Sue Z.’s Picks: Mother’s Day and National Hamburger Month

Some plant-based finds from Ruth’s Vegetarian Gourmet, plus burgers that give back at Andy’s Diner in Uptown

Ruth's Vegetarian Gourmet/Facebook

With Mother’s Day upon us, we want you to know about a healthy, delicious, easy way to feed the family real, simple, good gourmet food. Back in the ’60s, Bruce Bacon’s mother Doris Ruth came up with some delicious vegetarian comfort food for her family of seven that they still enjoy at home today. Now, 60 years later, Bruce has made her home-cooked meals available to you.

In 2020, acknowledging growing interest in plant-based diets and flexitarianism, Ruth’s Vegetarian Gourmet products come fully cooked and frozen and ready to eat in minutes. They can be served as a main part of the meal or added to any course to make it into a vegetarian option.

Your choices include a vegetarian crumble, vegetarian sliders, meatless balls and pattys, a breakfast patty, pepper and cheese, homestyle, sweet and tangy, vegetarian balls, to name a few. No items have soy, fillers, dyes, nitrates, MSG  or corn syrup, and they are made in small batches with real ingredients in Two Harbors.

Go to ruthsgourmet.com to learn more and order. Happy healthy Mother’s Day, from one mother to another.

For National Burger Month, consider Andy's Diner at Midtown Global Market for a good cause
For National Burger Month, consider Andy’s Diner in Uptown for a good cause

Andy's Diner/Facebook

Also: Because May is National Hamburger Month…

Frank Chase, the long-time proprietor of Andy’s Diner in Uptown (1500 W. Lake St. in Minneapolis) is promoting his super delicious burgers while donating one dollar of each burger sold to Be The Match, which helps patients get life-saving blood stem cell transplants.

Along with the burgers, the diner has fabulous breakfast, lunch, and dinner specials with American and Mexican comfort foods plus malts, shakes and floats that go with everything on the menu. If you love spicy, do try the Diablo Burger, but I love the patty melt or the garden burger, and there is even a turkey burger, or the Ever Lovin’ Cheeseburger. And, oh, yes—they also have authentic Mexican comfort foods too like tacos, tostados, burritos, quesadillas, chilaquiles, and more.

Sue Zelickson (Sue Z.) is a James Beard Award-winning food media personality, philanthropist, and longtime contributor to Minnesota Monthly and WCCO radio. She has founded the Charlie Awards, the Women Who Really Cook networking organization for women in the local food industry, and the Kids Cafe at Perspectives, Inc., which improves access to nutritious meals for families in need. You can find her buzzing around from event to event throughout the Twin Cities, helping to raise funds for charitable organizations, including some she has had a hand in building.