Best Veggie Burger

Best Veggie Burger

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

Serves 8

Even meat eaters will love this veggie burger recipe! These grill-able patties are tangy, smoky, and savory, with a hearty texture from walnuts and mushrooms.
https://www.loveandlemons.com/best-veggie-burger-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-44344
I was drawn to this recipe because they are meant to be grilled, and I had an assignment for my class with Rouxbe to grill something.  I hadn't used my grill in years.  So I was a bit intimidated.  I haven't used it much since I stopped preparing animal products.  First, I had to clean out the grill - leaves and various other things made their way in despite a secure cover.  Then I re-attached the propane tank, which felt a bit light.  Then I tried to light it - no dice!  Changed it with the tank that was on the Covid-friendly outdoor heater, but still no luck. Removed the igniter, changed the battery, but forgot to notice which end went where, so of course my first guess was wrong.  Second try was the charm.  OK - we were in business. 
The burgers did fairly well on the grill.  I might add some aquafaba next time to keep them together.  Perhaps I tried to move them too soon, but the surface was burning, so I couldn't really wait.  The nice thing about non-meat burgers is that you don't have to worry if the inside is 'cooked'.  There's nothing to get anyone ill.  Then I threw on the corn cobs (grilling with the silk is nice, but it's out of season and I could only get pre-shucked cobs.  The corn and the red and yellow peppers charred nicely.  Lots of good photos (10/28/22) - practicing portrait technique for the class.
These ingredients filled my food processor bowl.  Might use the giant size next time. 
Prepare the rice while gathering all the other ingredients.  The short grain brown rice (bulk section at WF) only took about 25 minutes to cook.  Definitely do mise en place to have everything ready to go as needed.  These took quite a bit of time, but is good to save frozen for another day.  
These really can be served to those who prefer meat.  They're quite hearty.  

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• 2 shallots, chopped (⅔ cup)
• 16 ounces mushrooms, mix of shiitake + portobello, stemmed and diced
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mirin, or ½ teaspoon maple syrup - I used mirin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons sriracha, more if desired
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• 2 cups cooked short-grain brown rice, freshly cooked so that it’s sticky*
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs, divided
• Vegan Worcestershire sauce, for brushing
• Nonstick cooking spray, for grilling
• Hamburger buns & desired burger fixings
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until soft, 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and a generous pinch of salt, and sauté until soft and browned, 6 to 9 minutes, turning down the heat slightly, as needed.
• Stir in the tamari, vinegar, and mirin. Stir, reduce the heat, then add the garlic, smoked paprika, and sriracha. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly.
• In a food processor, combine the sautéed mushrooms, walnuts, flaxseed, brown rice, and ½ cup of the panko. Pulse until just combined. The mixture should hold together when pinched, but it should still have some texture.
• Transfer to a large bowl and fold in the remaining panko.
• Form into 8 patties, place them on a large plate and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• If you're grilling the patties, preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Brush the patties with olive oil and spray the grill with cooking spray. Place the patties on the grill and use a spatula to press down lightly. Grill for 7 minutes on the first side, flip, and grill for 6 to 7 minutes on the second side, or until well-charred and cooked through. 
• Alternately, cook the patties on the stove. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with oil and cook the patties for 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until well-charred and cooked through.
• Remove from the heat, brush with Worcestershire sauce, and serve with desired fixings.

Notes

The patties can be made in advance and stored in the fridge, on a tray, until ready to grill. They can also be grilled in advance and stored in the fridge for 3 to 4 days - they reheat surprisingly well.

You can also freeze the cooked burgers. Allow them to cool completely after cooking. Transfer them to an airtight container or bag, and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen burgers in the microwave, or warm them in a 400° oven for 10-20 minutes, until heated through.

*It’s very very important that your brown rice is freshly made and sticky so that the burgers will be cohesive. (Long grain rice isn't as sticky, so be sure to get short grain rice). 

