Veggie Burger

I made this burger Saturday night and everyone, even my very picky and honest sister, Alisha, enjoyed it!

I adapted the recipe from the New York Times!

Yields 6 Burgers//412 calories/16g Fat/45g Carbohydrate/23g Protein/13g Fiber//

1. 8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained

2. Olive oil

3. ½ pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

4. ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed

5. Black pepper, as needed

6. 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained

7. 1 medium beet, peeled and coarsely grated (3/4 cup)

8. ¾ cup almonds

9. ⅓ cup chic pea bread crumbs or panko

10. 2 large eggs

11. 1/4-1/2 cup onion

12. 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

13. ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika

14. 4 ounces tempeh, crumbled

15. ½ cup cooked brown rice

DRAINING THE TOFU

1. Slice the tofu into 1/4 inch slabs. Getting a 9×13 in pan(or something similar I alternate paper towel and slab of tofu-reapeating until all tofu is stacked. Sit a heavy dish on top and let dry out for an hour or so.

COOKING TOFU & MUSHROOMS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spread the mushrooms and the tofu on a half of a baking sheet. Toss mushrooms with 2 tables spoons oil/salt/pepper. Oil/salt/pepper both sides of the tofu.

3. Cook for 25 minutes. Most of the liquid should have evaporated.

COOKING THE BEATS & BEANS

1. After the mushrooms and tofu are in the oven. Spread the beans and beats onto a backing sheet. Toss with oil/salt/pepper. Cook 15 minutes until the beans begin to split and the beats are soft.

DEALING WITH THE NUTS

1. While that’s all cooking put the nuts into a food processor until coarsely ground.

MIXING ALL THE INGREDIENTS

1. After cooled, add in the beans, beets, mushrooms, tofu, chic pea(or panko), egg, onions, garlic, paprika, and salt. Pulse until combined. My food processor couldn’t handle all of those ingredients so I ended up mixing it by hand and that worked out fine.

2. Add in tempeh and rice by hand or gently pulse. You want small chunks.

PREPPING THE BURGERS

1. I balled all of the ingredients into six large balls, pattied them about 1 inch thick, and stuck them in the fridge for about 2 hours.

COOKING THE BURGERS

1. Heat the grill. Cook the burgers over a low fire until they are charred on both sides and firm when you press on them, 4 to 6 minutes per side. If they start to burn before they firm up, move them to the sides of the grill to finish cooking over indirect heat. Alternatively, you can cook these on a grill pan or in a skillet over low heat. We grilled our burgers and they turned out great!

Apparently these burgers can be frozen too! I have not tried that but next time I will make 12 burgers and freeze some for future use.

#dinner #lunch