Festive Vegetarian Christmas Burger

Firstly may I wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas.

I have taken a few days off from work.  We will be going over to my parents later this evening, and tomorrow morning travelling to D's mothers. Having rested the last couple of days, I thought I'd play catch up with a little blogging. 

As you can imagine, over the past few months I've created a number of seasonal dishes and some of these have been for the festive season.  The one I would like to begin with today is my Festive Vegetarian Christmas Burger. 

When I began my little business venture, I had no intention of serving burgers, well not on a daily basis, but people have been asking for them and they have been featuring on the menu for the past three months.  Variations include those made with beans and vegetables, such as beetroot, parsnip, pumpkins, butternut squash, sweet potatoes and the flavours are equally diverse, from Indian, Jamaican to Mexican, oh I even featured my Haggis Burger for St Andrews day last month.

These Vegetarian Christmas Burgers are served in a large granary roll, with winter greens, a slice of mock 'turkey' and a generous spread of cranberry sauce.  I am submitting these Festive Burgers to December-January editiion of Simple and In Season,  a monthly event created by Ren Behan at Fabulicious Food. This month it is being hosted by Lavender and Lovage. 

For those of you with left overs tomorrow, yes you will be able to make these left over cooked vegetables from you Christmas Party menu. 
Vegetarian Christmas Burgers
Makes 8 burgers
A2K Ingredients
100g Fairtrade whole Quinoa
175ml vegetable stock or water
1 medium parsnips, grated (or cooked and mashed)
1 medium carrot, grated (or cooked and mashed)
4 raw Brussels sprouts, grated (or cooked and minced)
1 medium onion, grated
200g chickpea flour
40g dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Vegetable oil to shallow fry
A2K Method
Rinse the Quinoa in cold water. Boil in 175ml water for 10 minutes covered with a lid. Remove the saucepan from the heat, mix in a little salt and level on side for 10 minutes covered. In large bowl, add the grated vegetables, stir in the flour, cranberries, herbs and season to taste. When the Quinoa has cooled down add to the bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. 

Divide the mixture into 6 – 8 burger shapes and place on a tray. Leave to rest for a while to firm up. When ready to eat, heat oil in a wide frying pan and cook them gently, flip over and press them gently whilst cooking. Cook for about 3 - 4  minutes on each side until brown and crisp. Serve immediately.

Vegetarian Christmas Burgers with all the trimmings
To assemble into a proper Christmas Burger, you will also need
Large granary roll
a couple of slices of mock 'vegetarian or vegan turkery'
Cranberry relish
Winter Salad Leaves including some red leaves and optional pretzels in the shape of snowflakes.
Enjoy!
Updated: January 2013 - Fellow blogger Nic at Lemon and Cheese made a variation of these Burgers, follow this link to view.

Sweet Potato - Black Bean Quinoa Burger

Its been a few good months now, since I made a veggie burger from scratch, so when I picked up some sweet potatoes it was with veggie burgers in mind. 

There are so many versions of 'Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers' on blogosphere. This particular 'Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burger' recipe is adapted from The Bold Vegetarian Chef by Ken Charney (2002). In fact Ken Charney proudly exclaims in his book, that 'this burger stands out as his signature dish'. The original recipe also has caraway seeds, hot sauce and dried mushrooms. This was the first recipe I had ever come across that utilised the little known grain then - Quinoa, since then I have seen it lots, including in other veggie burger recipes.  I had made this original recipe way back in 2004.  It was accompanied with a roasted yellow pepper sauce, a sauce that was time consuming to make and one that I was not willing to make this time. This time, I put my own little twist to it - namely ease and it was still Dee-Licious!

These burgers are packed with flavour: sweet and spicy with crunch from the quinoa.  The light coating of cornmeal also gives it additional texture, to what otherwise could be deemed as a soft burger.  The only drawback about the cornmeal coating is that is hides the beauty of the mashed vegetables beneath (see below).  These burgers hold well when being cooked in the pan, but once stuffed between a burger bun or pitta bread, they squish up - Yum.

Well there are about six of these tasty red and black burgers left in the fridge for D to consume during the course of this week; as I will be away from my home and blog land for a week. My mother is not very well, so I am off to see her in Wales.  I should be back in October. Oh I have also made D a big 'Apple Cider Cake' to enjoy in my absence.  I will share that recipe with you when I get back.

