Veggie Burgers - Easy, Nutritious, and Scrumptious!

  We watched a movie last September, just as I was preparing to retire, called Forks over Knives that deals with the devastating health impact of the "western diet" on the world.  It is the cause of much of the disease that afflicts mankind (e.g. heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers etc.).  It is also killing us and making us obese (see my post about how to Lose Weight SLOW).

Historically, meat and dairy products were expensive and scarce.  Most societies ate plants with the occasional supplement of meat and dairy (was used as more of a garnish than a main event in their meals).  European colonization of much of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries provided them with access to far more land than they had traditionally had.  In places like America, Australia, Argentina etc. these European immigrants had the luxury of feeding crops to animals rather than humans and then eating the meat thus derived (FYI it takes 2,500 gallons of fresh water and 20 lbs of plant protein to make 1 lb of beef--that is one of the least efficient uses of water and arable land for food production in the world).  That was new, and over the next few centuries those colonies became net exporters of meat.  The advent of ice-harvesting from the Great Lakes and then refrigeration in the 19th century accelerated the access to cheap meat and dairy for the masses.  In many cases that cheap access to red-meats and dairy has modified the diets of cultures who's primary animal protein was from fish which provide a lean protein full of Omega-3 fatty acids (good for your heart).  The conclusion of the movie essentially is that we can prevent, reverse, and virtually eliminate most "western diet diseases" by switching to a whole-food-plant-based-diet (if you're interested you can stream the movie on Netflix).  That means, effectively, going back to the diet our ancestors enjoyed for thousands of years.

Being Americans we are arrogant enough to believe that whatever we have or do is so wonderful that we should export it to the rest of the world (e.g. McDonald's, trashy movies, scary weapons, consumerism, tobacco, buying stuff on credit etc.).  Consequently we have marketed our culinary lifestyle to everybody else and now traditionally healthy societies are suffering from the same health problems we have.

After watching the movie we made the decision, for both economic and health reasons, to eat more whole plant-based foods, and less animal based proteins.  We are not vegan or even vegetarians because I believe God gave us the entire spectrum of foods for our use, and that eating a variety of everything in moderation is what He intended.  We just chose to eat less meat and more plants.  The positive consequences of that decision on our lives, health, wallets, and waistlines have been remarkable!

It was in that spirit that I decided to use up the last of my mushrooms and some left over refried beans by making veggie-burgers.  It was an interesting experiment with a delicious outcome.

Here is how to make delicious, nutritious, low-fat, heart-healthy veggie burgers:

• 2 slices Bread (preferably substantial whole-grain bread)
• 8 Mushrooms
• 1/2 Onion - chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic - minced
• 1 Egg - large
• 1.5 cups cooked Beans/Legumes (I used one cup of cooked lentils and half a cup of refried pinto beans)
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 1/3 cup Walnuts - chopped

In a food processor pulse the bread slices into crumbs and set aside.  Now pulse the mushrooms into small bits and set aside.  Fry the onion and garlic until the onion chunks get translucent.  Put the fried onions / garlic, the beans, the egg, and the salt into the food processor and and make a puree.  Put the puree in a bowl and stir in the bread-crumbs, the mushroom bits, and the chopped walnuts.

Heat a griddle to 325 degrees fahrenheit.  Ladle enough of the mixture to fill a large canning jar ring (see photo on the right above).  Immediately remove the ring and make another patty, repeating the process until the griddle is full.  Allow to cook for 10 minutes, then flip the patties over, press them down to flatten them (they'll cook out the moisture faster this way), and cook on that side for 10 minutes.  They start out as a pretty liquidy paste but by this point they should be getting firm.  If not flip them cook them longer.  When they're done serve them hot on bread (we used slices of sprouted-wheat bread) or a bun with all the traditional condiments.  You can freeze extra patties and use them later.  They will be nice and firm when they come out of the freezer so you have the option to reheat them on a gas grill.

They look good, they taste good, and you still feel good after you eat them.  Give them a try and enjoy!