If you must eat a hamburger...

...this is how to do it.

I don't usually buy meat and I really don't know how to cook it at all, but yesterday I had an extreme craving for a hamburger (probably because I have been binge watching Bob's Burgers on Netflix...those cartoon burgers just look too tasty).

There is a lot to consider when making the choice to eat a hamburger because a lot of energy and many resources go into producing beef, not to mention the fact that this process requires killing an animal. One of my unwavering guidelines for choosing to eat meat is that we face the process with no delusions about what we are doing. This means understanding exactly where our meat comes from, which, consequently, means having an open conversation about our animal farming methods. This can be an intensely charged conversation, where people get incredibly offended at any perceived attack on the deeply ingrained human tradition of animal farming and meat eating. Even so, we must persist and continue to talk about how we raise our animals, how we slaughter our animals, and how we eat the meat they produce, until we are all comfortable knowing all the details of this process. Additionally, we must choose local meats whose production processes are transparent and legitimate.

Another one of my unwavering principles of meat-eating is that it should be infrequent and considered a treat, not the norm (if eaten at all!). As I mentioned, it requires a lot of precious resources, like land and water, to produce meat, a process that gives us far less energy then it consumes (contributing heavily to pollution, global warming and starvation). Our current meat production and consumption patterns are far from sustainable. In fact I would confidently say that it is the most wasteful and harmful of all human institutions. Not to mention how expensive meat is getting - maybe, just maybe, it is starting to reflect it's true production costs in dollars. So when we choose to eat meat, let's do it on a special occasion or as a special treat.

Ok, back to how I went about making my dream of eating a hamburger come true. I first located the source of my meat. My first choice was 100% grass fed KGF beef, but they were temporarily sold out so I went to my next choice; Eccardt Farm.

In Washington, NH, this farm produces some excellent meats the right way, all available at this adorable farm store that is open all the time and runs on the honor system (you write down what you are taking, tally up the total and leave it in the lockbox). There are lots and lots of goodies in here, so check it out and stock up on some tasty meats for the freezer!

Alright, crafting my burger. First of all, I had my boys spark up the grill and take on the task of actually cooking the patties. Perfect. Then I was on to making a delicious and healthy topping for our burgers: mushrooms, onions and jalapeno peppers, all from the market that day. 

I lightly sauteed these beauties in lots of garlic. 

Of course, you gotta add these incredible farm tomatoes to everything.

And BOOM. A burger worth waiting for and celebrating.

I put it on an organic whole wheat english muffin because it is super hardy and can support a burger with all the yummy toppings. I also added spinach and fontina cheese. MMM!