Where’s the beef? Have I lost my mind?
Anyone that knows me well, knows that meat or fish are usually a key part of most of my meals. This is the way I grew up and it’s been hard to shake that “tradition”.
Although a bit pickier than me, Liz and the kids are also big fans of meat and fish. Salads, rice, potatoes and other sides usually play the supporting role and are rarely the main act.
Scratch cooking…
As Liz mentioned in our last post, our youngest son had some buddies over to celebrate his birthday over the weekend. One of those kids happens to be vegetarian.
This boy and his parents are super nice and they told us not to fuss, but since I had already decided I was making homemade beef burgers for the other kids, I could not, in good-conscience, offer store-bought veggie burgers to this friend.
Nothing against store-bought… I’ve had some delicious pre-made and fast-food veggie burgers. It’s just that if I was making the beef burgers from scratch, I wanted all the kids to have fresh and homemade burgers.
My version
I’d already made similar veggie burgers in the past for other friends who have a daughter that’s vegan. I was happy with the way they turned out, but since we were busy preparing to host our friends, I hadn’t written down the ingredients.
Although I had no plans to blog on the day of our son’s birthday, I took the time to write down the ingredients and steps while I was preparing the veggie burgers. I wanted to be able to replicate them.
Our little guy’s friend is a very polite kid, so I’m not sure if he was just being polite when he said his veggie burger was fantastic, but I figured I’d take the compliment. He did finish the entire veggie burger so I’m assuming it really was a winner for him.
I had the rest of the veggie burgers as left-overs for dinner and lunch the next day. I think they’re great! To be honest, I don’t even miss having meat on my plate when I eat these… a pleasant surprise!
Even if you’re a meat lover and you’ve never tried a veggie burger, I encourage you to give these a try. It’s all basic ingredients that most people enjoy, along with delicious spices for a super-flavourFULL burger. Enjoy a meat-free meal, and always eat well, friends!
Our main courses typically consist of some kind of meat or fish, so it has to be something pretty delicious to distract me from that! These veggie burgers are so good!
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/4 cups black beans
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup natural bbq sauce (you can pronounce all the ingredients)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp old bay seasoning
- vegetable oil for greasing the grill
Heat a cast iron grill (or other grill) over the stove on medium high. (these can also be grilled on a BBQ)
In a small pan, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil between medium and medium high. About 4 minutes. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the beans, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, old bay seasoning and mash everything until the beans have fallen apart.
Add the honey, bbq sauce, sautéed onion and garlic, rice and breadcrumbs, and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
With clean hands, pack/squeeze in the ingredients until it feels like a bread dough (holds well together).
Divide the mix into four equal parts (balls).
Mold each part into the shape of a burger patty.
Carefully (it's hot!) oil the grill with a scrunched paper towel and vegetable oil.
Place the patties on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes, and turn over to cook for another 3 minutes. Repeat for both sides (Total of 12 minutes).
Place the patties on your favourite bun or serve them without bread. Serve these with a nice fresh salad or other favourite side.
Enjoy!
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