| Photo: Travis Rathbone |
Thought so. Here are three meatless burgers that are easy to make and infinitely more satisfying than a plain old plate of rice.
Lentils
When chef Nancy Silverton was trying to come up ways to make veggie burgers delicious, she asked herself what she could add to a bowl of, say, plain rice, to make it delicious. Answer: Sharp cheeses like shredded white cheddar, and smoky roasted red peppers. Her burger includes uncooked lentils and freshly steamed brown rice, which is sticky and helps hold the patties together.
Get the recipe: Brown Rice and Lentil Burgers
| Photo: Thinkstock |
So reads a love letter written by Nicholas Sparks. Oh wait, no, I mean...Richard Nixon.
Six of Nixon's love letters to his wife, Pat (whom he playfully called his "Irish Gypsy") will be revealed Friday at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and the missives reveal that "Tricky Dick" was also, well, a totally gushy, mushy, romantic. As supervisory museum curator, Olivia Anastasiadis, told the AP, "These letters are fabulous. It's a totally different person from the Watergate tapes that people know. President Nixon started out as an idealistic young man ready to conquer the world and with Pat Ryan he knew he could do it. There's a lot of hope, there's a lot of tenderness and it's very poetic." You have to read these letters to believe them. It's a little bit like seeing photos of your parents as a young couple—there's that same jolting sense that, oh man, everyone was young once, and everyone's love story is, to them, the ultimate love story.
Learn more from the original AP story. (Via NPR.)
Read More:
Writing Love Letters to The World
The 6 Best Love Letter Quotes
 | Generosity is also an act of freedom, a casting off of the constraints of prudence and self-interest. — Marilynne Robinson |  |
It's the best of lists, it's the worst of lists. Just kidding, it's the best: the top 100 opening lines of books.
A vertical greenhouse could make a city self-sufficient, super-futuristic.
What would Venus' Botticelli look like if she conformed to today's beauty standards? (Here's a hint: a lot skinnier.)
The Life-Lifter: After-school-job what? 14-year-old girl buys a house and becomes a landlord.
| Photo: Thinkstock |
- Get outside. Soak up some of the early spring sunshine, which will suppress the secretion of melatonin, the body's drowsy-making chemical.
- Go a little nuts. Cashews, almonds and hazelnuts contain magnesium, which has been shown to help convert sugar into energy (and research has shown that a magnesium deficiency can drag you down).
- Choose a spa beverage. (i.e., water with lemon slices). A second (or third, or fourth...) caffeinated drink will set you up for a crash later, and could even keep you up again tonight--which would put you in the exact same position tomorrow. Lemon is a natural stimulant, with a scent that's been associated with slightly boosting heart rate and increasing alertness, and water will keep your body hydrated and your metabolism on track.
- Do jumping jacks in a deserted conference room. A quick bout of exercise will elevate your heart and perk up your mood.
Everything you ever wanted to know about coffee. (Namely, it's good for you, keep drinking it.)
Hit a baking rut? Need a dose of color therapy? Seeking artistic inspiration? Here, the solution to all these conundrums in one.
You'll never guess what's causing the other-wordly blanket covering this Australian farm.
The casserole for people who don't like casseroles—and 18 other game-changing dinner ideas.
Playing pretend with your kids could result in better grades later on. Bring on the rainbow-polka-dot-fairy-tea!
The Life-Lifter: After almost a month lost in a forest, a New Mexico woman was found alive, huddled with her loyal cat.
Hit a baking rut? Need a dose of color therapy? Seeking artistic inspiration? Here, the solution to all these conundrums in one.
You'll never guess what's causing the other-wordly blanket covering this Australian farm.
The casserole for people who don't like casseroles—and 18 other game-changing dinner ideas.
Playing pretend with your kids could result in better grades later on. Bring on the rainbow-polka-dot-fairy-tea!
