Vegan
Say Hello to This Year's Veggie Burger
One very important ingredient turns "bleh" burgers into weeknight superstars.
I feel like every time I step into a restaurant, I find through some signage or another that the team is thrilled (thrilled!) to announce that their house veggie burger will now be one of those brands of plant-based power protein patties that “bleed” when you poke them.
Uh, no thanks.
I’ll always prefer my veggie burgers as brown as soil, full of texture and flavor, and with absolutely no blood—fake or otherwise. Though I know for some those bleeding plant burgers get them through Meatless Monday, my checklist for a vegetarian option is a bit longer than just “meat replacement.” I look for a veggie burger with 1) protein, 2) texture, and 3) flavor, none of which actually need to resemble ground meat. I check all three of these boxes with one ingredient: toasted nuts.
Not only are nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews, and sunflower seeds (OK, that one's actually a seed) essentially all fat and protein, which is exactly what every good veggie burger needs, but they also impart a rich, toasty flavor, as well as snaps and crunches of texture.
After a bit of R&D, I came to the conclusion that the best way to harness the power of nuts in veggie burgers (actually, these are totally vegan!) is to use both nut butter and chopped pieces of nuts in the patties. A combination of a few types of nuts turned out to yield the most exciting texture and flavor profile, but trust me when I say that if you only have, say, almonds and sunflower seeds, you’ll still be a very happy camper on veggie burger night.
The rest of the ingredient list is fairly standard when it comes to veggie burgers: black beans, mushrooms, soy sauce. Unlike most recipes for this type of patty, however, you don’t actually have to pre-cook anything, nor do you have to let them set up in the fridge—that means no boiling off grains, no waiting for flaxseed to gel, no sauteing and draining the vegetables. Ideal for weeknights when you’re looking for minimal kitchen-heating and bowl-dirtying, this may be the veggie burger of the year.
Allow me to introduce you to her.
| 2 | tablespoons soy sauce |
| 1/2 | cup mixture of unsalted, toasted, chopped nuts and/or seeds (see Author Notes for ideas), divided |
| 2 | (14.5-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided |
| 1 | cup finely chopped shiitake mushrooms, stems removed |
| 2 | garlic cloves, grated |
| 2 | teaspoons chile powder |
| 3 to 5 | tablespoons almond flour |
| Kosher salt | |
| Olive oil | |
| Whole-wheat English muffins, or your preferred burger bun (these burgers are on the small side) | |
| Burger fixins: lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, pickle chips, ketchup, mustard, special sauce, yogurt sauce—whatever your heart desires! |
| 2 | tablespoons soy sauce |
| 1/2 | cup mixture of unsalted, toasted, chopped nuts and/or seeds (see Author Notes for ideas), divided |
| 2 | (14.5-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided |
| 1 | cup finely chopped shiitake mushrooms, stems removed |
| 2 | garlic cloves, grated |
| 2 | teaspoons chile powder |
| 3 to 5 | tablespoons almond flour |
| Kosher salt | |
| Olive oil | |
| Whole-wheat English muffins, or your preferred burger bun (these burgers are on the small side) | |
| Burger fixins: lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, pickle chips, ketchup, mustard, special sauce, yogurt sauce—whatever your heart desires! |
A New Way to Dinner, co-authored by Food52's founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, is an indispensable playbook for stress-free meal-planning (hint: cook foundational dishes on the weekend and mix and match ‘em through the week).
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Written by: Rebecca Firkser
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