The Veggie Burger

 Since going gluten-free, bread has been pretty much ousted from my diet. I actually liked white bread sandwiches, (with peanut butter or those crust-free buffet sandwiches), way back when...but then in came GF, and there is no GF substitute that comes near to a slice of white bread...and then in came the choice to go vegan. Honestly, it was easier to replace the filling from a tuna salad sandwich or an egg-salad sandwich with vegan options -which actually taste better than the original version, than finding decent bread.

So, (yeah, yeah, I'm getting to the point), eating a hamburger in a bun was a memory that was tossed into the category "never gonna happen again" until now! YES, I have a solution. Kamut hamburger buns, Earth's Choice provolone cheese slices, and the burger recipe I'm going to share with you in a moment, cooked on the BBQ, I might add. OK, I bought a plaque I put on the BBQ grill because I wasn't sure if they'd hold together, but wow....it was awesome! Ready to try it?

Step one:

The night before, get these things soaking, all night.

1/3 cup sunflower seeds,

1 cup pecan nuts,

1 ½ cup oats,

Yes, covered with water, in a glass dish if possible, all night. You will want to rinse and drain well before use.

Make a flax egg and set aside until it thickens:

2½ Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with ½ cup warm water

In one pot,

¾ cup (uncooked) red rice, rinsed, drained and cooked, (I suppose you could use white or brown)

The Grilled Patty

In another pot,

1 cup (uncooked) green or brown lentils, rinsed, drained, and cooked

Add a veggie broth cube to the water, or 1 Tbsp veggie broth powder

1 red onion (about ½ cup),

1 medium-sized Portobello mushroom (about ½ cup),

IF you don't do mushrooms, you can use zucchini instead)

½ a red pepper

a handful of fresh parsley,

½ tsp baking powder

Now you can add about ½ Tbsp of steak spices or add the following to taste

¼ tsp Freshly ground pepper

½-1 tsp Fresh ground pink salt

½-1 tsp Garlic powder

1-2 Tbsp tamari sauce

Put the vegetables, sunflower seeds, and pecans into the food processor and pulse a few times, you want small pieces.

Then add the rice, lentils, oats, and seasoning. Pulse some more. I like to really give it a go because I don’t want to see chunks of vegetables or seeds. Add the flax egg and mix well. We’re trying to get it to look like a burger.

This makes a good-sized batch, so you can shape and freeze some patties for use at a later date. They freeze really well, and you can put them on the BBQ plaque frozen.

We had more than enough to feed 5 people, twice. ( 3 adults, 2 kids)

Oh! If you are not going to BBQ them, you can add a drop of liquid smoke or a 1/2-1 tsp of smoked paprika, then adjust to taste. You don;t want it to overpower the taste.