Monday, November 22, 2010

The world stopped...

Do you ever have those moments in your life where you finally feel complete again?  Where something is so right and perfect that it hurts your heart a little?

This happened to me yesterday.

Before I tell you why this happened, and what brought me to my knees in complete rapture, let me tell you that before I was a vegetarian/newly vegan, my favorite food in the world was hamburgers.  Thick, loaded up with every condiment plus avocado and cheese, juicy and hot off the grill, running down your wrists, lettuce and tomato sliding out the bottom, hamburgers.

Now, as a 'I don't eat cow' person, I find that my life has been seriously lacking in the hamburger department.  There are plenty of acceptable alternatives out there, my favorite being the In N' Out burger grilled cheese, which is exactly like a hamburger, but without the patty.  But.  Now I'm a 'I don't eat cows or things that come from cows' person and I CAN'T EAT IN N' OUT GRILLED CHEESE anymore!  So my alternative to hamburgers which was only acceptable (not fantastic) is no longer acceptable.

I tried the Morning Star patties, they were okay.  The local pub had a nice little veggie substitute, but it tasted like plastic. Even Saturn Cafe's patties were only barely passing for hamburgers... They sort of tasted like beans and zucchini.

So there was a hamburger sized hole in my heart.

Until yesterday. Yesterday was the most amazing day of my vegan life because I bit into a veggie burger from Betty Burgers in Capitola and it was so good I stopped chewing mid bite and widened my eyes and couldn't swallow because IT WAS THAT GOOD.  The patty was soft, but not grainy. Tasted like mesquite, but not barbecue sauce. Was obviously not meat, but obviously not tofu.  It was the most amazing veggie patty I've ever had.  I swear to you, real tears sprang to my eyes because of this patty. Lights were brighter. My boyfriend was sexier (he bought me the burger).  The onion rings tasted better.  I was having an existential crisis over this veggie burger... Why do they even bother trying anything else in the entire vegan world when this burger exists??

It was only a regular burger with condiments, lettuce, and tomato.

But it made me want to cry.


P.S. I wish I had gotten a picture of this burger but I was so moved that God (or whoever... Betty.) had brought this burger into my life that I momentarily forgot anything else existed. Even my camera.

P.S.S  I'm doing you a public service by saying take a break from the cow and TRY THIS BURGER. You won't regret it.

P.S.S.S. Right now, I physically miss this burger. It is all I want in the world.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Randomly as someone whos been reading a lot about nutrition, have you worried about the health problems associated with veganism? http://voraciouseats.com/2010/11/19/a-vegan-no-more/