Very Veggie Vegetable Soup - KindSoups

Another KindSoups hit in my home!  It is VERY hearty, full of veggies.  Needed to add more liquid just to make sure there was enough.  Used a generous amount of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.  Turned out great.  I did use the vinegar at the end - used all apple cider vinegar, no white wine.  Used Israeli couscous, which only takes a few minutes to cook, so you can add it raw towards the end, maybe with the green beans. 

On Monday,  October 17th we’ll be cooking LoveAndLemon’s Vegetable Soup with KindChef Julia Small.  Julia loves this soup because it’s not only delicious, but can be played with to add whatever is fresh, on hand, on sale, or simply what you prefer!!    Here are a few easy ways to change it up:

• Use all carrot or all sweet potato instead of both, or add butternut squash instead.
• Toss in a few sliced cremini mushrooms when you add the carrot.
• Swap bell pepper for the cherry tomatoes, zucchini, or green beans.
• Use another leafy green, like spinach or chard, in place of the kale.
• Garnish bowls with finely chopped parsley or basil, a scoop of pesto, or sprinkle of Parmesan cheese!

Ingredients

•  extra-virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of your soup pot
• 3 medium yellow onions, diced
• Sea salt and fresh black pepper
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 3 small sweet potatoes, diced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine, i.e., pinot grigio (optional; add an extra splash of vinegar or lemon juice)
• 3 14.5-ounce cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 head garlic, chopped (3-4 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbs dried oregano, or 6 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more to taste
• 12 cups vegetable broth
• 6 bay leaves (used a few very large leaves from Guru grocery)
• 3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 3 cups chopped green beans
• 3 zucchini, diced  (I used yellow squash and could only fit about 1.5 in)
• 3 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar (optional: replace with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)
• 4½ cups chopped kale
• optional add:  2 cups uncooked quinoa, cooked per package instructions (used Israeli couscous)

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, 1½ teaspoon salt, and many  grinds of pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Add the carrot and sweet potato, stir and cook 2 more minutes.
• Add the wine and cook for about a minute or two to reduce by half, then add the canned tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Stir in the cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, chickpeas, and cover and cook 10 to 15 more minutes, until the green beans are tender.  Add the cooked quinoa if you are choosing to include it.
• Stir in the vinegar, kale, an additional ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste), and more pepper.

Spanish Garbanzo Stew - KindSoups

This one surprised me.  It wouldn't have tempted me, but I made it to give away.  Well, we ended up each having seconds and loving it even more each subsequent day.  It's a keeper.  I didn't use any thickener, but put about a quart of it into the blender to puree it, added it back in, and added croutons afterwards.  All delicious.  Everyone on the zoom call that day did it differently, and all were satisfied with the results.  As we have said on every soup zoom, soup is very forgiving.  

On Monday,  October 10th we’ll be cooking Spain On A Fork’s Potaje de Garbanzos (Spanish Garbanzo Stew) with KindChef Denise Schleckser. 

Ingredients

• 16 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 65 ml, divided
• 2 onions
• 2 green bell pepper
• 2 red bell pepper
• 2 heads garlic
• 4 tomatoes, grated (or 2 14.5 cans crushed or diced tomatoes)
• 4 large potatoes
• 80 oz cooked canned garbanzo beans 570 grams (about 5 cans)
• 4 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 2.30 grams (I used 3.5 tsp sweet and 1/2 tsp smoked) 
• 12 cups vegetable broth 710 ml
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 slices baguette - I sliced and toasted this to make croutons.
• 4 eggs - I didn't use any 
• sea salt & black pepper
•  freshly chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cut potatoes (peeled & washed) into small chunks that are 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick, roughly chop green & red bell peppers, roughly dice onions, roughly mince garlic, finely grate tomato and drain chickpeas into a sieve and rinse under cold water

2. Heat a stock pot with a medium-high heat and cover bottom well with extra virgin olive oil

3. After heating the olive oil for 1 minute, add in the diced onion, chopped bell peppers and minced garlic, mix with the olive oil, after 5 minutes and the vegetables are lightly sauteed, add in the grated tomato and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add in the chopped potatoes, drained chickpeas, sweet smoked paprika and season with sea salt & black pepper, gently mix together until well combined

