veg mac

Sing with me:

Two no beef patties

special sauce

lettuce

non-dairy cheese

pickles

onions

on a sesame seed bun.

When I was growing up, we were so poor that we only went to McDonald's on very special occasions. In fact, I can only remember going there a mere four times during my childhood. My favorite thing there was the Big Mac. Unusual, I know.

The good news is, I think my kids have patronized McDonald's about the same amount of times in their lives, and most of those were for a bottle of water because the restrooms aren't free.

It is not unusual to make a Big Mac at home, so if you ever have a hankering for it, make it!

It is pretty simple, really, but up the generic ingredients to romaine lettuce, whole wheat bun (sesame seeds or not), use a veggie patty and veganaise or nayonaise for the base of the 'special sauce', which is really 1,000 Island dressing with a tad more vinegar. Use dill pickle slices, not the bread and butter ones, because it makes your sandwich way too sweet. And to have the whole Big Mac experience at home, wrap your burger in a wax or parchment paper and nuke for 10 seconds to give it that hot-out-of-the-box taste.

The patty is your biggest challenge. Just grab a veg-burger patty, frozen, pan fry or nuke until almost thawed, and slice it in half horizontally. That is the tricky part. Make sure to put your palm on the top and cut with a serrated knife gently. Rotate the patty once you have cut a part way through and keep cutting until you have rotated all the way around and the patty is in two halves. Now add some Daiya and nuke or cover with a lid (one that is concave so the lid doesn't touch the cheeze) in your pan, add a little water (which will instantly turn to steam) and cover the patty. This will melt your cheeze fast and you have a cheeze-patty to put on your Veg Mac.

Order:

top bun

cheeze

burger

pickles -3

lettuce, minced

onion, minced

special sauce

middle bun

 (either another bottom bun or a top bun with the top cut off)

cheeze

burger

pickles- 3

lettuce, minced

onion, minced

special sauce

bottom bun

Cost Breakdown

buns: $4

burgers: $4

lettuce, onion, pickle: $.75

veganaise, ketchup, relish, onion, vinegar: $1.50

Daiya: $1

Total to make 4 Veg Macs:

$10.25