Yields: 22 Small or 11 Large Burgers
Serves: 6-11 (*Dependant on meal type.)
Prep & Cooking Time: ≤60 mins (*Dependent upon skill and/or the number of kitchen helpers!)
Type: Main Meal, Snack
Tools: Chopping board, sharp knife, colander, steamer pot, food processor, baking trays, parchment paper, silicone spatula, cooling rack.
Notes: This recipe contains: Vitamin A, B-Vitamins, Vitamins C, E & K carbohydrates, protein, fibre, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and per serving is low in added sugar*, salt* and saturated fats*! * Depending upon type of bread/bread crumbs, beans and/or tahini used.
Hi everyone! We hope that you’ve all had another great weekend?! How many of you woke up to a ‘winter wonderland’ yesterday? It was a lovely surprise! Although the roof tops and trees were glistening with a beautiful light dusting of snow, the ground was a wet and horrible mess! Perhaps others had the opportunity to build a snowman or go for a relaxing winter walk? 🙂
So, today’s recipe is all about ‘meatless burgers’ and these ones are crammed full of flavour and fibre! Whether you are in the midst of Veganuary, enjoy Meatless Mondays or just follow a plant-based diet like us, we think that everyone will enjoy this lovely meatless ‘burger’ recipe.
We actually made this recipe last a couple of times last spring, but have only just recently revisited it… but we’re so glad that we did! Hearty, wholesome and versatile ingredients; it’s another delicious recipe that allows you to adjust the costs and seasoning’s to your own personal preferences! Enjoy them as a meal or a couple as a snack. 🙂
A few good things to note include:
- We made fourteen small burgers and four large ones; it was more to clarify cooking times than anything else! Little or large, the choice is yours.
- These burgers make a bigger impression if you use fresh (finely chopped) herbs and perhaps your favourite spices too! We forgot to add our Dukkah this time around (doh!), but we used it last time and thoroughly recommend using it!
- If a strict GF adherence is required, make sure to double check the oat bran packaging before purchasing!
- Ours are not overly seasoned! For the ‘salt-o-holics’ out there, you might say these are bland! We suggest using more herbs and/or spices and a tasty homemade sauce, coleslaw or your favourite vegetable(s) to accompany them instead of reaching for the salt.
- They would make a tasty and healthful option in child’s lunch!
- Overall we think that homemade ‘burgers’ rock and are of course a million times better than store bought varieties! We served ours with some delicious homemade pomegranate sauce and coleslaw (recipes pending, so watch this space!), but feel free to add your own medley of veggies and or sauces!
Quick Foodie Facts:
- We have previously talked about the health benefit of beans before, but now we will elaborate on specifically on kidney beans! Kidney beans in their raw state are very toxic*, but when properly prepared they can be a great source of nutrients including: complex carbohydrates, protein, soluble fibre, B-Vitamins (including folate!), Vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium (just to name a few!). They are also naturally low in fat and can count towards helping you to meet your 5-A-Day!
- We have talked about the benefits of porridge oats before and oat bran is no different! It is also a versatile, high fibre* and low-GI food that can provide you with a good source of insoluble and soluble fibre (in the form of beta-glucan). Beta-glucan has been shown to help reduce blood cholesterol levels and therefore help to reduce cardiovascular risks(**when consuming a minimum of 3g of beta-glucans/D as part of a healthy diet), e.g. about a 52g portion of oat bran porridge or about 5 tbsp used throughout the day would be suffice. Try adding it to soups, stews, bread, muffins, ‘flapjacks’ or other oat-bars, ‘meatballs’, cereal, smoothies or yoghurt! *A 52g serving would provide you with about 9.5g of fibre; that makes up nearly a third of your recommended fibre intake! 🙂
Happy cooking everyone!
Ingredients
420g Broccoli Florets (500g Head)
130g Baby Spinach (160g Frozen Spinach)
120g Bread Crumbs (about 1 slice of bread)
130g White Onion
180g Red Bell Pepper
2 Garlic Clove (10g fresh or 1 tsp garlic puree)
480g Cooked Kidney Beans (about 2 tins or 250g dried/cooked)
10g Fresh Chives (1 tbsp Dried)
5g Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley (1 tbsp dried)
40g Tahini
7-10g Dukkah Spice Mix
3-5g Mustard Powder
40g Oat bran (about ½ cup)
½-¾ tsp Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Low-fat cooking oil spray
Need an easy-print recipe? Print here. 🙂
Directions
If you’re using a head of broccoli, remove the broccoli florets from its stem. Wash and then place broccoli into a steamer pot with a little water. Bring to the boil. Simmer and steam for 4-6 mins or until tender. Drain. Tip: Alternatively cook in a pot of water or try steaming the broccoli in a microwave instead.
In the meantime…
Boil a little water in a kettle. Place the spinach into a colander. Rinse. Pour over a little freshly boiled water to wilt the spinach. Allow to drain. Tip: Alternatively, carefully dice some frozen spinach and then defrost it in a microwave. Allow to drain in a colander or sieve.
- If applicable, make some bread crumbs. Place the bread into a toaster or under a grill and toast. Remove and break it up into a food processor. Process the bread until bread crumbs are achieved. Transfer into a mixing bowl. Tip: If you do not own a food processor, toast the bread as hard as possible (without burning it) and then place it into a resealable kitchen baggie. Using a rolling pin, gently crush the bread to create your breadcrumbs!
- Peel and quarter the onion. Wash, remove the core and stem and then roughly quarter the bell pepper. Peel the garlic. Transfer the onion into a food processor. Turn on. Whilst it’s running, add the garlic. Process until the onion and garlic are finely chopped. Tip: If you don’t own a food processor then finely grate the onion, bell pepper and garlic using a cheese grater or finely chop instead. Transfer the mixture into the mixing bowl. Place the bell pepper into the food processor. Process until minced. Transfer into a sieve to drain any excess water (if applicable). Transfer into the mixing bowl.
Remember to check and drain your broccoli if you haven’t already!
- If applicable, drain and rinse the kidney beans in a colander. Transfer into the food processor. Process until they are mostly ‘broken down’. Transfer into the mixing bowl. Tip: If you do not own a food processor, transfer them into a separate mixing bowl and mash them using a potato masher or fork- it’s a great upper arm workout!
- Place the broccoli and spinach into the food processor. Process until finely minced. Transfer into the mixing bowl.
If applicable, wash and finely chop the chives. Tip: A pair of kitchen scissors works perfectly for quickly chopping them! Wash the parsley, remove the leaves from the stem and then finely chop. Add the herbs into the mixing bowl.
Add 40g tahini, 7-10g Dukkah spice mix, 3-5g mustard powder, ½ cup oat bran, ½-¾ tsp salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Using a spatula, thoroughly mix the ingredients together.
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Line one or two baking trays with a piece of parchment paper or some silicone mats. Spray a little low-fat cooking oil and grease each sheet of paper or mat.
Roll a bit of the mixture between your hands into a golf-sized ball (or larger if a larger burger is preferred). Tip: If the mixture is a bit too sticky, lightly four your hands. Place onto the baking tray. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used. Gently flatten them with a spatula. Place the tray(s) into the oven (use the middle and lower oven shelves only). Bake for 10 mins.
Remove. Increase the heat to 200ºC/400ºF. Spray the tops of the burgers with a little low-fat cooking oil. Carefully turn over the ‘burgers’ with a frying spatula or palette knife. Place the tray(s) back into the oven. Bake for a further 8-12 mins, or until lightly browned and slightly firm. Remove. Allow to cool for 5 mins on the tray(s) before serving. Tip: Our smaller burgers took an additional ten minutes whilst our larger one took twelve. If applicable, allow the burgers to cool completely before refrigerating.
At last! Served with some tasty homemade wedges and rather messy homemade slaw; hunger always conquers photo ‘styling’!
If that doesn’t get your stomach rumbling, we don’t know what will!
If ‘burgers’ are not your thing, try adding them to salads, ‘bowls’ or turn them into meatballs instead…
…And for the little ones, make it a memorable and tasty adventure!
NB: This is one of last year’s trials (homemade burgers and oven chips); sometimes it’s fun to play with food! 🙂
Enjoy!
Refrigerate any leftovers in an air-tight and resealable container; reheat (if preferred) and consume within 3-4 days. Alternatively, individually wrap in some kitchen film, store and freeze; defrost, reheat and consume within one month.
Eat2Health Blog 