Make Your Own Veggie Burger

Since posting up Galleon Cafe's burger pictures, the thought of making my own veggie burgers (thanks to SuperQ and Hafiz for prompting me towards that direction!) kept bugging me. I've never made burger patties before (not that I can remember. Do falafels count?) so to attempt to make a veggie one was what I hoped, would be easy peasy.

First up, was to research for recipes and I came across the basic 'rules' of making a veggie burger from No Meat Athlete's site. You should check it out! It details the basic ideas that a perfect burger patty should have: main ingredients, spices, sauces and texture.

Step 1:

Prep up your main ingredients. Two cups of diced or chopped vegetables of your choice.

Step 2:

Fry the chopped onions and garlic on the pan for about a minute before chucking in the vegetables. Stir fry for 5 minutes or so, adding a bit of salt.

I don't have a blender so I chucked in the leftover mashed potato, spices and sauces straight into the pan and mix them as much as I could.

Chopped almonds and flour last. Mix well.

Step 3:

Roll them and shape them. Make decent sized patties, maybe as big as the palm of your hands.

Pop them into the freezer so that the patties maintain their shape. I left mine in the freezer until the next day before I tried a piece. The rest are kept in the freezer for emergency situations only, like when I really really really really crave for a burger for dinner.

Step 4:

Thaw them in the fridge for 30 minutes before popping it into the grill. Erm, I slathered a bit of olive oil on each side before popping it into the grill.

It took about 5-6 minutes on each side.

Pan frying them would probably make them ... er ... nicer?

Step 5:

Construct your burger!

Sorry, I was too hungry to prepare some chips on the side.

Place patty on a bed of baby spinach leaves with a smidgen of ketchup and light mayo. Top the patty with a dollop of the sauce of your desire. I had a teaspoon of Chris's Spinach, Pine nuts and Peccorino dip.

(I was too lazy to add a slice of tomato, but you and I know that you can always construct your own burger. No one needs to tell you what to do!)

Not too bad!

This is definitely a kiddie size, but *sigh* it is good portion control. I finished up my bananas before the meal and I must admit, I was stuffed until now. :)

Verdict:

The patty is only slightly crispy firm on the outside so it requires some care to remove it from the grill. (It is not crispy and may fall apart.) I loved the mild taste of curry and crunch from the chopped almonds. These ingredients made the patty really yummy. For the average eater, I suppose 2 patties would be best served in your burger bun. :D

Would pulsing the ingredients in the blender make a difference? 

Probably, if you want a finer texture but I prefer mine this way. Saves me a bit of hassle (and I don't have a blender), though!

Von's Lazy Veggie Burger Patties

Makes 7
2 cups of chopped/diced vegetables (mushroom, carrots, broccoli and pumpkin)

1/2 cup of chopped/diced yellow onions

1 clove of garlic, minced

4 teaspoons of spices (1 mixed herbs, 1 chilli flakes and 2 of mild curry powder)

3 tablespoons of sauce (1 dijonnaise and 2 ketchup)

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, for frying

1/2 cup of chopped almonds (or try pine nuts, peanuts, sesame/flax seeds, etc)

1 cup of flour

(and I had 1/2 cup of leftover mashed potato which I added in as well.)

*Although I didn't have beans to make up the bulk of the patty's ingredients as suggested on No Meat Athlete's site, I think the mashed potato may have helped a little. If I had a can of chickpeas, I would have used that and may make at least 12 patties.

*Update: Grilling them is easier although it won't be crunchy. I pan fried a patty today and the middle was soggy. Will try making smaller sized ones for the next batch. :)

Next time, I think I'm going to try out Martha Stewart's Curry-spiced Veggie Burgers! :)

And keep some sweet potato chips ready beforehand to complete the dish. 

p.s. I've just prepared 2 patties for YB's packed lunch tomorrow. Cross fingers he will say it's awesome, too. He did! He said it was his best lunch ever, 9/10. :D

p.p.s. On hindsight, I think I should have added some cheese into the mix.