Salmon Burgers (with cilantro), Creamed Spinach and Thai Tea

Chris loves these burgers. They are simple to prepare and for us 2 meals since it makes 4 patties. I use the frozen salmon from Kroger that comes in bags so don't feel that you have to get fresh salmon to make this burger. They come together pretty easy with the food processor. I pretty much make it the same as the recipe except today I will be using some chopped up onion since I am out of green onions and I use Panko Breadcrumbs since I love them. I use bottled lime juice for a recipe unless I need the zest, you can get a pretty decent sized bottle for cheap on the juice aisle, I do the same thing for lemon juice. I also skip the cucumbers because Chris hates them, feel free to put them on your burger. Make sure to get some crisp green leafy lettuce to put on this burger. I  like to toast the face of the burger buns, I think it makes the burger taste better. I have been meaning to make this burger for my in-laws, maybe the next time they come over I will.

I make my Thai Tea with this recipe, Cha Yen. I believe I have posted this before so I won't go into a lot of detail except to say that I follow the recipe exactly, and I use 1/4 cup loose tea for 2 servings/glasses of tea. I got this tea from Tan-A Supermarket in Richmond, VA. I would show you a picture of the package, but it was just a clear plastic sleeve.

Here is the creamed spinach recipe that I made to go with our dinner. I added 3 minced garlic cloves in with the onions.

And without further ado, here are the burgers..........

Thai Tea and BBQ Tofu Vermicelli

I love Vietnamese food. Heart healthy, cheap and so very easy to make. Hit up the local Asian Grocer for the very best deals on fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs, tofu, soy milk, sauces, spices, noodles, bamboo steamers, kitchen items, rice, candy, snacks (ooh Wasabi Peas) meat (if you are a meat eater), mock meat, tea, etc. All kinds of goodies there. I even got some Boba Milk Tea powder (green tea, and they also had black tea) there (more about that in upcoming posts) and Green Tea flavored Boba Pearls. But I digress, back to the foods at hand.

The BBQ tofu vermicelli bowl is what I get when I go to Pho. It is exactly what it sounds like, noodles and BBQ'd tofu. It has shredded romaine lettuce, bean sprouts and thinly sliced cucumber matchsticks as a salad in the middle of the noodle bowl (I threw in some carrots for extra crunch and color, maybe that is why I forgot the cucumber, oops). To serve it comes with Peanut Sauce. To me this recipe tastes better than the sauce that I get from Pho. Please do not overcook your rice vermicelli. It only needs to cook 3 minutes once it hits the boiling water. That's all, and if you cook it longer it will get chewy and not taste good. For that beautiful tofu, all I did was brush it with hoisin sauce on both sides and grill on my George Foreman grill. Here is the recipe that I used to make the Thai Tea it is the cold Thai Tea,Cha Yen. It is subtle and delicious. I made mine with skim milk and fat free sweetened condensed milk. I may add additional spices such as cinnamon to the next batch. You won't believe the beautiful color of this tea. I actually got a huge packet of Thai Tea from the Asian grocer ( Tan-A-Supermarket for those of you that live here in Richmond, VA and yes that is an old Rite-Aid building) for about $3.00. I will have a picture of that for you soon. I would love to go to Thailand and drink it right out of the bag...yes they really serve it to you like that....

Took a picture for you before I drizzled it with Sriracha,  Hoisin Sauce and Peanut Sauce and I forgot my cucumbers and my Pho bowl is currently holding watercress. I am pleased, although I would have liked the tofu to be a bit crispier.