Food F*ck Up

I experiment with recipes a lot.  I rarely have all the ingredients that I need at home, but if I have a majority of them, I'll attempt it.  Some turn out better than others, but generally, even if a meal isn't my favorite, I'll eat it anyway because I don't like to waste food.

The other day, I read about The Sweets Life's Eggplant and Mushroom Veggie Balls and wanted to give them a try.  When at the grocery store yesterday, I forgot to buy an eggplant (duh), so decided to improvise.  I am not normally one to order a non-meat burger at a restaurant, but when out last weekend, I was drawn in by a homemade veggie burger on the menu and actually loved it.  I couldn't tell exactly what was in it, but knew there were beans for sure.

After doing a quick search online, I found a couple of recipes for mushroom and black bean burgers.  I loosely based my recipe off of this, and came up with:

Sarah's Mushroom Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen pearl onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 ounces white button mushrooms
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
• 15-oz can black beans
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• pinch red chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• tomatillo salsa (for topping)
• feta cheese (for topping)

 Method:

• Peel garlic and brush off any dirt from mushrooms.  Mince in food processor until finely chopped (or chop by hand).  Transfer to a large pan and saute on medium high with pearl onions until most of the moisture is gone.  Season with salt and pepper to taste while cooking.  Let cool slightly and then transfer back to food processor.
• Drain and rinse black beans.  Place in food processor with mushroom mix.  Add egg whites, bread crumbs, cumin, paprika, and chili flakes.  Blend until desired consistency.  (Mine were probably a little bit smoother in consistency than I would have liked this time).
• Heat skillet again on medium high.  Form mixture into six patties and place in saute pan.  The burgers will stick to the pan at first.  When they begin to release on their own, flip to cook on the other side - ~6-8 minutes per side.
• Serve with a large spoonful of salsa and sprinkle of feta cheese.  I also served mine over sauteed peppers and onions.

So why the f*ck up?  There's a step I didn't write in the instructions above....

While sauteing the mushrooms, smelling all delicious and garlicky:

I was seasoning with my brand-spankin' new pink Himalayan sea salt from Trader Joe's:

And...

Gahhhh!  3/4 of the jar poured out (note: don't assume the lid is screwed on when using a brand new jar of salt).  I was feeling "lucky" because the crystals are so big that I thought I was able to scoop most of the excess out.  Nope.  Totally ruined.  Waaaayyyy too salty.  I guess you win some, you lose some.  So cereal and yogurt for dinner it was.

And then when I was cleaning up, this happened:

It's not my day with spices.