veggie burgers

Flipping through this months issue of Real Simple had me drooling by the time I was through with it. It includes a whole spread of all kinds of burgers and the various fixins' - salmon burgers, turkey burgers, beef burgers and veggie burgers. I chose the veggie burgers to try last night and was NOT disappointed at all. I had a few setbacks with the recipe (had to add 2 eggs instead of 1 and breadcrumbs which weren't called for), but the outcome was absolutely delicious.

The original recipe called for sunflower seeds, but since I didn't have any on hand I chose to use almonds instead. I also substituted bulger wheat for couscous for the same reason.

I chose to add in half a red pepper.

Veggie Burgers
1/2 cup bulger wheat
2 large eggs
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup lentils
1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 C bread crumbs
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add lentils and simmer for 30-40 minutes (until soggy*). Drain and rinse with cold water until cool

In a small bowl, combine the bulger wheat and 1/4 cup hot tap water. Let sit for 5 minutes; fluff with fork.

In a food processor, purre the eggs, almonds and 2/4 C of the lentils until they form a paste; transger to a bowl. Mix in the carrot, onion, red pepper, lemon juice, bulger wheat, the remaining lentils, breadcrumbs, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper. Form the mixture into 4-6 1/2-inch-thick patties. Refrigerate, uncovered, until firm, 20-25 minutes.

Heat grill pan and coat with cooking spray. Grill the patties, turning once (do not press or flatten), until charred and heated through, 4-5 minutes per side. Serve on an english muffin with cheese, or plain with sliced avocado, sprinkled with sea salt & lemon juice.

* Depending upon the lentils used, the cooking time will vary - i used traditional green or brown lentils which take longer than the red/orange lentils (10-15 minutes for those).