My attempt at homemade veggie burgers

I love veggie burgers. Scratch that-I love Sunshine burgers. They are, by far, my favorite veggie burger. It's a combination of the short ingredient list and I honestly think the sunflower seed base is just amazing. But they're so freakin expensive!

Then I read Lisa’s blog and she made her own veggie burgers…and a light bulb went off. I don’t know why I didn’t think to this before!

I used her recipe as a base (she got it from here)

Hmm. I didn’t have everything on hand so I made a few changes.

• 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 yellow squash
• ½ can corn, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp. cilantro
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup cashews, chopped
• ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
• Salt, pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each?)
• 2 cups Bobs Red Mill GF all purpose flour

I threw all the veggies and spices into my food processor and blended until smooth.

Looks gross doesn’t it? I almost threw it out right here but I knew I needed to give it a try…

Then I added the flour ½ cup at a time.

I had a hard time getting them to form into patties so I had to keep adding flour. Finally, I got them to look like this:

 

The verdict? These actually weren’t bad. The texture was a little odd and might take some perfecting but I was surprised by the flavor. And that little bit of cayenne pepper added a nice little kick. I felt the flavors blended together well and that there was not one thing you could taste more than the other. I even let a co-worker try some and he said he would definitely eat them again. Score!

  

Although I enjoyed these, I felt there could be a better recipe. I didn’t like having to use so much flour and was hoping I could find one more of a nut base like the Sunshine burgers. So I did a little more searching and came across HEAB’s  site on Google. (it recognized that she was in my network. I was so happy!)

Funny thing about this recipe is that I remember reading this post when she wrote it last September but it didn’t hit me to try it. I don’t know what I was thinking!

Sunburger Patties: (via HEAB. I halved it)

• 2 cup grated carrots
• 2 cups sunflower seeds (I suggest unsalted!!)
• 1/2 onion
• 2 TBSP water
• 1.25 cup tomato juice
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 TBS onion powder

 

Clean, grate and measure carrots.  Place in bowl..  Grind sunflower seeds in blender or food processor until fine.  Add to carrots. In skillet sauté onions in water until soft. Add to bowl along with remaining ingredients.  Stir together well.  Using 1/3 cup portions, place on oiled cookie sheet and form into patties.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Turn over and bake an additional 15 minutes.

 
The verdict?

They are exactly what I was looking for. The only complaint I have is that I used salted and roasted sunflower seeds, so next time I will get unsalted. At first I thought they were really small but these guys pack a lot of protein and are really filling. I had one for lunch with a cup of Amy’s split pea soup and I was good to go.

I love the taste of the sunflower seeds. I wonder what other kind of nut/seed would work with this. I'm thinking pumpkin seeds?

There are a couple of other recipes that I want to try so I can compare them all and figure out what I like best. I might even end up mixing and matching.

What do you love making homemade that you can easily buy at the store?

I just like knowing what I’m putting in my food. It’s so hard to know what you’re getting nowadays.