Homemade Veggie Burgers

Here's a fact about me. I don't like to eat ground meat. There are notable exceptions. Every once in a while I like a Steak n Shake single steakburger with mustard, onions, pickles and ketchup. And during baseball season, I will sometimes enjoy a bratwurst at Busch Stadium (but ONLY after I have consumed at least 2 beers.) So where most people would enjoy a hamburger, I opt for the veggie burger. One of the few seriously over-processed foods that we keep in the house at most times is a box of Garden Burgers. The Captain and I have talked about making our own veggie burgers and yesterday, for the first time, I did. And they were awesome. I got the recipe here:

http://americanfood.about.com/od/vegetarian/r/Mushroom_Burger.htm


3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb mushrooms, roughly chopped (combination of crimini, shiitake, and Portobello)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
6 cloves minced garlic
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper




I started with a mix of white button mushrooms and baby bellos (aren't those really just criminis?) Probably the most complicated part of the recipe was cleaning and dicing the mushrooms.

A couple of tablespoons of oil, the mushrooms, onions and garlic go into the pan. I seasoned everything with a little salt (French grey - thanks, Jeanne) and pepper.

It takes about 10 minutes to evaporate all the liquid off of the mushrooms.

I removed the mushrooms from the heat to cool and got to preparing the rest of the ingredients. Place oats, bread crumbs, parmegiano reggiano, herbs, more salt and pepper and red pepper flakes (not in the recipe, but added of course) in a large bowl.

Mix with two beaten eggs.

After mushrooms have cooled a bit, add them to the oat/breadcrumb mixture, combine and let them all sit for about 15 minutes. (The Captain thinks it looks like dog food at this point -yay!)

Form into 4 - 6 patties.

Cook the patties over medium heat in a non-stick skillet with a little bit of oil.

They held up in the pan surprising well and got a nice little crust on them.

I served em on a toasted bun, with lettuce, pickles, mustard and ketchup. Because it's not my recipe I can say this without feeling like I am bragging: these were fantasically good. I sense the reign of Garden Burgers in this home coming to a fast end.