Saturday, December 11, 2010

Veggie Burgers

Though frozen veggie burgers seem like a healthy choice, many are highly processed and loaded with chemicals.  Here's an easy version you can make yourself.


Don't get too hung up on ingredients with these burgers. Add a little or a lot of whatever ingredients you like best. Additional ingredients you can add in could be raw sesame seeds, pepitas, hemp seeds, chia seeds, millet seed, and ground flax seed. I served these burgers on some homemade hamburger buns made with my light whole wheat brioche recipe.


Easy Veggie Burgers
((Printable Recipe))

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups chic peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
a handful of fresh cilantro
2 grated carrots
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup walnuts
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup corn
1/4 cup diced red and/or green pepper
a healthy pinch of sea salt


Directions:
1. In a food processor, combine the first 9 ingredients (chic peas to the cumin).

2. After the ingredients are mixed in the food processor, pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the onion, corn, red pepper, and salt.

3. Take a large handful and form into a patty.  Place on a cutting board and flatten the top as you rotate and flatten the sides with the palms of your hands.

4. Cook on a grill or a skillet coated with a little extra virgin olive oil- about 3-4 minutes per side.

5. Load up your favorite toppings or freeze and save for later.

11 comments:

  1. Do you think there would be any substitute for walnuts? I am allergic to tree nuts and I would love to make my own veggie burgers that are soy free too!

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  2. Jennifer,
    Walnuts are not necessary. I add nuts to my beans to form a complete protein. You could add a little brown rice or leave it out all together and just serve it on a whole wheat bun.

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  3. I was going to ask the same question. So, add cooked brown rice?

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  4. Gena,
    If you had some leftover rice, I'd say throw it in. But I wouldn't bother making some up just for this (unless you wanted to.) I'd say just leave out the walnuts- it's such a small amount. My lentil brown rice burgers are another option... http://www.crunchyrock.com/2011/04/grilled-brown-rice-lentil-burgers.html

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  5. can you bake these instead?

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    Replies
    1. I think a 425 degree F oven on a greased sheet pan, about 8-10 minutes per side should do the trick.

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  6. How many patties do you usually get? And could I leave out the flour, is it just used to bind it?

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    Replies
    1. The flour is just for binding. You might be able to get away without using it. I used an ice cream scoop and used 2 scoops per patty and made about 6 burgers.

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  7. Hi! I tried this tonight, and the flavor was great! Even my skeptical husband loved it. However, I found it too crumbly to put in the pan. I ended up adding an egg to help hold it together, which did the trick. I followed the recipe exactly though, so I was wondering if you had any ideas what may have happened so that I wasn't able to cook them eggless? Thanks for the recipe though...with or without eggs, it's a winner!

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    Replies
    1. I have never found a veggie burger to hold together like a meat burger. They tend to be either crumbly or very soft compared to a traditional meat burger. An egg is really the best binder to keep it together. I use an ice cream scoop and and work the mixture in my hands to really get it to come together. To avoid the egg, you can also chill the burgers for a while to help them hold together. The other thing is that you can work the filling a little longer in the food processor so it is a bit more of a paste and less coarse. (Almost like a chunky hummus.) A touch of olive oil (or even a splash of water) will help get the mixture going in the food processor if it is too dry.

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