Veggie Burgers Trying to eat healthier can be a challenge, especially when all members of the house really enjoy eating meat. We've cut down a LOT on red meat, and substituted ground turkey, chicken, and fish. In my quest for a good vegetarian burger, I've tried a lot of the store ones. So far, the original garden burger has the best taste. The original BOCA burger seems to have the meatiest texture. I wanted to try to create a burger with commonly-used ingredients and try to get both a decent flavor and a meaty bite. (Check out my blog post on this.)
I have found that by reducing the seasonings, the burger can just co-exist with other flavors in the serving, and not overpower them. My earlier recipe relied heavily on the steak seasoning, and was really too salty. Ingredients: 1 cup lentils 1 vegetable broth bouillon cube to make 2 cups of broth (Like Knorr) 2 cups water 1 cup brown rice and 2.5 C. of water - or one family size "Success" brown rice - (makes 3 cups) 1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans (mine had salt), drained and rinsed 1 cup chopped sweet onion, cooked in a little oil 1 tsp or more minced garlic 1 cup flour 1 cup oatmeal (I use regular, not quick cooking) 2 eggs, beaten 1 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce Directions: 1. Add lentils and 2 cups of vegetable broth to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally until most of the water is absorbed... also about 35-45 minutes. This should become pasty. When you pull the spoon across the bottom of the pan, it should stay exposed for a second or so. 2. Prepare the brown rice according to package directions. Use 2 1/2 cups of water, and a little oil if desired. Put oil in skillet on high heat, add rice and salt if desired. Saute the rice for a few minutes until it starts to sizzle or pop. Add the water and bring to a boil . Reduce to lowest heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes until the water is mostly gone. Let the rice sit and steam some more, with the cover on, and the heat off. Alternately, I now use a family sized bag of Success Boil-in-Bag brown rice and follow the package directions. 3. Cook the chopped onion in a skillet, adding the onion toward the end of the cooking time. It doesn't need to caramelize, just cook. Add salt and pepper as desired 4. Drain the black beans, reserving the liquid "just in case you need it." 5. Mash the black beans in a large bowl until they are mostly broken and become pasty. Make sure to leave some chunks in there. They provide texture. 6. Let the lentils and rice cool to just barely warm, so they won't cook the eggs. Add the cooked lentils, cooked rice, flour, oatmeal, and eggs to the mashed beans. Season with some steak seasoning and Soy Sauce. Try not to over salt. Stir well. Refrigerate for about an hour. 7. Heat a large non-stick pan on medium heat.* Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Place the burger(s) in the pan. Use a number 8 scoop to accurately measure 1/2 cup. Turn after a few minutes (about 5) and cook the second side. Reduce and raise heat to get a good crust on both sides of the burgers as they are turned several times. I found that when I went to make the burger patties, the mixture was very wet, and didn't really want to hold a patty shape. So I put the lump of mixture into the skillet, and pressed and shaped it with the spatula.... and it was picture perfect. I've also learned to wait until the first side was nearly done, and very firm before flipping. What I like about this recipe is that it not only looks like a presentable burger, it's actually got a very nice meaty texture and good flavor. I find that as I'm shaping the burgers in the pan, the spatula keeps getting the gooey "batter" on it. Just keep wiping it with paper towels, or rinsing it off. When the burgers are the correct color, they are a bit delicate. That gets better as they cool. I cool them completely on wire racks then stack them in paper towels and store in Baggies or plastic containers. I have not tried to grill these burgers. I think if I were going to try reheating them on the grill, I'd probably want to make sure they were as firm as possible first, and the grill well oiled. I've seen other veggie burgers turn back into batter as they heat up, and these may be no exception. Microwave or frying pan is great. (These burgers make decent meat replacement for the Salisbury Steak recipe.) I read somewhere that it's better to cook lentils without salt, since the salt stops them from taking in some of the water. Who knew? Not me. *The pan I use for these is a 12 inch skillet that I picked up in a supermarket. I think it's non-stick aluminum, and one of my cheapest pans, since it's very light. It gets nice and hot quickly and reacts very well to temperature changes. I can also fit 4 burgers at a time in it, using the sides of the pan to move the burgers around, touching the sides, and firming up the edges as well! |