Quinoa Cowboys Like Caviar

Earlier this year, I spotted new "quinoa cowboy" veggie burgers ($3.69) at Trader Joe's. I still had veggie burgers in the freezer back then, so I waited on buying them for a bit. Then one day, they were sampling them at the store topped with the cowboy caviar salsa, and it was so good that I didn't care if I still had veggie burgers in the freezer. I had to make sure I picked up a box of these before the stock was gone or it got discontinued. (You never know when something will disappear from TJ's! Everyone learned from the cookie butter disappearance a while back.)

I've tried the burger a few different ways now. Plain and on its own, topped with the cowboy caviar, and as the burger in a salad. It doesn't look that attractive in this photo, but it's pretty tasty. Along with tri-color quinoa, the burger has red peppers, black beans, bread crumbs, corn, onion, potato flakes, arrowroot, tomatoes, olive oil, jalapeno peppers, tomato paste, egg white powder, roasted garlic, white vinegar, salt, cilantro, chili powder, onion powder, coriander, black pepper, garlic powder, chipotle powder, and lime juice powder. It's a well-flavored (and seasoned - just look at that ingredient list) burger with good texture that comes from something other than the usual soy proteins, which makes it really interesting. It doesn't have the thick dense texture of a meat burger, and it tends to fall apart a little bit, but for the meals I make with it, that's okay. (It would probably be a little firmer and crispier if I didn't microwave it, but then I'd have another pan to wash and it would take longer, so I'm fine with the trade-off.) I'm not expecting a burger replacement, but a substitute that's instead made of healthy vegetables and grains.

The cowboy caviar salsa ($2.49) is a great complement to the quinoa cowboy burger, since it has a lot of the same main ingredients: corn, black beans, red bell peppers, onions, jalapeno peppers, and chipotles in adobo. The salsa is good, and it has a little bit of heat to it that really comes through from the chipotles. It's not my favorite salsa to eat on its own by the spoonful from the jar (the heat feels a little unbalanced to me when eaten like that), but it would be good for dipping and it's good with the burger.

Buy Again? Yes - for both the quinoa cowboy burgers and the cowboy caviar salsa. I may have bought them both as a set again today...