You all by now know of my growing obsession with bean burgers. Since eating less meat, and more veggies and fish, it has forced me into the world of the veggie burger. And it is one hell of a world guys. Anyone who thinks veggie burgers are bland needs to make them, or go to a proper veggie café. McDonald's bean burgers are not acceptable. As a starting point, have a go at making these...
Plenty of spices, a soft inner texture with a crispy shell, and plenty of colourful veggies in there. I feel as if a lot of veggie burgers are missing the essential ingredient: actual vegetables. These ones contain bell pepper, mushroom, corn, onion, and then the red kidney beans are the base. You don't need eggs to bind the burgers as the beans do all the work for you. This means that the recipe is vegan as well as vegetarian friendly. You see guys, I look out for all of you when I can.
Ingredients
1x 400g can of red kidney beans, drained and well rinsed
1x can of sweetcorn (mine contained 114g of actual corn once drained and rinsed)
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 small handful of button mushrooms (approximately 8-10), finely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 dark rye crispbreads, or similar (you can use any sort of Ryvita-esque cracker you like really; I think mine were Aldi's version)
1 large clove garlic
1tsp cumin
2tsp smoked paprika
1.5-2tsp medium madras curry powder
1/2tsp turmeric
1/2tsp garum masarla
1tsp hot chilli flakes
1 pinch of ground ginger
Black and white pepper, to taste
Low kcal cooking spray
Method
Into a pan spray the cooking spray, and then to the pan add the onion and the crushed garlic. Cook over a medium-high heat, until the onions are beginning to soften. Now add the mushrooms, corn, and bell pepper. Cook for one minute, and then add in all of the spices, and a splash of water. Cook for a further 5 minutes, and then set to one side to cool.
Once the cooked vegetables are nearly cool, preheat the oven to 190*c and line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a food processor blend the red kidney beans. Crumble the crispbreads into the food processor with the beans and pulse until well combined, and no large chunks of crispbread remain.
Empty the beans into a large bowl, and then stir in the vegetables until well combined. Divide the mixture into 6, with each burger weighing about 97g, and shape the burgers. Place onto the baking tray and into the oven for 10 minutes.
Once 10 minutes has passed carefully flip the burgers over and bake for another 10 minutes, until the outer surface of the burger has dried out and gone crisp.
Rest the burgers for a couple of minutes so that they don't fall apart, and then plate up!
Serving suggestions....
Smoked paprika potato wedges
Griddled baby gem lettuce
Mustard guacamole (mashed avocado with a little Dijon mustard, my own favourite)
Homemade raita (natural yoghurt with cucumber, mint, and a little garlic)
Tomato, red onion, and cucumber chopped salad
In a wholemeal roll with crunchy lettuce and carrot slices
Approximate Nutritional Values (calculated using Spark Nutritional Calculator)
PER BURGER
Calories- 84kcal
Fat- 1.1g
Saturated Fat- 0.1g
Carbohydrates- 15.1g
Fibre- 4.6g
Sugar- 1.8g
Protein - 4g
Labels: bean burger, burger, easy healthy recipe, Food, healthy burger, Indian, low calorie, low fat, red kidney beans, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian burger
