Beet Burgers

One thing many people miss when becoming vegetarian or vegan is the good old meaty beef burger. Bean burgers are great but tend to be soft and well beany! These burgers are the nearest to the texture of beef burgers that I have tasted.  My inspiration was from Green Kitchen Stories with their grilled beet burgers.  But they have Feta cheese and eggs in them and I wanted to avoid cheese and eggs.

After a bit of experimentation, I have come up with these.  Hope you like them!

Ingredients

2 packed cups of grated raw beetroots (About 2 average size beets)

1 cup of rolled oats

1flax egg (1 tbsp linseed ground finely placed in 3 tbsp water and left for 10 minutes to thicken)

1 tbsp chickpea flour

50 grams of crumbled firm tofu (optional the tofu makes them a bit lighter)

4 -5 minced or finely chopped olives

1 spring onion chopped finely

½ tsp of garlic powder,

½ tsp smoked paprika

Tbsp. extra virgin oil

Salt (be aware that the saltiness of the olives might be enough.)

Mix all ingredients together and place in fridge for ½ hour (it needs to firm up) If still too moist to form into burgers you may need to add more oats or chickpea flour. (It depends on how juicy the beetroot is)

Form into burgers (1 tbsp) make them thin.  In an oiled fry pan fry at a moderate heat till crisp and crunchy on the edges, being careful not to char them.  Serve with a salad or in buns.

Note You can vary the spices or leave them out and use herbs instead.

I served mine with a mix of Israeli couscous and the small couscous with Moroccan spices and peas. Glazed baby carrots and yams, lemon and coriander hummus and vegan mayonnaise and a lettuce mango salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado.  Enjoy!