Way Better than Boca: Homemade Veggie Burgers

Remember when the Food Network showed cooking shows?  Well, it feels lately that the network has been overrun with food competition shows.  Granted some of them are very good; I'm a huge fan of Chopped, actually.  Anyway, there were my favorites, like Everyday Italian, Nigella Bites, and Good Eats, which now can only be found at odd hours of the morning on Sundays.  Very rarely did I ever pay attention to the vibrant host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives - yes, he DID have an actual cooking show before they just let him eat on camera - Guy Fieri.  In all honesty, he's kind of a tool and I really don't care for him all that much, but I happened to be bored one afternoon and home and watching, as one often does in these situations, the Food Network and I saw an episode of his cooking show.  He had two guests on, his mother and his sister.  His sister happens to be vegetarian and so Fieri's show centered around her recipe for homemade veggie patties, or burgers.  They're awesome, as you can see depicted by my empty plate.  I managed to scarf down everything before I remember to take a picture of my plate all done up!

Now, I love beans and these veggie patties are all about beans.  There are 3 different kinds of beans in these patties with very different flavors and textures.  Another thing about this recipe is that it contains a heck of a lot of ingredients; 21 to be exact.  You certainly can't say these veggie burgers lack any kind of flavor at all and surprisingly enough, even with 21 ingredients, it isn't too big or muddled.  You do taste each spice and flavor and they end up being really delicious.  Since we've had these (first time I made these was more than a year ago), every time I've eaten a boca- or gardenburger, I'm horribly disappointed.  Plus, both of those patties are full of fillers like rice and bread (you'll notice the main filler here is rolled oats with only a little bit of bread crumbs, to hold everything together; you definitely don't taste either of these fillers, unlike the rice in gardenburgers); there's really no substance at all and they're rather tasteless.  I honestly think that prepared vegetarian or vegan foods are the words most processed foods and contain as much or maybe more chemicals than all other non-vegetarian processed foods.  These homemade veggie burgers are tasty, delicious, nutritious and easy to make.  They're great with sweet potato oven fries, which I spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cayenne with a little bit of brown sugar.

Just remember:  to make this meal a complete protein, make sure to pair with a whole grain (we served the burgers on whole wheat buns)!

Oh yeah, I wanted to comment on the funky measurements below.  The first time I made these, I had to keep a conversion chart handy, so I knew how many of each item I actually needed.  I'm a fan of volume measurements (cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc) and not weight, especially since I don't have a kitchen scale.  I have a strong feeling that since Fieri's shtick is that of a bachelor, he has a shot glass or jigger handy from his bar and uses that for measuring out liquids.  Anyway, believe me when I say that the measurements here really don't make a huge difference.  You will, though, end up with a mishmash of half-open cans of beans.  I usually end up making some kind of chili soon after making these burgers, just to use up the beans and not let them go to waste.

Morgan's Veggie Patties
Makes 4 Burgers


2 oz Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Red Onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Black Olives, chopped (canned works perfectly)
2 Tablespoons Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 teaspoon Jalapeño, seeded and diced (1 pepper makes things easy)
1-1/2 Tablespoons Garlic, diced or mashed (about 2-3 cloves, depending on size)
1 Tablespoon Artichoke Heart, diced (about 2 hears from a can of unseasoned artichoke hearts)
4 oz Black Beans (canned), drained and rinsed
4 oz White Beans (canned), drained and rinsed
4 oz Chickpeas (canned), drained and rinsed
6 oz Rolled Oats
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika (regular paprika works just fine)
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 Tablespoon Fresh Italian Parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Celery Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Sage
2 Tablespoons Bread Crumbs (the original recipe calls for seasoned, but I don't recommend it)
1 Egg

1.  In a medium sauté pan, heat 1 oz of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add all raw vegetables (onion, olives, bell pepper, jalapeño, garlic, and artichoke) and cook until soft and tender.  Remove from the heat and allowed to cool.
2.  Add cooked vegetables to beans in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  Add all dry ingredients to the bean mixture, plus the egg.  Mix everything together until combined.  Form into 4 patties, cover and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
3.  Heat the remaining 1 oz of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the patties 2-3 minutes per side.
Credit:  Guy Fieri, 2008 (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/morgans-veggie-patties-recipe/index.html)


bon appetit!