The Life-Lifter: After almost a month lost in a forest, a New Mexico woman was found alive, huddled with her loyal cat.
 |
| Photo: Gregor Halenda |
Every Monday, we'll be letting you
know about new releases the editors at O and Oprah.com couldn't stop
reading. This week, we've been riveted by the courageous memoir:
By the Iowa Sea
by Joe Blair
Some memoirs you read for the feelings they inspire, and some you read to find out how in the heck they'll turn out. By the Iowa Sea manages to do both with an understanding of so-called ordinary life so raw and true you'll gasp, and a situation so pressing you'll tear through the pages. The book begins just as the Iowa River is rising (it's soon to overflow onto the small town of Oxford). Alongside this natural disaster, however, is a family crisis—Blair own doubts about his marriage and life. Fifteen years earlier, he and his wife Debra had arrived, dreaming of lives filled with globetrotting and adventure. Now he works as cooling technician; Debra is a paramedic; and they are spend long, brutal days raising their four kids, one of which has autism. What he longs for is freedom, yes, and youth, yes, but also "a passionate type of love. A fearful love. A hungry love. Jealous and violent." As the couple sandbag and change diapers and try to save their relationship (warning to the reader: their intimacies are described in exceptionally intimate detail), Blair reflects on his past, even as he takes risky, even self-destructive steps to alter his future. Some of the most moving, honest scenes are between him and his autistic son Michael, but it's the writer's unflinching reflection about himself and his choices, that make this book. "I had glimpses of the kind of man I should be," he writes. "Such are the reflections we are afforded. Passing glimpses, like small hidden ponds you pass by on your motorcycle while driving on a road you've never traveled before, a pine forest suddenly opening up and then closing again."
Read More:
Jodi Picoult's rules for life
18 fresh fun reads for March
By the Iowa Sea
by Joe Blair
Some memoirs you read for the feelings they inspire, and some you read to find out how in the heck they'll turn out. By the Iowa Sea manages to do both with an understanding of so-called ordinary life so raw and true you'll gasp, and a situation so pressing you'll tear through the pages. The book begins just as the Iowa River is rising (it's soon to overflow onto the small town of Oxford). Alongside this natural disaster, however, is a family crisis—Blair own doubts about his marriage and life. Fifteen years earlier, he and his wife Debra had arrived, dreaming of lives filled with globetrotting and adventure. Now he works as cooling technician; Debra is a paramedic; and they are spend long, brutal days raising their four kids, one of which has autism. What he longs for is freedom, yes, and youth, yes, but also "a passionate type of love. A fearful love. A hungry love. Jealous and violent." As the couple sandbag and change diapers and try to save their relationship (warning to the reader: their intimacies are described in exceptionally intimate detail), Blair reflects on his past, even as he takes risky, even self-destructive steps to alter his future. Some of the most moving, honest scenes are between him and his autistic son Michael, but it's the writer's unflinching reflection about himself and his choices, that make this book. "I had glimpses of the kind of man I should be," he writes. "Such are the reflections we are afforded. Passing glimpses, like small hidden ponds you pass by on your motorcycle while driving on a road you've never traveled before, a pine forest suddenly opening up and then closing again."
Read More:
Jodi Picoult's rules for life
18 fresh fun reads for March
An Irish souffle. Who says you need to make soda bread on St. Patrick's Day? This collection of Irish comfort food recipes features shamrock soup, a seafood bisque, apple and chive flower salad and other "who knew?" dishes. (Traditionalists, relax: There are also recipes for tried-and-true dishes like shepherd's pie and fish and chips.)
Oreos. The iconic cookie turns 100 years old this month, and while we're loving all the tributes, from using the treat to illustrate the phases of the moon, to a taste test of the real deal versus a homemade "Fauxreo," Ina Garten's recipe for Outrageous Oreo Crunch Bars is at the top of our must-make list.
Every Monday, we're rounding up the things, small and big, that make us stop and think. Today, we're inspired by...
"There’s a certain point where you’re doing so much you can’t stop. It’s usually because you’re fulfilling something you need to, creatively ... Embrace your stress."
-Joss Whedon, talking at SXSW about stress and the creative process.
"I kept feeling like I'd wake up with absolute clarity, and I haven't."
-Writer, director, and actress Jennifer Westfeldt, on why she and long-time love John Hamm haven't had children.
"There’s a certain point where you’re doing so much you can’t stop. It’s usually because you’re fulfilling something you need to, creatively ... Embrace your stress."
-Joss Whedon, talking at SXSW about stress and the creative process.
"I kept feeling like I'd wake up with absolute clarity, and I haven't."
-Writer, director, and actress Jennifer Westfeldt, on why she and long-time love John Hamm haven't had children.
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