Good Press

This is a tasty way to sneak in a vegetable and stretch a pound of ground meat. BURGERS WITH MUSHROOMS AND ZUCCHINI 1 pound lean ground turkey 1/2 pound mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed and finely chopped 1 cup whole-wheat or Italian breadcrumbs (see bonus tip) 1/2 cup grated zucchini 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 heaping tablespoons ketchup 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Nonstick cooking spray 1 tablespoon oil 4 bagels, split and toasted Steak sauce or ketchup for topping Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a food processor to chop the mushrooms and grate the squash. In a large bowl, mix the meat, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, zucchini, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper until well-combined. The mixture will be moist. Form into eight patties. Coat a large nonstick ovenproof (like cast-iron) skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and brown on one side for 4-5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then ...

I haven't been feeling well lately. I'm not sure what's wrong exactly -- could be the heat or could be I've just been pushing myself too hard. I find few foods appealing and stick with bland, starchy, "safe" foods and peppermint or ginger tea. I feel up to cooking about every three days. On Friday I went to Panera Bread to get a bagel for lunch. I chose Asiago, Cinnamon Crunch and Blueberry to take home and got myself an Everything. I knew it was risky, dried onion and poppy seeds, but after not wanting anything to eat for so long, I gave into this craving. I suffered no adverse effects, but that's not my point. I slowly bit into the bagel and chewed the small bites well before swallowing, not daring to eat fast and shock my system. I noticed something for the first time. There are flakes of kosher salt on Panera's Everything bagels. Sometimes I was conscious of my tooth crunching down on one but more often I felt a salty "pop" on my tongue...