Scratch made Veggie Burgers

Healthy is a choice but it doesn’t mean you have to sound like the over zealous vegan, gluten free, vegetarian fit person in Whole Foods. This deliciously simple recipe is for the one who just wants to skip meat for a day and enjoy a FULL serving of veggies and protein. Let’s get suacin’!

Because there is no meat in this recipe, it did concern me as to how the patty would stay together and not fall apart but this recipe is flawless! Whether you’re grilling the burgers (YUM!) or just kicking it old school and pan searing them stove top style, they will not lose their form.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups black beans
• 1.5 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup caramelized onions
• 1 cup roasted chopped walnuts
• white cheddar sliced cheese (or cheddar or colby or jack, your world)
• hamburger or brioche buns
• sauces: bbq sauce, garlic mayo, balsamic vinagrette
• toppings: dill pickle slices, sliced tomatoes, butter lettuce and more raw red onion (if desired)

Directions:

1. Boil 1 cup of brown rice, or use left over brown rice from a previous dinner. If cooked same day make sure to take the rice off heat and let it cool down.
2. Grill onions until they’re golden brown. Mince your grilled onions into small pieces so that they aren’t chunky in your burger mix.  Remember these onions are more about flavor than texture. 
3. In the same pan that you grilled your onions, place your crushed walnuts into the pan. Using a spatula, toss them around until they’re warm and roasty and turned more golden. When done, remove from heat and get ready to destress. It’s time to get nut crackin! You can use a hammer, the bottom side of a big serving spoon (wood or metal) or your ex’s cell phone, I’ll let you choose!
4. Now in a large mixing bowl you will place your cooled down rice, strained and mashed black beans (see photo below), grilled onions, walnuts, bbq sauce, spices of your choice (ie: seasoning salt, ground black pepper, chili flakes etc.). Mixing well make sure all of it and mixed together, and UNLIKE meat, you can actually taste as you go since everything is already cooked and meat-free! So adding more salt or more bbq sauce is easy to gage at this point, brilliant!

   

   Now you will make your patties. Forming them with your hands into about 4inch diameter sized patties. Now you can grill them or pan grill them, totally up to you. As stated before this isn’t a meat mix so essentially you just want to heat up your patties. To avoid them from getting dry, try adding some balsamic vinagrette to the patties while they’re cooking to add some moisture and some white cheddar sliced too!

5. Using an oven or broiler face your buns to get warmed, slice your tomatoes and rinse off your lettuce grab your pickles and get ready to get saucin’ with a little extra bbq sauce, garlic mayo and balsamic vinagrette.
6. Plate your burgers with brussels sprouts or some homemade sweet potato fries and enjoy the best meatless burger in town! You Boca believe it (shots fired).