Sweet Potato - Black Bean Quinoa Burger
Makes 8 -10
Ingredients
1 medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 - 4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, peeled and grated
320g cooked black beans
2 tablespoons (sun dried) tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
140g mashed cooked sweet potato
150g fairtrade cooked quinoa (about 60g raw)
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
2 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
1 tablespoon of Sri Racha sauce or other spicy hot sauce or to taste
40g - 50g fresh breadcrumbs
125g coarse ground cornmeal for coating
Sunflower or vegetable oil for shallow frying
Method
In a wide pan, cook the onion in the olive oil until soft, then add the garlic, carrot and black beans.  Cook and stir occasionally until the garlic is soft and fragrant. 
Remove front the heat.  With a potato masher, mash until the beans are about half crushed (see above).  Stir int he tomato paste and season to taste.
Place the bean mixture in a large bowl.  Add the sweet potato, quinoa, chilli flakes and coriander.  Mix thoroughly.  Season with the hot sauce.  Gradually add enough breadcrumbs to produce a firm enough mixture to hold together.  Let it cool. 

Form the bean mixture into 8 - 10 burgers.  Spread the cornmeal out on a clean plate. One at a time, dredge the burgers in the cornmeal, using your hands to carefully coat both sides.  Put on another plate.  Allow to chill in fridge before cooking.

In a wide pan, heat a little oil.  When hot, fry the burgers, turning once, cook until crispy and brown on the outside and heated through, about 2 minutes per side.  Do this until all the burgers are cooked.

Serve Warm.  Here they are tucked in some pitta bread with homegrown salad leaves, slices of red onion and served with homemade Sri Racha Mayonnaise.

Beetroot and Quinoa Burgers

These Beetroot and Quinoa burgers were good. Ticked the three boxes for me: Looks, texture and flavour.  The taste of these burgers reminded me somewhat of onion rings, but enhanced further with earthy beetroot and the surprise crisp pop of quinoa bursting in your mouth.

The last time I cooked Quinoa for D he disliked it, this time he had a completely different attitude.  He actually praised this deep maroon burger and declared it Delicious - high praise indeed.

Harissa Bean Burger

This 'Harissa Bean Burger' is the kind of burger you eat in your own company, or in the company of good friends and most trusted of family members, as you and they are not going to look pretty after biting into these.
Although, nice and crispy on the outside, this was one messy mushy beany burger. As I chomped on my burger bun, the spicy beany filling was squirting out from all directions. Yes, you need a big plate or a rather large napkin, otherwise you will have a stained top for the rest of the day. I served these with a little dollop of homemade yellow chilli jam.
I have made harissa in the past, but for this recipe I used a tube of harissa that's been in my fridge for goodness knows how long. I don’t know if its lost its spice heat or what, but it was not particularly strong in flavour.

Priya of Now Serving is hosting the Fast Food Not Fat Food Event this month. Priya gently promped me to submit this healthy looking bean burger to the event. The event is about presenting a healthier version of our favourite fast foods. I had not thought of it, but actually this bean burger is healthy. Not just because its full of beans that are low in fat and high in fibre. But also because they are packed with nutrients in the form of minerals, protein and vitamins. Also in its favour, this bean burger is shallow fried.

Harissa Bean Burgers
Makes 10 - 14

Ingredients

110g black-eyed beans
110g green or brown lentils
2 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for shallow frying
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 red pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 – 3 tablespoon harissa paste
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
2 tablespoons plain flour
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Method
Soak the black-eyed beans overnight in cold water. The other lentils won't need soaking.
To make the burgers
Once the soaking is done, drain the black-eyed beans. In a medium-sized saucepan, add the drained beans and the lentils, then pour in 1 pint (570 ml) water, then bring everything up to a gentle simmer and let them cook for about 40-45 minutes, or until the beans are completely soft. Drain and mash them.
In a large frying pan, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, then heat it over a medium heat and add the onion, carrot, pepper, chilli and garlic. Sauté them all together for about 6 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.

