As we’ve said before, we don’t really believe in “new year, starve yourself” resolutions. I would hope you know us well enough by now to know that. I have made myself one January pact, though – I want to walk with a lighter environmental footprint. Being a vegetarian helps my carbon footprint a lot, and being totally plant-based in January will reduce it even further I would think. I’m taking teeny steps to try and be even better though, where I can.
So, I’m trying to eat more seasonal, local food, which meant my cupboards are full of parsnips, cauliflower and cabbage. While they’re lovely in soups, curries and risottos, they also lend themselves very well to a traditional “meat” and two veg kind of dinner. I eat almost exclusively “bowl food” so the idea of what to pair my roast parsnips and sautéed greens with half-flummoxed me, til I remembered these gorgeous burgers. Though they do have some far-flung dried ingredients, everything fresh was from the farmer’s market. Little steps…
I don’t call these Ultimate for nothing. These burgers are incredibly tasty, and pack in a ton of protein from the nuts, seeds and beans. We’ve had them for dinner twice this week already, they’re so good. Not too crumbly, not too wet, and can easily be made vegan by using golden linseeds as an egg replacement (which is what I did). Enjoy!
Do you try to eat in season? What ways do you try to lessen your environmental impact?
This post has been entered as a tip-top veggie recipe on Betta Living’s Vegetarian Recipe Competition. Find out more here. #Bettarecipe
- 2 tbsps golden linseeds (flax seeds) or one egg
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 medium sized mushrooms, minced
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 cup nuts/seeds of your choice (I used walnuts and sunflower seeds)
- handful fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ can aduki or kidney beans (kidney beans will need a bit more squashing so the burgers don't fall apart)
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs for rolling (optional, omit for a gluten-free burger)
- If using the golden linseeds as an egg replacer, grind them in the spice grinder until they look like cornmeal. In a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of hot water and leave.
- Fry the onion and mushrooms in the olive oil until soft and just starting to brown. Add the chilli and cumin and fry for another minute then take off the heat.
- While they're frying, toast your nuts either under a grill or in another frying pan. When the nuts begin to release their oils and smell delicious, take them off the heat.
- Put 80% of the nuts into the spice grinder or food processor and blitz into a coarse powder. It doesn't matter if it doesn't all break down - rubbly texture is great here.
- Put the onions, ground nuts and whole nuts in a bowl and add all of the other ingredients except the breadcrumbs. Mush the beans up with the back of a wooden spoon. If you're using an egg, this is the time to add it, otherwise add your golden linseeds, water and all. Squelch the mixture together with your hands, tasting and seasoning with a little more soy sauce if needed.
- Mould into patties with your hands. You want them a little smaller than a regular burger, as this will help them hold together. Roll in breadcrumbs if you like.
- Fry for 5 minutes each side in a little olive oil.
If you have any mixture left over, if freezes fantastically. Mould into patties, then lay out on a tray and freeze for at least an hour. When they’re firmed up, take them off the tray, then they can be frozen in freezer bags. Thaw on the counter top for a few hours before cooking.
Although not a veggie I do fully agree with the reducing footprint bit. When we moved last year we decided to push ourselves to eat local and seasonal properly and now get a weekly veg box and a monthly meat box.
Both come from a farm 5 miles away and they also bring us milk from a local farm. I really enjoy the challenge of cooking what we get rather than heading to the supermarket and buying the same things all year.
I would LOVE to have a farm box delivery. That would be so good, taking you out of your comfort zone and getting you to make new things.
What have you been getting recently and what have you been making?
I just made these and they were AMAZING – we used cashews and sesame seeds.