Lentil and Brown Rice Burgers

After stopping at The Natural Market earlier this week and having the lentil and hummus wrap I have not been able to get that off my mind. I decided that we needed to have something similar at home. Since I had no idea what I was going to cook today I thought why not lentil burgers. I intentionally made extra so we had some for the freezer. Here is what I did:

Lentil and Brown Rice Burgers
Makes 11 burgers

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils, sorted and rinsed
Water to cook lentils
3 bay leaves
1 cup glutinous short grain brown rice (any rice will work)
2 cups water
I red onion, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup water, to sauté aromatics (onion and garlic)
3 tablespoons no salt seasoning, or to taste
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon nigella seed
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (for structure and protein)
½ cup brown rice flour, or what is necessary to give the mixture a cohesive feel

Directions:

Cook lentils in water with bay leaves until soft (about 40 minutes). Drain the lentils of extra liquid and set aside. Keep in the refrigerator if you are making the burgers later.

Combine the brown rice and water and cook until tender (about 40 minutes) and set aside. Keep in the refrigerator if you aren’t making the burgers immediately.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Water sauté the onions and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. You want the water to evaporate. If there is water remaining, do not add it to the burger mixture.

Combine the lentils, rice, aromatics and seasonings. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Add the vital wheat gluten 2 tablespoons at a time and mix thoroughly. You want the gluten to be evenly distributed within the mixture. Add the brown rice flour a couple of tablespoons at a time until the burger mixture will be easy to form into patties.  The burgers will be easier to form if you refrigerate the mixture until it is cold, but that isn't absolutely necessary.

Form the burger mixture into 11 patties. Place the patties on a half sheet pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or as long as is necessary for them to form a crusty exterior.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 232.81
Calories From Fat (6%) - 14.39

Total Fat - 1.71g
Saturated Fat - 0.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 10.13mg
Potassium - 289.53mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.48g
Fiber - 5.34g
Sugar - 0.28g
Protein - 14.08g

Comments:

If you are looking for a quick all-purpose veggie burger this may fit the bill. The taste is mild and can be used with many different toppings. Tonight we had ours with slices of avocado and a little salsa. Tomorrow we will have them in a wrap with roasted garlic hummus and greens. Surprisingly even my parents liked these; of course it could have been the avocado on top they really enjoyed. ;-)

To accompany the veggie burgers we also had a quinoa salad with raw asparagus and red bell pepper. I will try to get that post written this evening but suspect I may run out of time.

Unrelated note:

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. I probably won’t be on-line much until the evening. I hope you have a great Monday. I will chat with you tomorrow evening.