Now that the weather is warming up (I hope!), I’ve been dreaming of burgers. Burgers of all kinds.
Last week, I decided to make them. Who cares if we were having a huge rain storm that day? Burgers were on the menu, and I was thrilled.
Especially because I was going to slather my burger in spicy vegan nacho cheese sauce. Mmmm, yummy.
I highly recommend wrapping your burgers in plastic wrap and sticking them in the fridge for an hour or so before you cook them, too. I found that this helped to keep the burgers together better than when I’ve made them before and not refrigerated them first.
Also, you don’t have to bake these in the oven. You can also throw them (gently!) on the barbecue, or fry them on the stove. Cook them however your heart desires. Any way you cook them, they turn out pretty awesome.
I topped my delicious burger with vegan nacho cheese sauce, baby spinach, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts and it was a magical combination. So good. But of course, use whatever you like on a burger!
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- heaping ¼ tsp paprika
- heaping ½ tsp onion powder
- heaping ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 large roasted red pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water)
- 1½ Cup Cooked Black Beans (if using canned beans, rinse & dry them first)
- ¼ cup uncooked quinoa
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup bell pepper, minced (I used red)
- 2 tbsp onion, minced
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 5-6 burger buns
- Toppings of your choice
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and process/blend until smooth,
- Pour mixture into a medium pot over medium heat and warm it up for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
- Whisk together the ground flax seed and water for your flax egg. Set aside.
- Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a small pot, then cover and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked. Set aside.
- Mash up the black beans in a bowl, using a fork. Don't use a food processor because I've found this to make the burgers difficult to form into patties. You don't have to mash every last bean, but do your best.
- In the bowl with the black beans, add in the bread crumbs, minced bell pepper, minced onion, minced garlic, cumin, salt, hot sauce, cooked quinoa and your flax egg. Mix together with your hands and them form into patties. You should be able to get 5-6 burgers, depending on how large you make them.
- Place your burgers on a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until browned on the bottom, then flip and cook another 10-15 minutes, or until browned on both sides and cooked through.
- Put your burger on a bun, top with vegan nacho cheese sauce and your choice of toppings (I used alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach and tomatoes).