketchup as this is what macdonalds uses for their special sause (mayo and ketchup)