For somebody who hasn’t had much contact with a kitchen in preparing food, cooking might be a sealed book. However, inexperience, laziness or the wrong idea of how hard it is to prepare a meal for oneself might be the only reasons that hold one back from trying. Giving cooking a chance can be an eye-opener and a first step in the direction of taking control of what we eat.

This burger is a delicious alternative to its meat counterpart and everything is self-prepared, even the bun.

photos by Stefan Steinbach

Some of the ingredients might not be available in supermarkets. I found the more uncommon ones, like flax seeds, in an organic supermarket.

I broke the recipe down into three parts: the bun, the patty and the spread. I ordered them in a way that makes preparation easier since the dough for the buns needs to sit for a while. In the meantime, you can take care of the other two parts.

Buns (5 pieces)

Ingredients

• 100 g ground flax seed
• 150 ml water
• 100 g zucchini
• 100 g quinoa flour
• 30 quinoa
• 150 g whole wheat flour
• 100 g sunflower seeds
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 cube fresh yeast
• 1 tbsp vinegar

Preparation

• Soak flax seed in water for 15 minutes.
• Mince zucchini.
• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is a thick mass that has some resistance when cutting through. If too dry, add some more water.
• Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough sit for an hour.
• Flour the countertop and hands (keeps dough from sticking).
• Form five evenly sized round burger buns
• Put the buns on a baking tray and let them sit for another hour.
• Pre-heat oven to 220 degree Celsius.
• Bake for half an hour.

Let them cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”3″ gal_title=”Vagan patty”]

Patties (5 pieces)

Ingredients

• 100 g rice
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 can black beans
• ½ cup hulled hemp seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground red pepper
• 2 tbsp sesame paste (Tahini)
• 3 tbsp quinoa

Preparation

• Boil rice a little longer than the preparation instructions recommend (also add 20 % more water).
• Chop onion, garlic, red pepper and tomatoes very finely.
• Drain beans.
• Put everything in a bowl and knead until you end up with a thick mass that can be formed into burger patties. If they fall apart, add more sesame paste to make it stickier.
• Form five evenly sized patties with your hands.
• Fry them in oil in a non-stick pan for 4 minutes on each side.

Be careful – they burn easily!

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”4″ gal_title=”Black bean patty”]

Hemp bell pepper spread (replaces ketchup)

Ingredients

• 1 red or yellow bell pepper
• 150 g peeled hemp seeds
• 120ml sunflower oil
• 50 g sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp of frozen or fresh herbs (e.g. parsley,  dill, chives, cress, basil)
• A pinch of chili

Preparation

• Blend all the ingredients into a paste.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”5″ gal_title=”Spread”]

Additions

Avocado as an additional or substitute spread

• Cut the avocado in half. Remove core and skin.
• Spread on the bun.
• Add a pinch of salt.

Add some fresh vegetables

• A leaf of lettuce
• Arugula (rucola)
• Sliced tomato

Add slices of Parmigiano (warning: will make the burger vegetarian!) 🙂

I intentionally didn’t add calory information. The food is supposed to talk to your soul and not to you concious brain! 🙂 If anyone is still interested, I’d be happy to provide them.