Most People Can and Do Eat Wheat Gluten

For easy meals, I use wheat gluten. Most people don't have allergies, sensitivities or diseases related to eating wheat gluten. It's a classic ingredient used in Chinese vegetarian cooking that's been around hundreds and hundreds of years. Moreover, you can make it at home. For a quick and easy meal, I just pick up some in the various forms you can get from the store. This one is from West Soy. It comes in cubes, strips or ground. They did not have ground at Whole Foods. Also, this one is not pure wheat gluten. It also has garbanzo bean flour and soy flour. I usually cut the cubes into chunks or strips and make a stir fry, which I will blog about one of these days. Today, I was in the mood for wheat burgers.

Basic wheat burger

1 8 oz box of wheat gluten, minced

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 egg

bread crumbs

Refined coconut oil or clarified butter, for frying.

Makes 4 wheat patties. About 15 grams of protein per patty.

In a bowl, mix the wheat gluten, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Crack in an egg and mix thoroughly. Toss in a little bread crumbs and mix. If the mixture is too watery, add more bread crumbs. When you get a mixture that starts to clump together, you are done. Form into patties. If you wish, put them in the freezer. Meanwhile, pre-heat a skillet on medium heat. After a few minutes, put in the oil or butter, distribute evenly. Fry each side 4 minutes. Serve immediately. You can place them in between buns, add mustard or ketchup, cheese, lettuce, if desired. Or eat with brown rice or by itself with some sauce.

Variations: add your own spices, such as dried parsley, or throw in some minced vegetables or mushrooms.

I made these for lunch today and had some fresh grated ginger tea. For dessert, I had longan (longyan, 龍眼). I will blog about this Chinese fruit some other time.

I weigh 188 pounds now, for a total loss of 7 pounds since the beginning of the year.