After that mix all the vegetables into the mashed bean and lentil mixture, add the harissa paste, coriander and season to taste. Then dampen your hands and form the mixture into 10 - 14 round cakes. Then place them on a lightly oiled tray, cover with clingfilm and keep them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before cooking.
When you're ready to serve the bean burgers, coat them lightly with flour, then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and fry the bean burgers for 3 minutes on each side until they are crisp and golden, adding more oil to the pan if necessary.

Drain them on kitchen paper and serve immediately. Recipe adapted from Delia Smith Vegetarian Collection.

Vegan Haggis Burgers aka patties

I had some vegan haggis leftover from the weekend. I would have been tempted to follow in the footsteps of fellow blogger Johanna GGG and made some cheesy Haggis nachos for light snacking. But I already had plans for the leftovers in my head. I had already decided on making some vegan haggis burgers, or as some people would them - patties. Its been awhile since I've had a good veggie burger, in fact I can't remember the last time. So this was a good opportunity to make some.

Instead of enveloping my veggie haggis burgers in between two bread buns or a pitta bread, these were served with some Brussels Sprouts hash. The Brussels sprouts hash was excellent, but more about that later.
The burgers were substantive, with bite and chew from the lentils. Golden and crisp on the outside and light and soft on the inside. So much superior than those carpet tile processed burgers found at supermarkets. And just look at them, so much prettier and colourful.
The ingredients are exactly the same as the vegan haggis, the only addition is cooked kidney beans. These kidney beans were mashed and then combined with the other ingredients. This ensured that the burgers held whilst cooking and flipping in the pan and then transferring in one piece to the plate.

Vegan Haggis Burgers or Patties
Makes 8
Ingredients
50g pinhead oatmeal (soaked for 1 hour)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, sliced finely
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tablespoon Tamari
100g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and grated
100g puy lentils
100g of cooked kidney beans, about 1/2 tin, rinsed and chopped
1x400g tinned cooked kidney beans, drained, rinsed and well mashed
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for shallow frying
Method
Saute onion, garlic and seasoning in the oil until soft. Add the lentils and carrot and simmer on low heat until the lentils are soft, stirring to prevent sticking. The moisture content of the soaked lentils and carrot should be sufficient, but if not add a very small amount of water. Add the mushroom and allow to soften before adding the chopped kidney beans. Add the drained and rinsed oatmeal. Allow to cool before adding in the mashed kidney beans and combine well. Season to taste. Then shape into 6 - 8 burgers and place in fridge for 30 minutes to firm up before shallow frying in vegetable oil. Fry on both sides until golden. Serve warm.

Celeriac and Horseradish Burgers

Celeriac is a member of the celery family. Its flavour is similar to that of celery and parsley, so you will often see it recommended as a substitute for celery. Perhaps for this reason, it is also known as celery root. Celeriac is not a vegetable that frequents my kitchen. I may have cooked with it perhaps 4 or 5 times, as a soup, as mash, in a stew and even as a remoulade, but that’s as far as my celeriac cooking repertoire goes.

I have also tried growing this Medusa looking vegetable, but without success much success. The knobbly roots grow, but not the bulbous root itself. I think it is because I have not prepared the soil well. When I get a larger plot in the future, I may try growing them again.
Anyway, this celeriac grown somewhere in England was either going to be transformed into another soup or roasted with other winter root vegetables, but I changed my mind when I came across Demuths recipe for celeriac burgers. I haven’t altered the recipe too much, barely in fact. The only thing different was my celeriac weighed a bit more, so I was able to make 6 large burgers instead of four.

If I was to eat out and be served these burgers, I would be ever so delighted. Unfortunately, most places sell processed carpet tile like burgers, or those vegetable ones that are robotically shaped into discs. This vegetarian burger has echoes of celeriac remoulade and the horseradish was a wonderful warming touch. I personally prefer horseradish sauce to mustard, which I find harsh. On frying and flipping over they held very well too, whereas some vegetarian burger recipes just fall apart.
I am submitting this to Professor Kitty of The Cabinet of Prof Kitty for Weekend Herb Blogging #228. WHB is a weekly blog event originally started by Kalyn. It is now coordinated by Haalo. This is wonderful food event for bloggers to showcase ways to use different vegetables, herbs, spices and fruit.

