May 25, 2009

So I got a bit creative...

Since I'm on a veggie burger kick, I decided I'm totally wing it today and come up with my own.

I wanted to do a lentil based burger for the week and ended up with something a bit more.

I used about 1 cup dried lentils I had left in the pantry and combined that with about 2 cups of leftover Red Mill pea/lentil soup mix with barley, etc. that I had left as well.

From there, I just went nuts and what I got was WONDERFUL! I can't wait to have them this week for lunches.

The use of the remaining soup mix was a great way to go - I may buy more of that and use it for more burgers. It's a nice mix of lentils, split peas, barley and some little ABC pasta which cooks down enough that it helps to hold the mixture together to form the burgers.

I boiled the lentils with salt, pepper and bay leaf.

Once the lentil mixture was tender, I drained it and it made about 6 cups worth of the lentils.

Puree - roughly - in the food processor in two batches.

Once the lentils are done, place an onion and two carrots in the food processor and chop that up. Toss that mixture with the lentils. Season the mixture as you'd like - I went with rosemary, basil, thyme, and pepper. I also added in about 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds for some crunch. I did have to add some oatmeal to help congeal a bit. You could also add egg or bread crumbs. Just let the oatmeal or breadcrumbs sit in the mixture a bit to soak up the moisture.
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Form in to patties - I used my WW 1/2 cup measure as the guideline for getting the patty amount and the 1/2 cup seemed the right amount.




Place on an oiled griddle pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a heated cookie sheet in the oven. I put the oven at 350 and I do let the burgers sit in the oven for a half hour or so to really form and keep their shape.

I tried one this afternoon and they are filling, hearty and delicious!!

I will have to do this one again!

1 comment:

Elyse said...

hello! i met you today at carolyn's party and wanted to say hello at your blog before i lost your URL. what a fun blog and the recipes look delish! i'll be back!

xo