Veggie burgers with sprouts

I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend! I couldn't be happier, as my long awaited summer holiday has now started. I didn't have a summer holiday last year, so I'm intending to enjoy this one properly. The weather is also looking promising.

I made these veggie burgers a while ago. They are actually even vegan. The patty itself was made from an organic burger mix, which contained a lot of grains, carrots, herbs etc. They tasted really good, and became nice and crispy thinner patties.

I added all sorts of sprouts on the burgers: beetroot and garlic sprouts and pea shoots. They made the burgers really fresh tasting. I used fluffy brioche buns from the local shop to serve it all together.

Have a lovely weekend!

Your VegHog

Veggie burgers

Somehow I don't eat as many veggie burgers these days, as I used to do. Perhaps it was the more typical vegetarian option in Britain when eating out, so I somehow also ended up making them more at home over there. Of course they are also quite an usual dish here, but I just haven't had many lately. Now I felt like it was the time again.

I made these veggie burgers with a ready made breaded seitan burger accompanied by grated turnip, wilted spinach with garlic and tomato salsa on seedy buns, served with potato wedges. They were juicy, crispy and tasty. I really need to make veggie burgers more often, as they also are such an easy weekday meal, when the patty is ready made.

Have a good start to the new week!

Your VegHog

Kabuki pea burgers

This week has been quite rainy. It's still warm, but just really wet. I've caught a cold, but have also many things going on at the moment, so I can't really let that stop me. I also feel that comfort food is the right choice of the moment, and therefore made some vegetarian burgers to indulge in.

I made these veggie burger patties that are full of good proteins. The patties themselves are vegan and they contain kabuki peas, pea protein flakes, and fava bean flour. These made very tasty burgers and the patties held very well together.

Kabuki pea burgers

Ingredients

1 cup cooked kabuki peas

½ cup pea protein flakes

1 carrot

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 green chilli

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp fava bean flour

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Handful of fresh coriander

Toppings

Homemade carrot bun

Fried halloumi

Pea shoots

Smoked chilli pickle

Method

Cook the kabuki peas and briefly cook the finely chopped onion, garlic and chilli in olive oil. Also cook the pea protein flakes as per packet instructions.

Mix all the ingredients together and purée the peas slightly. I always like to leave some whole ones as well.

Shape burgers from the mix and fry on both sides in vegetable oil until brown.

Serve with any veggie burger fixtures you like. I served them with homemade carrot buns, fried halloumi, pea shoots, smoked chilli pickle and blue tortilla chips on the side. 

This recipe is my May Eat Your Greens recipe. Shaheen is hosting this month, head to her blog to admire the colourful entries.

I also want to Share this recipe with My Legume Love Affair #107 cooking challenge hosted this month by Siri and co-hosted by Lisa.

Your VegHog

Chestnut and parsnip burgers

Who said that you can't have veggie burgers at Christmas? I hope no one, as here comes exactly such a recipe. I made my savoury veggie burger patties from parsnips and chestnuts, and served them on a cheese and chive roll with spinach and sea buckthorn jelly. I really loved the addition of the sea buckthorn jelly, it instantly made the burgers feel more festive. You could also use cranberry jelly, if you can't get sea buckthorn jelly. I still happened to have a jar that I have brought with me from Finland some time ago. The chestnut purée was very handy to use. I can imagine that it would be good in nut roasts as well.

And yes, those are indeed potato crisps on the side, just a bit more special ones with winterberries and prosecco flavour. I saw potato crisps served on a plate for the first time in Northern Ireland. I was slightly puzzled at the sight first, but actually it's not that crazy at all. These ones with the little stars just look great and festive.

I can't believe I haven't used my little wooden reindeer platter more in presentations. I've had it for years, and maybe just once have shown it on the blog, if at all. It's just great for such Christmas showcases.

Chestnut and parsnip burgers

Ingredients for about 8 burger patties

3 parsnips

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vegetable stock extract

Sprinkle of sea salt

Sprinkle of ground black pepper

200 g chestnut purée

Few fresh sage leaves

½ cup breadcrumbs

Serve with:

Sea buckthorn jelly

Fresh baby spinach

Cheese and chive roll

Winter berries & Prosecco potato crisps

Method

Peel and cut the parsnips into large chunks, cook them in water until done and then mash them.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them in vegetable oil until soft. Add the vegetable stock extract, salt and pepper to the onion and mix them with the parsnip purée.

Add the chestnut purée, finely chopped fresh sage leaves and breadcrumbs to the mix and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Shape burger patties from the mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C and bake the patties for about 30 minutes.