4. Then add in vegetable broth and bay leaves, mix together and bring to a boil, then place a lid on the stock pot and lower the fire to a low-medium heat

5. Meanwhile, roughly chop remaining 8 cloves cloves garlic and cut slices of baguette into small squares

6. Heat a small fry pan with a medium heat and add in remaining extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly sauteed, then add the garlic into a mortar, then using the same pan with the same heat, add in eggs and cook until well done, including the egg yolk, then add into the mortar with the garlic, and finally fry the pieces of baguette in the same pan until lightly fried, add into the mortar, then add in 2 tbsp (7.60 grams) fresh parsley and a pinch of sea salt, using a pestle pound down until paste is formed.

7. After simmering the stew for 25 minutes, remove the lid, add the thickener and mix together, cook for another 2 minutes with the lid off, then remove from the heat

8. Transfer the stew into shallow bowls and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*If you do not have a mortar and pestle, a food processor may be used to break down the thickening ingredients (bread and egg).

*If you’ve never grated a tomato, we suggest you give it a try, it’s fun! Here is a helpful link: https://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/grate-fresh-tomatoes-instead-buying-canned-you-can-thank-us-later-0170050/. However, especially when scaling up the ingredients, canned crushed tomatoes will work as a good substitute. One pound of tomatoes (5-6 tomatoes) is about equal to a 14.5 oz can. Feel free to use the whole can in this recipe.

*When using smoked paprika, go easy unless you know how much you like. The recipe calls for “sweet smoked” paprika, which is a little confusing. I used mostly sweet and added a bit of smoked. 

Buckwheat and haricots verts salad

From Ottelonghi  SIMPLE  p. 157

I made this as a side dish to bring to Shula's sukkah.  It was so delicious that I made a simplified version of it the next night with the remaining (Costco sized) green beans.  The smell of kasha cooking (simply bioling) was a very familiar and comforting aroma.  The dressing is key to making this dish really special. Dairy or non-dairy yogurt is fine. 

The second night, I simplified the dish by using a steamer and cooking the kasha in the bottom and steaming the green beans at the same time.  They were ready about at the same time - maybe 7-8 minutes. I added a little raw chopped onion, and less than the recommended amount of herbs.  The taste was mainly in the dressing!

The elements can be made a day ahead and kept separately in the fridge, ready to assembly before serving. 

I noticed on the box that the buckWHEAT was gluten free.  It surprised me, but when I checked, it seems that buckwheat is not wheat at all, it is related to rutabaga!  So yes, it is gluten free. 

INGREDIENTS: 

2 small red onions, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch wedges - 3 cups

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

12 1/4 oz haricots verts, trimmed and cut in half

1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup tarragon leaves, roughly chopped

1 tsp Urfa chile flakes or 1/2 tsp other crushed red pepper flakes, to serve (I used a sprinkling)

SAUCE:

6 Tbsp Greek yogurt (dairy or non-dairy)

1 small clove garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp dried mint

1/8 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2) Mix onions in a large bowl with 1 Tbsp of oil and 1/8 tsp salt.  Spread out on a large parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 18-20 minutes, until cooked through and golden.  Remove and set aside to cool.

3) Bring a medium saucepan with slightly salted water to a boil.  Add the buckwheat and cook (per the book, cook this for 8 minutes then add the green beans for 5 until both are al dente).  As above, I would add buckwheat in the water and green beans atop in steamer basket.  If the kasha is done first, just remove the kasha,  reserve the water and finish steaming.

4)Drain, refresh under cold water and then set aside to dry well.

5) Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce with 1/8 tsp of salt; set aside.

6) When ready to serve, mix the onions, buckwheat, green beans, mint and tarragon with the remaining 1 Tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt.  Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and serve the sauce on the side or swirl the sauce through the salad before transferring it to the serving bowl.  Sprinkle with the chile flakes and serve.