Celeriac and Horseradish Burgers

Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
1 celeriac weighing 400g - 500g, peeled and grated (Try to peel and slice it just before using, as it has a tendency to turn brown quickly)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
400g tin black eye beans, drained and mashed
6 spring onions, finely sliced
50g breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
3 – 4 tablespoons horseradish sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for frying
Method
Gently sauté the celeriac and garlic in the sunflower oil until softened.
In a large bowl combine the celeriac mix with the mashed black eye beans, spring onion, breadcrumbs, parsley and horseradish sauce. Season well. Shape into 4 -6 burgers and place in fridge for 30 minutes to firm up before frying. Fry on both sides in a little sunflower oil until golden. Serve in a bun with crispy green leave, and red onion. Adapted very slightly from Rachel Demuths Green Seasons Cookbook.

Bulgur Borlotti Bean Burgers

I saw these Bulgur-Bean burgers on Barbara's blog Dish 'n' that a while ago and have been wanting to make them, so today was the day. A sit down in front of the TV kinda meal. I made a few subtle changes, for two reasons: I did not have pinto beans or parsley in the house. Secondly, I increased the amount of spices in the burgers to suit my taste buds, other than that the recipe is pretty much spot on.

Bulgur Borlotti Bean Burgers

Makes 6 - 8 burgers

Ingredients
1/2 cup bulgur
1x 400ml can borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, grated
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium egg
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
A sprig or two of fresh coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame-seed paste)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh lettuce leaves, tomato slices and red onion rings

Method:
In a medium bowl, mix bulgur with 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt and 1 cup boiling water. Cover bowl, and let sit until bulgur is tender and all the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute the onion, carrot and celery in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until lightly browned, about five minutes. Add the coriander during the final minute; set aside.
Place beans in a medium bowl; mash with a potato masher. Add breadcrumbs, sauteed vegetable mixture, egg, cayenne, cumin, chili powder, tahini and bulgur. Season with salt and pepper; mix to combine.

Form mixture into 6 - 8 patties, each about 1 inch thick. At this stage you can leave them in the fridge to firm up. When ready to cook, in a large frying pan, heat oil over medium-low. Cook burgers until browned and firm, 5 to 8 minutes per side.

I served these with roasted Desiree potatoes and roasted green beans. All the fresh vegetables in this dish were my own, except for the celery, which was organic and Scottish.

Brunch veggie burgers

Not one but two veggie burger recipes.

I have never been a fan of veggie burgers, especially shop bought ones that resemble cup coasters; and those offered at cafes, do not fare any better. Below are two veggie burger recipes that I don’t mind to make now and again, especially if I have family staying with me; or friends coming over.

Easy pinto bean burgers - Easy because you don’t need any gadgets and it takes about 30 minutes to 40 minutes to prepare, cook and eat.

Makes 4

Ingredients
400g can of pinto beans, drained and washed
100g mushrooms, minced
1 small onion, finely sliced and chopped
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
2 – 3 tablespoons of vegetable or sunflower oil

Gently mash the beans and mix in all the ingredients, except for the oil.

Shape the bean mixture into four medium burgers.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat.

When the oil is hot, put in the burgers gently – the oil should sizzle as you put in the burgers. Fry for about 5 minutes until that side is brown and crispy. Gently flip over with a wide spatula, until that side is also crisp.

Then serve in pitta bread which is what we did with homemade tomato sauce and mixed leaf salad or crusty bread.

NB Please do not cook these burgers in the oven, they will only disintegrate. I know I tried once.

Chestnut mushrooms and pinto bean burgers
You could also make these with borlotti beans
Makes 6 - 8
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 large onion, sliced
125g chestnut mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
100g cheddar cheese, grated
150g canned pinto beans, drained and washed
100g fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon cornflour

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, mushrooms, salt and thyme until softened. Let it cool.

Transfer onion and mushroom mix to a food processor, add the cheese, beans, breadcrumbs, cornflour and freshly ground pepper to taste. Process until mixed, but don’t overdo it. It should have texture and not be smooth like pâté.

*If the mixture is too wet, add another tablespoon of cornflour. If it is too dry, add one small whisked egg to the mixture.

Shape the mixture into 6 – 8 burgers. Chill until ready to eat.

Put onto baking tray and brush the tops of the burgers with the extra oil, and bake in preheated oven at Gas mark 7 for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve either in crusty bread or as part of a breakfast with toast.