Serve as burgers with all the nice sides and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Chickpea and root vegetable burgers

I've been eating so many veggie burgers lately when going out, so I thought it's time again to make my own proper veggie burgers. These are my vegan, rustic, low fat burger patties made with root vegetables, chickpeas and spices. I really liked these oven baked flavoursome burgers. They were just perfect with spicy homemade potato wedges and chilli ketchup.

Chickpea and root vegetable burgers

Ingredients

2 carrots

4 small purple carrots

2 turnips

Olive oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1,5 cup chickpeas

Fresh coriander leaves

Ground cumin to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

Ciabatta rolls

Chilli ketchup

Lettuce

Served with spicy smoky rubbed potato wedges on the side

Method

Cut the root vegetables into smaller pieces, brush them with olive oil and roast in the oven until done. Mash them after the roasting.

Cook the chickpeas. Soak them overnight first, if you are using dried chickpeas.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them in oil in a pan until soft.

Combine the chickpeas, root vegetables, onion and garlic, mashed root vegetables and mash the chickpeas also partly.

Season the mix and shape generously sized burger patties from the mix.

Bake the burger patties at 200 C for about 30 minutes.

Serve the patties with rolls and any fillings you wish and enjoy!

I'm sharing the recipe with My Legume Love Affair cooking challenge. Simona from the Briciole blog is hosting the even this month and co-hosted by Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen.

Your VegHog

Teff and broad bean burgers and courgette fries in cider batter

I haven't made veggie burgers for a while and thought that I would try new kind of vegan burgers made from teff grain and an interesting dried broad bean crunch that I bought in Finland. That can be substituted by dried, frozen or fresh broad beans of course. Best thing would be puréeing them for the burger mix. I served courgette fries in cider batter and a tahini dip on the side and it was quite a feast altogether. Luckily I could freeze some of the burger patties to be enjoyed later.

The roll is a homemade wheat-spelt-carrot roll, also vegan, but unfortunately I didn't note down the ingredient amounts. I have posted similar roll recipes here before and will surely post similar ones again. So here is my recipe for today's dish.

For the burger patties:

Makes about 10 medium sized patties.

150 g teff grain

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

1 cup broad bean crunch

1 large carrot

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

Smoked paprika

Salt

Ground black pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

For the courgette fries:

3 medium courgettes

1 cup dry cider

½ + 1 cup spelt flour

Pinch of smoked paprika

Vegetable oil for frying

For the tahini dip:

1 lemon's juice

100 g tahini

Sprinkle of salt

Method

Cook the teff in 300 ml water with the vegetable stock powder until done.

Soak the broad bean crunch for about 30 minutes.

Grate the carrots and chop the onion and garlic finely.

Cook the onion and garlic in oil until slightly caramelised.

Mix all burger patty ingredients together once they have cooled and shape burgers from the batter.

Cook the patties in hot oil until golden brown.

Cut the courgettes into fairly thin strips.

Make the batter by whisking one cup of flour with one cup of dry cider and add some smoked paprika.

Roll them in spelt flour and then in the batter and deep fry in hot oil.

Mix the dip ingredients together.

Assemble the burgers. I put a couple of tomato slices and some lettuce into the bun with the patty.

Serve and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Courgette and carrot fritters

I have been fully spoiled by my family members, who already served me many lovely veggie meals during this holiday. Now I made these simple courgette and carrot fritters for my mum and granddad, as they tend to like them.

These are very basic fritters that are quick to make and they are quite juicy thanks to the combination of grated vegetables and cheese. So they were just perfect to make on this occasion.

Ingredients

1 small courgette
4 small carrots
2 new season onions
25 g Oltermanni cheese (or other cheese)
1 egg
1 dl wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

Method

Grate the courgette, carrots and cheese and chop the onions finely. Mix them together and add the egg, wheat flour and seasoning. Add more flour, if the texture of the batter is too moist. The fritters should keep their shape when fried.

Heat a pan and add about a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Put a couple of tablespoons of the batter onto the pan in a fritter shape for each fritter and fry from both sides until properly fried. Repeat the method until the batter is gone and add more vegetable oil between the batches.

