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This burger recipe is adapted from Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook: "Chloe's Kitchen".
I call it "The Enlightened" Best Burger & Sauce, ever!! The texture, the taste, the nutrition--is simply amazing.
Turns out--it makes sense to just double this recipe--and save yourself the kitchen clean-up X two. You'll be glad you did. You'll have a 1-2 months supply of burgers in the freezer.
By doubling the recipe you end up with 2 pounds, 13 ounces of "plant-based delicious 'raw meat". Enough to make 16 burgers, or turn some of it into Italian meatballs, by adding oregano, basil, fennel seed, parsley & red chili pepper--or use some for a "no-meat" loaf--or whatever your little heart desires.
Your choice.
The burger is fantastic on a sprouted whole grain bun topped with Chloe's special sauce, sliced tomato, & pickles or just crumbled on top of a hefty salad & topped with Chloe's special sauce, or my Creamy Chipotle Topping.
Heck, you could even crumble it into a burrito or a taco with all the fixings. Delicious!
Burger Ingredients:
This is a DOUBLE recipe--makes 16 burgers, 2 pounds 13 ounces of veggie "meat".
If you want to only make 8 burgers, just cut the recipe in half.
Equipment needed: a food processor, 11 cup or more capacity; a blender; parchment paper
- 2 8-ounce package of low-fat tempeh, Soy Boy. (This is available at Whole Foods, TJ's or other health food stores.) Note: You can use regular tempeh if you can't find Soy Boy Low-Fat--although the fat content is just much higher. Want gluten free--find a tempeh with a GF label. They exist.
- 1 very large sweet onion, chopped
- 2 or more garlic cloves, chopped (your choice as to quantity)
- 3 cups of already cooked lentils or 1 package of TJ's Steamed French Lentils (17.6 ounces), French or brown lentils are preferred. (I used, & recommend, Trader Joe's aka Melissa's Steamed French Lentils, available in the refrigerated section. It has a long shelf life, so you can stock up!)
- 1 cup of walnuts, toasted (350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Watch carefully! Note: Chloe uses twice the amount of walnuts)
- 1 cup of oat flour (easily made with rolled oats blended in a Vitamix, but packaged oat flour is just fine) Note: any flour can be substituted.
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, optional
- 2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Note: Because this recipe is doubled, I found it works best to "pulse" process each ingredient separately, rather than process them all together. The results would be too uneven--& would result in overprocessing.
After you process each ingredient, "dump" them in a large bowl & mix well with your hands--a lot easier than with a spoon!
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees & toast the walnuts on a parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan for 10-12 minutes. Watch these carefully--they quickly go from "just right" to burnt!
2. Fill a large pot with enough water to reach the bottom of a steamer basket and get the pot boiling!
3. Cut both tempeh slabs into quarters & lay them into the steamer basket once it has started to boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a low boil/simmer & steam for 20 minutes.
4. While the tempeh steams, begin to saute the onions in a very large preheated pan. To do this, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium/low, & allow the onions to sweat & cook in their natural juices.
Uncover the lid every few minutes to check on the onions, stir them around. Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable broth or water if they start to dry out or stick--to deglaze the pan. Once the onions are soft, add the garlic & saute for a few more minutes. Let the pan sit with the heat off while you process all the other ingredients.
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees & line a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper--trimming any edges that hang over the edge. This prevents scorching.
6. Now begin the pulse processing of the ingredients. First pulse process the steamed tempeh until just short of paste--leaving a little texture. Spatula out the contents into a large bowl.
7. Next pulse process the lentils (3 cups or the entire package of TJ's steamed lentils). Also, just short of paste. Spatula out the lentils into the big bowl.
9. Now pulse process the toasted walnuts into fine pieces--not "ground into flour"! Spatula out into the big bowl.
10. Add 1 cup of oat flour, the basil, the pepper, & the salt into the onion-garlic mixture sitting in the saute pan. Combine until well-mixed.
11. Now pulse process the onion mixture into fine pieces--not "mush". Spatula out into the big bowl.
12. Mix the processeed tempeh, lentils, walnuts & onion mixture a few times with a spoon to get things started. Using your hands, mix well until completely combined.
13. You will now have 5 1/2 cups (2 lbs. 13 oz) of "plant-based" burger "meat".
14. Use a 1/3 cup measure to scoop out enough "burgers" to make 16 thin burgers. If you want larger burgers, go for it. If you want to freeze some of the mixture for later use--go for it. You could also use it for meatballs (go Italian with the addition of oregano, red pepper flakes, parsely & fennel seed), or add more seasoning, like Dijon mustard & sauteed mushrooms & serve it as "chopped liver." Or use as a base for meatloaf, or burrito or taco filling.
15. Bake the burgers in two batches: 8 to a pan. Bake at 450 degrees on the middle oven rack for 10 minutes. Flip, and bake for 10 minutes more. If they need a little more baking--add 2 or 3 more minutes. They should be nicely browned.
Special Sauce Ingredients:
Enough for 8 burgers. This recipe is not doubled.
- 2/3 cup of Mori-Nu low-fat firm tofu
- 1-2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons of ketchup (low-sodium, low-sugar, if possible)
- 2 tablespoons of sweet pickle relish (reserve to mix in AFTER the "wet ingredients" are blended!)
- 1 tablespoon of fresh dill, chopped (reserve to mix in AFTER the "wet ingredients" are blended!)
Preparation:
1. Combine tofu, garlic cloves, mustard, & ketchup in a blender & process until smooth.
2. Add the pickle relish after the ingredients are blended. Mix to combine.
Note: This could easily substitute for a Thousand Island Dressing. Crumble a burger on top of a salad, & dress with the "Special Sauce". A Drive-Thru Burger Salad!
Bon Appetit!
