Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a fun (safe) 4th of July!

A burger is undeniably one of the best 4th of July eats. So what does one do when they aren’t eating meat? Buy frozen veggie burgers? Nah, make your own! Because the holidays are all about experimentation aren’t they?

Well, mine always are anyways.

Initially I wanted to try making a gluten free burger. However, my local health store had gluten free breadcrumbs at an outrageous price and I decided I’d just use regular breadcrumbs and skip the bun.

Brown Rice & Veggie Burgers, makes 8 patties
3 c cooked brown rice
1 ½ c mixed veggies (I used: 1 med carrot, 2 med portabella mushrooms, 1 green bell pepper, ½ c cooked chopped spinach & 6 sun-dried tomatoes)
3 T soy sauce
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T minced garlic
1 ½ T fresh rosemary, chopped
1 ½ c fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 c golden flaxmeal
1/3 c nutritional yeast

~Pulse veggies (except spinach) in a food processor until finely minced.
~In a small bowl mix soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary & pepper.
~Mix brown rice & veggies in a large bowl until incorporated.
~Add soy sauce mixture & toss to coat.
~Next, add breadcrumbs, flax meal & nooch.
~Form into 8 patties and chill until ready to cook (or pop in freezer for at least 30 minutes).

Preheat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once heated, place patties in 4 at a time (or in 2 different sauté pans) . Cook 8 minutes, flip & cook another 8 minutes.



At this point they are done. Add your fave toppings and eat.

But I took them a bit farther.

Balsamic Onions (recipe to follow) & Gorgonzola Cheese. Oh Yes.



Preheat oven to 400. Place patties on a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Top with balsamic onions & cheese and cook until cheese starts to melt.

Since I had to pan cook these I HAD to grill the side items. The 4th of July is all about grilling!

(oops, didn’t get a chance to photo the sides on the grill).

Here they are all together.

“Burgers” + grilled corn on the cob w/Garlic Basil Compound “Butter” + Italian grilled sweet potatoes (both recipes to follow).



Not bad for my first homemade veggie burger. The BF did not ask “Where’s the meat?” I think he is finally getting it!

4 comments:

  1. I've never tried making my own veggie burger before either - congratulations on an exciting first :-)

    I also prefer my veggie burgers without the bun - you can taste the flavors so much more that way!

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  2. @Diana @ VeggieNextDoor You should definitely give it a try! I was a little hesitant at first but in a way it's just like making a regular burger....and i've made plenty of those in the past lol

    Hope you had an awesome 4th :)

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  3. OOO looks sooo yummy, I can't wait to try these! I've been a very lazy vegetarian lately!

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  4. @Danielle I hope you will try them :) Let me know if you do!

    I can relate to being lazy lately. However, you were busy moving and I have no excuse ;)

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