Delicious and Nutritious Meatless Burgers

We love veggie burgers but if you’ve ever looked at most of the store bought packages they can be high in sodium, gluten, dairy and other preservatives or processed ingredients.  It’s taken a long time but I’ve finally created a veggie burger that won’t fall apart, has a good flavour and is easy to make.  This recipe has a lot of fiber, protein and lots of spices to make it part of an overall satisfying meal.  I cook the beans myself which allows a decreased amount of sodium per burger since canned beans contain a lot of sodium and the chemical BPA from the can.  I lightly stir fry the vegetables before processing them but you can probably just throw all of the vegetables into the food processor without cooking them but I have not attempted this yet.  It would make it an even quicker and easier process. 

Easy to Make Flavourful Veggie Burgers

·         1 cup shredded carrot

·         ½ cup diced pepper (green, yellow or red)

·         ½ of yellow onion diced

·         4-5 minced garlic cloves

·         2-3 cups white beans (I cook 1 cup and use whatever that makes)

·         1 ½ cups whole rolled oats

·         1 tbsp chili powder

·         ½ tbsp cumin

·         ½ tbsp paprika

·         ½ tsp turmeric

·         ½ tsp black pepper

·         ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

·         2 tbsp Bragg’s liquid aminos or tamari

·         2 tbsp Dijon mustard

·         1 fresh jalapeño (seeds removed use a glove to handle to avoid burns) or 6-10 slices from jarred jalapeño (I prefer fresh)

·         2 free range eggs

·         1 tbsp organic ketchup (optional)

·         ¼ tsp garam masala (optional)

Make beans in advance – follow package instructions.  Stir fry carrot, pepper, onion and garlic 5-10 minutes until softened over low to medium heat.  Preheat oven 400 F and prepare baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.  Add all ingredients to a large food processor and process until smooth.  Form mixture into patties (Note – it is fairly sticky and try to make all burgers similar size so they will cook the same) and place on baking sheets.  Bake 10 minutes on one side and flip and bake 10 minutes on the other side.  Serve on its own or topped with guacamole (see recipe) or on a brown rice wrap or sprouted grain bread topped with tomatoes, sprouts (see how to sprout) and guacamole.  Or serve with cilantro pesto (see recipe).