Raw Garden Burgers

Yesterday was a very busy day at our house. We had an appointment that we needed to keep so we had to brave the elements and get one of our vehicles out. Once we got out of the neighborhood the roads were in great shape. Since the weather service is calling for another foot of snow overnight tonight we stopped at Costco while we were out. Much to our surprise Costco is now selling organic milled flax seeds, a 2 pound bag for $7.99. I usually buy our flax seeds whole but I grabbed a bag any way. I like to buy these things when Costco has them so they continue to offer similar healthy products. It will be a pain to keep the big open bag in the freezer. But as much as I am using flaxseeds these days the bag won’t be full for long.

When we got home from running errands I mentioned tofu lasagna, and the hubby responding with a quick, “that sounds really good.” So last night we had tofu lasagna, salad and leftover braciole for dinner. A couple of quick notes on last night's dinner. I used brown rice flour in the lasagna in place of whole wheat and the substitution worked great. I have made a note on the original recipe. Also, I seared the cut slices of braciole in my cast iron skillet so they had a little crust on the outside. The hubby really liked the exterior crunch and thought it was a great addition to the dish.

For dinner tonight I had no idea what I wanted to make but since we have all those ground flaxseeds I thought why not use them in dinner tonight. I thought a raw veggie burger would be good with a big salad for dinner. This burger is a combination of a few different burger recipes from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. For those of you that are interested in raw food but haven’t really tried it yet her book makes raw food very accessible. I have only made a few things from it so far but I am already feeling much more comfortable making raw food after reading her book.

Raw Garden Burgers
Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup dried ground almond pulp, from making almond milk (or raw almonds ground in your food processor until fine)
½ cup golden flaxseeds, ground
2 carrots, grated
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/3 yellow onion, peeled and grated
1 cup water
2 teaspoons dulse granules, or to taste (I use this to cut down on our salt consumption)
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, lemon juice or red wine vinegar (I used wine vinegar)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely minced
Black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine everything and mix until completely combined. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.

Form into four patties and dehydrate for 3 hours at 105 degrees. After 3 hours they should be firm enough to flip over and “cook” for another hour to dry out the other side.

I served these with avocado and salsa tonight but sun-dried tomato marinara of a little nut cheeze would also be good on top.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 415.95
Calories From Fat (64%) - 266.1

Total Fat-  31.45g
Saturated Fat - 2.74g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 57.87mg
Potassium - 602.14mg
Total Carbohydrates - 25.39g
Fiber - 13.31g
Sugar - 5.6g
Protein - 14.1g

Comments:

This is a big burger, just under 8 ounces before it is dehydrated. It is very filling either due to its size or the fat content, I don’t know which. We had it tonight with salsa and avocadao on top and a big green salad. It was great dinner packed with nutrition. Each burger contains approximately 7,900IU of vitamin A, 50mg of vitamin C, 125mg of calcium, 10IU of vitamin E, 60mcg of folate, 300mg of phosphorus, and 120mg of magnesium. Pretty amazing nutrition for a burger I thought. Can you imagine a comparison of this to a beef burger?

Raw burgers have a texture that is very different from other veggie burgers. When I first had one at the health food store I wasn’t certain how I felt about them. But they have definitely grown on me. However, I think they need a sauce or avocado on top to make them a little moister. Maybe I need to try dehydrating them less in the future.

Unrelated note:

It is snowing again at our house. My husband’s office has already told people to log in and work from home. We are expecting another foot of snow and possibly a little more. The snow from last weekend is still on the ground so this is more to add to the pile. For a place that goes many winters with nothing more than a flurry we are getting clobbered this winter. I will try to get more snow pictures tomorrow, when I am not busy shoveling snow that is.

I hope you are all having a good evening.