Serve with potatoes and sauce, as we did now, or as burgers.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Bean and lentil burgers

My weekly cooking plan didn't go exactly as planned. I was keeping up pretty well during the week, but on the weekend I started slipping. I want to thank everyone for the comments throughout the week how organised I am, but now I have to admit that I didn't quite keep to the plan. On Friday I had a lovely pub meal as planned. I had a wonderful char-grilled pepper and halloumi ciabatta with thin chips and coleslaw on the side washed down with local ciders. On Saturday however I didn't make the veggie burgers, as originally planned. We decided to go to New Forest for a relaxing stroll and I didn't have any time for cooking. I will post photos from this walk later as well, but I'm making the veggie burgers today. This means the vegetarian Sunday roast won't be made at this occasion, but I don't mind that much, as it's quite warm today and I don't want to spend all day roasting vegetables and having the hot oven on. 

I was contemplating long and hard what kind of burger patties I would make this time and decided for a mix of different beans and lentils. That kind of veggie burgers tend to work always. Here is my recipe for today's burgers.

Ingredients

½ cup dried bean mix (Black eyed beans, black turtle beans, butter beans, haricot beans, lima beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, rose cocoa beans, alubia beans, mung beans)

½ cup red lentils

¼ cup puy lentils

1 large shallot

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp chilli flakes

Ground black pepper

Salt

Ground cumin

Smoked paprika

2 eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Served with: homemade spelt and carrot rolls, char-grilled bell peppers, fried red onions, smoked cheese, pea shoots, fresh peas and plum tomatoes.

Method

Soak the dried beans overnight. Then boil them for about one hour until done. Also boil the lentils until done. Actually I cooked the lentils extra mushy so that they are better binding agents for the burger batter. Drain well and let them cool down.

Chop the shallot and garlic finely and mix them with the lentils and beans. Season the mix with chilli flakes, ground black pepper, salt, ground cumin and smoked paprika.

Add the eggs and breadcrumbs (monitor the amount of the breadcrumbs while adding, as you might need less or slightly more than given in the ingredients) and mix into an even batter.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan, shape burgers from the batter and fry them on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with your favourite veggie burger fittings and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Black quinoa burgers

It is about time that I made some homemade veggie burgers again. I have noticed that I've lately quite often purchased ready made vegan or vegetarian burgers and that just isn't acceptable for me in the long run. So a new batch had to come along, some of it was instantly frozen for future use.

These burgers containing black quinoa, roasted bell peppers, black beans and different spices are quite tasty and nutty. Here are the simple instructions for making them.

Ingredients

2 bell peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup black quinoa

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 can black beans

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

Ground coriander

Ground cumin

Chilli flakes

Salt

½ cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

Vegetable oil for frying

Burger buns + salad + tomatoes + cheese + whatever else you would want to serve the burgers with

Method

Cut the peppers into a few large bits, brush them with olive oil and roast until soft. After the roasting, purée the peppers into a paste.

Cook the quinoa in water for about 20 minutes or until done.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them soft in olive oil. Add the beans to the onion and then season with ground coriander, ground cumin, chilli flakes and salt to taste.

Add the cooked quinoa and the pepper paste into the pan and cook everything together for a few minutes. Let the mix cool down and then add the breadcrumbs and egg.

Shape burgers from the mix and fry them on both sides in hot vegetable oil.

Serve with your favourite veggie burger toppings and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Sweet potato and bean burgers

Why can't a veggie burger or Schnitzel be part of a Christmas meal, especially in various pre-Christmas parties? I think it certainly can, and would make a refreshing change. That's why I made Christmassy sweet potato and bean burgers.

Make with this recipe about 16 generous sized burgers.

Ingredients

1 kg sweet potatoes

240 g / 1 can red kidney beans

2 onions

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

Ground black pepper to taste

Ground nutmeg to taste

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 dl spelt flour (or wheat)

3 eggs

2 dl semolina

1 dl breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Peel the sweet potatoes, boil them in water and mash. I did this stage on the previous night, as I'm known to be impatient to wait for the mash to cool. It also gets a bit firmer and easier to handle, if it rests longer. Anyway, let the mash cool, even if you boil the sweet potatoes on the same day.

Chop the onions and garlic finely and cook them soft in olive oil. Add the beans to the pan with the seasoning and let cook for a few minutes. Then also let this mix cool.

Combine the bean mix with the sweet potato mash and add the maple syrup. Add couple of tablespoons of flour to the batter, if it feels too soft and the burgers won't hold together.

Make an assembly line of three plates: flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs combined with semolina.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and start shaping the burgers. Then roll them first in the flour, then the egg wash and finally the breadcrumbs. Fry the burgers on both sides until crispy.

Serve with rolls or as Schnitzel. I also served here some sea buckthorn jelly on the side in whimsical hedgehog and mushroom shapes.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog