Thursday, August 14, 2014

WHITE BEAN BROCCOLI BURGERS

Confession time!  For years and years I’ve been eating frozen veggie burgers.  Not because I like them, nor are they satisfying, but because they’re easy to make, and because I hadn’t taken the time to come up with a veggie burger recipe.

I guess it’s been about 6 months since I determined to eat little in the way of processed foods (Other than candy; in fact I’m eating a bag of  Twizzlers as I’m writing this post!), and in that time I’ve been making all kinds of veggie burgers!  I’ve learned that one of the tricks to making a veggie burger that doesn’t squish out of the sides of the bun is to not use a food processor at all; it took me a couple of tries at making burgers to figure that one out…sheesh!


Using canned beans makes easy work of veggie burger making, and for this burger I also use leftover cooked rice to give White Bean Broccoli Burgers some heft.  Leftover quinoa, freekah, or another cooked grain could easily replace the rice.  Broccoli is one of my very favorite foods (I’m a weirdo), it’s affordable and accessible; when the burger cooks some of the broccoli as well as the cheese gets caramelized which is really really yummy!

I’ve hopped aboard the “no more veggies pretending to be meat” bandwagon, and I don’t intend to get off any time soon!


WHITE BEAN BROCCOLI BURGERS

Makes 4 man burgers, or 5 girl burgers

1              Tbsp.      Olive oil, plus more to for cooking the burgers
1              cup         Broccoli, finely chopped
2              cloves     Garlic, minced
½             tsp.        Dry mustard
                              Salt & pepper to taste
1-15          oz. can    Cannellini bean, drained and rinsed
¾             cup         Cooked rice, white or brown
1              cup         Grated cheese, such as cheddar, Swiss, or Gouda
3              Tbsp.      Toasted almonds, chopped
½             tsp.        Italian seasoning
                               
   1.        Heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the broccoli and garlic to the skillet, stir frequently for about 2 minutes.  Add the dry mustard, as well as a couple of pinches each of salt & pepper, continue to cook and stir until the broccoli is tender but not mushy; about 2 more minutes.  Remove to a bowl to cool.
   2.       In a medium bowl, mash just half of the beans quite well using a masher or a fork, stopping short of the beans becoming a paste.  Add the remaining beans and mash those just slightly to break up those beans.  Gently, stir in the remaining ingredients, including the cooked broccoli.
   3.       Divide the mixture into 4 or 5 patties and put them into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set up.
   4.       Coat the bottom of a large non-stick skillet in olive oil and heat the skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  when the skillet is hot, add the burgers, and cook until both sides of the burgers are deep golden brown.

Top with tomatoes, lettuce, red bell peppers, sundried tomato pesto, roasted red pepper aioli, or Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

 *Note:  Frozen broccoli which has been thawed may be used in place of fresh.  You will skip step 1, omit the 1 tablespoon of olive oil and just mix all of the ingredients together.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

3                             Roasted Piquillo peppers from a jar (or 1 jarred roasted bell pepper)
¼             cup          Plain Greek yogurt, or mayonnaise
½             clove       Garlic, minced
3              Tbsp.        Fresh parsley, finely chopped
                               Salt & pepper to taste
                               Tobascco sauce to taste.

   1.        Add the roasted peppers, yogurt (or mayonnaise), and garlic to the bowl of a food processor, and process until smooth.  Add the parsley, salt, pepper, Tobascco, and pulse just until mixed in.  Refrigerate until ready to use.


   You may also like:

Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Greek Burgers









4 comments:

  1. I hear ya on the frozen veggie burgers - I've relied on them more than making my own veggie burg recipes, too. These sound amazing! Broccoli?!! I love it! Will definitely be trying these out. Sayonara, frozen burgers!

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  2. I have to try your veggie burger recipe too. This looks really inviting!

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  3. What a great sounding burger, love broccoli and white beans!

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  4. Wonderful recipe Kari - I need to give this a try! Yummmy

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