The Burger Queen.

A staple in our house filled with variety.

Usually I only ask Bob what he would like to eat for supper if I feel like cooking either of his choices. Yes, my man is highly predictable and tends to sway between a bean curry or burgers. No, I can't really term them hamburgers as you know...

Last night was burger night and at first I tried to sway him to the other choice but to no avail and after a few moments mentally inspecting our fridge and larder, I came up with a good idea. Cooking for me is always a case of ' would I like it or not ' and luckily Bob tends to like what I like.

A can of chickpeas, a carrot, a red pepper, capers, nutritional yeast, oats, leftover pasta, onion, garlic and spices made this burger. It is easier than one thinks to put one together and much tastier than anything store bought. Once I started on it, I added bits and pieces of this or that and hoped for the best. Can get quite tricky making a sticky burger considering that we vegans don't use eggs for binding. But, that's what makes it so exciting to try different versions and recipes.

Recipes are the key word...I tend to ad lib instead of using a recipe which often makes it jolly difficult to remake a particular version of a burger. Take last night's for example. Bob loved it and thought it was the best one I've created so far which when I heard the praise made me feel chuffed although in the back of my mind was the knowledge that it possible was a one of a kind! I must start to write everything down.

Cooking is a joy and now that most of the world is stuck at home, I hope that more start to cook. Cooking for and with the family is great and a wonderful way to hand down the art of cooking. We all learnt by watching our mothers whiz around the kitchen and so it should be. All those new apps for ordering in food with the ease of a button might be convenient but come with the added cost of a generation who won't know how to cook. Who doesn't fondly recall licking out batter bowls, waiting for the next pancake to be done or helping to stir a pot while watching what went into it? Hopefully these next few weeks will give another young generation the opportunity and chance to create those precious memories...

Biggi