Vegetable Masala Burger, Curried Broccoli, Poha

I was again tight on time today; I interviewed a bright high school student applying to my alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, at a nearby bookstore. After we were done, I couldn't resist browsing some photography books, and it was after 9p by the time I got home. My wife has a Sanskrit class on Mondays, and I wanted to have dinner ready as close to 10p when she'd return - already a late dinner.

When I came home, I found that my wife had whipped together a poha flattened rice snack to tide her over; there was enough left to make a nice side dish and dictate an Indian meal.

A week and a half ago, I tried Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala Burger and really liked it. I was fairly sure that my wife would also like it (I was proven correct - I think she liked it even more than I do!), and knew it would be fast. I quickly cooked the burgers in a little bit of oil and served it on some seeded grain bread, lightly toasted, with ketchup, lettuce, and a thin slice of raw onion.

I also briefly sauteed broccoli. As it just barely started having light brown spots, I added 1/4 teaspoon or so of cumin seeds (and a little bit of jalapeno pepper?), and let them just brown over about half a minute or so, then I added about a quarter cup of water and a few pinches of turmeric and salt. I let it simmer for 3-5 minutes till the water was absorbed.