Be prepared to never have another boring, tasteless, veggie burger again. In fact, it is safe to say that I would probably take this delicious pattie over a regular burger any day. Yes, it is plant-based and vegan and super-healthy, but it is also moist and satisfying and bursting with flavor. Inspired from the “California Burger” at a local organic cafe here in SF called The Plant, it is made of beets, cashews, mushrooms, lentils, and millet. I am pretty sure the original one uses Bulger, but I subbed millet to make it gluten-free. Although the recipe is a little time-consuming as it requires cooking everything separately before making the patties, it is for sure worth it. Enjoy!
The Plant Veggie Burger
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 3 small beets, scrubbed and cleaned
- ½ cup green lentils, rinsed
- ½ cup millet
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 4 ounces brown mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
- ½ cup minced yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- cheddar cheese, avocado, sauteed mushrooms for serving
- sourdough bread
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place beets in a baking dish with about 1-in water and cover dish tightly with foil. Roast beets until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 to 60 minutes. Allow beets to cool slightly, then peel off the skin under running cool water and dice them (you should have about 1 cup). Set aside.
- While the beets are cooking, combine the lentils with 2 cups water in a small pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes until lentils are tender. Drain lentils if there is extra liquid.
- In another pot on the stove, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add the millet reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 20-30 minutes until millet is cooked and all the water is absorbed.
- Heat one tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced onion and cook for about 6 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook another 8-10 minutes, until mushrooms are browned. remove from heat.
- When you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready, start making your burgers! Place raw cashews in either a food processor or Vita-Mix and process until they become a flour. Then, add beets, millet, onions/mushroom mixture, salt, and pepper and process until combined. Add cooked lentils and continue processing until everything has combined but still on the “chunky” side. Remove mixture from either food processor or blender and place in a large bowl.
- Divide mixture into six veggie burger patties.
- Heat up the remaining tablespoon of oil over high heat in a large heavy skillet. Add the veggie patties and cook each side for about 5-8 minutes, until golden and crispy. If using cheese, add in in the last minute of cooking and cover until cheese melts.
- Serve veggie burgers on toasted sourdough bread with avocado.
Leave a Reply