Protein Burgers

When I tell people I am plant based, they often look at me like I am one of the expendable crew members from a Star Trek episode.  Little bit of pity, little bit of curiosity as to how long it will be before I meet a particularly gruesome fate.

I inevitably get the question: “So what do you eat?”   Um.  Same thing as you do…food!  I even eat, wait for it, hamburgers!!!

Okay, so the hamburgers I eat are not quite the same as the hamburgers you eat, but at least I never have to worry that my burger is going to be too rare!

My goal here was to get as much protein into each burger as humanly possible without any “fillers” like flour or even oats.  This burger is basically lentils, onions and quinoa with a little sprinkling of fairy dust to hold it all together.

Just remember when you are flipping them…be gentle.  They are more like the leg lamp in A Christmas Story –Fra-geel-ay!  (Fragile)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup black beluga lentils
• 1/3 cup green lentils
• 1/3 red lentils
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 cups diced onion
• 4 cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1/2 cup multicolor quinoa
•  splash of apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup ground chia seeds
• 1. 1/2 teaspoons salt
• pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, add a splash of olive oil and saute the onions over medium/medium low heat for about 5 minutes.
2.  Use this time to combine the lentils and rinse them, while stirring the onions occasionally.  Also, rinse the quinoa and put it in a small pot with the vinegar and 1 cup of vegetable broth.
3. Add the garlic to the onions and saute till fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Put the lentils and 3 cups of the vegetable broth in the pot and turn up the heat to bring it to a boil.  Bring the quinoa to a boil as well.
5. When both pots boil, put lids on them and turn the heat down to a high simmer.
6. Set the timer for 20 minutes.  The quinoa should be done at this time, so remove it from the heat and let it sit, covered, for another 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.
7. Set the timer for 10 more minutes.  When the time is up, remove the pot from the heat, pour the lentils into a strainer to drain and cool.
8. The quinoa should have absorbed all of the broth, but if it didn’t, drain the quinoa.  Stir the lentils around, pressing lightly with a spoon to drain out the majority of the water.
9. Put the quinoa, lentils, salt, pepper and ground chia seeds into a bowl, mix well and form 8 fairly good sized “burgers”.  Cover them tightly, and put them in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight.
10. When you are ready to cook them, bring them to room temperature.  Put enough oil in the bottom of a pan to lightly cover it and heat the pan to medium.  Cook the burgers about 5 minutes each side till golden.
11. Use a spatula to remove, and if not eating all right away, they will keep in the fridge for a day or two or in the freezer for 2 months.

Enjoy!