Burgers

Meatless burgers are everywhere these days. Even the greasiest spoon in town will often stick a Gardenburger or Boca burger on its menu. And believe me, I applaud all of those efforts to please and appease people who don’t eat meat or just want to cut back every once in a while. But unfortunately, most of those burgers taste pretty much the same: variations on a theme of cardboard

Desiring a burger once in a while to “fit in,” for years I made lentil burgers, but I never really loved them. I tried. I pretended they were great, but they weren’t. They were either soggy and loose or dry and inedible. When I finally admitted to myself that I didn’t like them, I never tried strolling down the homemade veggie burger path again. That is until February, when Mark Bittman, one of my favorite cookbook authors and a columnist in the New York Times’ Wednesday food page, published a series of three recipes for veggie burgers. I was skeptical, but printed out the recipes. Later that month I realized nothing was planned for dinner, and it was 5 p.m. Four mouths would want feeding in an hour. I opened the drawer where I keep all of my loose recipes and the Walnut Burger recipe caught my eye because I knew I had all of the ingredients. I put aside my antipathy for the veggie burger, and moved on: I had the ingredients and it looked simple and fast. Fifteen minutes later the burgers were made and formed into little patties ready to be cooked.

Thirty minutes later they were gone and no one went to bed hungry. In fact they were good – really good. My husband and I topped ours with mustard and greens, my oldest topped hers with lots of ketchup and the youngest with pickles and more pickles and a few olives thrown on for one more sodium hit.

Ok, so you might have all of the ingredients on hand except miso and walnuts. Here’s a piece of shopping advice. Go to Costco and buy a 2 lb. bag of walnuts for $9 (it will cost you nearly 3 times that amount if you buy the exact same walnuts in the bulk section at one of the natural foods stores) and keep the bag in your freezer (nuts go rancid quickly, especially in the warmer weather). Then buy a little tub of miso from either an Asian grocery store or one of the natural food stores. The miso will keep for about a year in your fridge.

Below is Bittman’s recipe that I have modified substantially to fit my usual cupboard ingredients. What appeals to me other than the fact that these burgers really do taste good is they are loaded with great superfoods: garlic, walnuts, miso (soy), oats and egg.

And, while on the subject of vegetarian food, check out the latest installment of the Meatrix at www.meatrix.com. It’s a bit over the top, but it’s really well produced and provides great information and links.

Walnut Burgers

1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup walnuts
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons miso
1 teaspoon fennel, crush slightly to release flavor
1 teaspoon dried basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

In a food processor pulp onion. Add walnuts and oats and grind together, being careful not to make it like mush. Add miso and spices. Add a little water if it’s too dry.

Let the mixture stand in the fridge for about 30 minutes (use this time to finish the rest of your meal: salad, side dish, etc) and shape into four burger. In a nonstick skillet, add a puddle of olive oil and warm. When sufficiently hot, but not burning the oil, add burgers. Cook for about 5-7 minutes without turning. When ready, turn carefully with a spatula and cook on the other side for 4-5 more minutes until very firm.

Serve with typical “hamburger” accompaniments.