Stuck in on a Snow Day gave me plenty of time to cook!

AMARANTH VEGETABLE BURGERS

Stuck inside like everyone else, I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted. Not only did I have time to use my new bentonite face mask, catch up on laundry and read, but time left over to focus on a recipe I’ve been wanting to investigate for some time.

This recipe, for vegetable burgers, is one I’d seen by Emily Segal on her honest cooking website. Finally, I had both time to try making these, and all the necessary ingredients. I’ve wanted to use the wonderful tahini given to us by our friend Julie, the marketing coordinator for Soom Foods, in something new and unusual. It says on the Soom website that you could use their tahini for hummus AND carrot cake, so I was encouraged to incorporate its creamy texture and full bodied taste in today’s creation.

 

Amaranth (left), and Soom Tahini (right)

I’ve also been very curious about amaranth, but todays recipe was my first attempt using this tiny seed. I was perplexed when the recipe I was adapting said that after cooking the amaranth to fluff it. My amaranth was beyond fluffing. It was downright gelatinous. Not quite as bad as a pot of chia, but not far off! Despite this discrepancy,  the vegetable burgers came out tasting great, which is why I’m not waiting until I get a pot of amaranth that fluffs to post this and am sharing with you now. I only made a few changes to this recipe. I used an extra zucchini and added garlic powder. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of spelt flour, but I substituted 1/2 cup of coconut flour.  Also, the original recipe asked for fresh herbs, but mine were dried. It was supposed to make about 10 patties, but I wound up with 16. Must be from that extra zucchini. Anyway, we really liked these burgers. The tahini and lemon really complimented one another. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we did. Betayavon!

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup dry amaranth
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 3 medium zucchini, grated
• 3 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 Tbsp. tahini
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried dill
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 t. rubbed sage
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• juice of 1/2 lemon, or more, and maybe some lemon zest if you like
• no stick spray

Supplies:

• measuring cups and spoons
• large pan and spoon for stirring veggies
• shredder or box grater
• small pot and lid for amaranth
• baking sheets
• parchment paper
• spatula

Instructions:

Place amaranth and water in a pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, until amaranth is soft and water is absorbed. Remove lid, fluff (if you can!), and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with no-stick spray.

Cooked Amaranth (left), Vegetables (right)

In a pan, sauté the onion in oil. Add grated zucchini and carrots. Sauté until everything is soft. Add the spinach. Cook just until it wilts. Remove pot from the heat. Slowly add your cooked amaranth to the vegetables, stirring after each addition. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Mix with spoon or your hands until everything is uniformly combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you prefer. Shape patties and place them onto the baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes and then turn over and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden and a bit crunchy on top.

 

 

 

Veggie Burgers

Chick Pea and Green Pea Veggie Burgers

For a vegetarian, I sure am fixated on burgers. Creating them, eating them, inventing new and unusual burgers that are vegan and gluten free.  I like to grill or barbecue extras because they’re easy to reheat and eat, and are wonderful crumbled on salad or inside a potato,  make a complete meal.

It’s really funny, because I never really liked burgers before I was a vegan. Shows how little I liked meat.  After becoming a vegan, I became obsessed about making a burger that was juicy inside, crispy outside, not difficult to make, and tasty. Tasty being key!

My mushroom walnut burgers are the best tasting burgers I ever ate. But then again, I love mushrooms. I’m proud to have invented that recipe, and so happy when I make them. They froze and defrosted well, I should add. That makes it easier to recommend doubling the recipe.

Today, I’m sharing another burger recipe which incorporates seasoning, gluten free breading, green peas (I used frozen green peas that I first thawed), and canned chick peas. I started with a recipe from Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine, and made it gluten free. I kept on tweaking the recipe to get it perfect. They’re not only nutritious and gluten free, but vegan, delicious, not difficult, and the huge batch disappeared quickly. Not as good as the mushroom burgers I love so much, but really really good. Betayavon-Good Appetite!

Veggie Burgers made from Chickpeas and Green Peas

Ingredients

• 2 c frozen peas, thawed
• 3 1/2 cups canned chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 T parsley, chopped fine
• 4 T basil or oregano chopped fine
• 2 flax eggs (2T ground flax seed meal dissolved in 6 T water. Allow to set in bowl for 15 mins)
• 1 1/2 cups gluten free breadcrumbs (I used a combination of brown rice flour,oat flour, and cornmeal. Potato flakes would work just as well to keep the mixture light and hold it together, but has added sodium
• 1/8 cup Cornmeal plus 1/8 cup brown rice flour for lightly coating burgers before sautéing
• 1/4 cup olive or sunflower oil
• 2-4 T barbecue sauce or spicy sauce for dipping, depending on if you like things more sweet or spicy, or combine them for your desired result!
• Gluten free buns, cole slaw, sliced tomatoes and onions, pickles, and lettuce

Supplies

• Food Processor
• Spatula
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cast iron pan or baking sheet and parchment paper if baking instead of frying
• Spatula

Instructions

In Food Processor:
1 medium onion, add 2 cup frozen peas, thawed, 31/2 cup canned chick peas, rinsed and drained. Pulse til combined and pureed. Mixture should be thick. To this, add 2 flax eggs (Sprinkle 2 T. ground flax seed meal into 6 T. water and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes until it appears gelled), the spices, 1/2 cup corn meal, either 1/2 cup mashed potato flakes, or gluten free flour, or 1/2 cup oat flour. Add 1/2 cup brown rice flour. Pulse until everything is thoroughly combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Form patties by pressing the mixture firmly between your palms. If impossible to get them to stick together, add water a tablespoon at a time, making sure not to add too much water. Sprinkle each burger with corn meal. You can add any seasoning you like to the cornmeal for additional taste: cumin, cayenne, garlic or onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano, etc.

Heat 2 T. olive oil or coconut oil in a large cast iron pan. You’ll know the pan is hot enough if it sizzles and hisses when you shpritz it with a few droplets of water. Add the firm burgers, and allow them to cook throughly on the first side before attempting to turn them gently with a spatula. These are very dense burgers and not all that moist-as I’m sure you can tell from the list of ingredients, so they will take a while to cook, and you will need to treat them gently.

Flip and finish cooking on the second side. As an alternative, you can cook them in a hot over (400 degrees) on a large baking pan lined with parchment paper, and turn them midway-about 20 minutes-and finish cooking on the second side.

These burgers did not get the kind of crispy crunch I usually crave when I fry something, but were delicious and filling, and I was happy to have made them.
I opted not to add spices to the cornmeal breading, and used spicy barbecue sauce to top them instead.

Great on a gluten free bun topped with anything you like: pesto, barbecue sauce, cole slaw, pickle, salsa, pickles, onion and tomato slices, sprouts, or lettuce leaves.