Beet Burgers

Let me tell you, we are having a heatwave in Montreal! Today it is 35 F, and we may even see 40 by this weekend. Yes, it’s still a snowy wonderland, but I’m already imagining warmer days ahead, firing up a grill on my very tiny patio! I had some beets to use up. I’m not usually a veggie burger kind of person, but I am filled with the spirit of spring on the horizon! These burgers are vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, and oil free. They are also high in fiber, potassium, magnesium, and protein! They are a little time consuming to make, but you can freeze them for later because it makes a big batch! This is how we made it:

Beet Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb beets

½ cup mung beans, uncooked

½ black rice, uncooked

1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water left alone to gel for 5 mins)

½ onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp dijon mustard

¼ cup raw walnuts or gluten free oats, finely ground

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp salt or to taste

¼ tsp chile powder

Pinch of cayenne

Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment, and roast your beets for about 40-60 minutes depending on the size of your beets. Check with a fork to make sure they’re soft all the way through. Remove from oven to let cool.

In the meantime, let’s prepare your beans. Pour your beans into a small saucepan and cover with water until there’s about 2” of water covering them. Bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the mung beans for about 30 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

While you’re at it, let’s make that rice! Add the rice, 1 cup of water, and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and let cook for 35 minutes. Remove from heat. DON’T REMOVE THE LID YET! Let it sit covered for another 1 minutes before removing the lid.

In a food processor, add the cooked mung beans, onion garlic, mustard, oats or walnuts meal, apple cider vinegar, cumin, salt, chile powder, cayenne, and pepper. Pulse a few times until the beans just start to break up. You want some texture and not a puree.

Now, let’s grate the beets. Using the medium fine grate, grate all of your beets being careful to keep your fingers intact. There is nothing worse than cutting your finger on a grater when you can’t tell where the beet stops and starts. Trust me on this!

Add the grated beet and the rice to the bean mixture and stir it all in. Do not use the food processor or you’ll lose the great texture we just created for the beets! Next stir in the flax egg.

Refrigerate the mix for a couple of hours. Read a book. Get caught up on the Real Housewives. Maybe listen to a podcast. Shoutout to My Favorite Murder!

Heat your oven to 375 F.

Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper.

Make patties about the size of the bun you will be using. You should have anywhere from 10-12ish patties. Really pack them in. We’re working with veggies here, so we don’t want them to fall apart. Use a little force! Bake the patties for about 40-45 minutes flipping halfway in between.

Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, pickles, and your favorite gluten free bun!