Thursday, May 26, 2011

Oprah's Lentil & Brown Rice Burgers

So, after a weekend of barbecued meat, my husband and I were both ready to get back on the whole grain/legume train. As much as I love the kimchi burgers (which I made again up at the cottage - this time with coarse ground chuck - amazing) and the Huli Huli Chicken, I'm seriously beginning to feel like having meat at every meal slows me down. Heck, even having it 4 nights in a row made me feel sluggish.

I'm guessing about the cause of the sluggishness. It might also be a bit of work burn out, lack of sleep, or general stress about the school year winding down. Perhaps it's unfair to blame the meat.

Whatever the case, veggies and legumes are what we're craving right now, so that's what we're eating. And, in honour of Oprah's last show yesterday, I made the Brown Rice and Lentil Burgers out of the June issue of O Magazine.


Nom. Nom. Nom.

Now, what's interesting about this recipe is that the lentils aren't actually cooked until you throw the patties into the frying pan. That lends a bit more texture to the burgers. My husband devoured two of these last night, they were that good!

Lentil & Brown Rice Burgers

(adapted from O Magazine)

Ingredients

½ cup mixed dried lentils (French, green, red, brown) or standard green lentils
3/4 lb mixed shiitake and cremini mushrooms, trimmed and roughly quartered
2½ tbsp canola oil, divided
½ tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp miso
1½ tsp kosher salt, divided
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
2½ cups cooked brown rice (I used brown basmati)
2 tbsp flaxseeds
2 tbsp toasted oat or wheat bran
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
3 scallions, minced

whole grain bread or buns
hamburger toppings (we used pea shoots, alfalfa & onion sprouts, romaine lettuce, dill pickle, roasted red pepper and vegenaise, ketchup and ballpark mustard)

if you're not going vegan for this, the magazine recommends sharp cheddar cheese for melting on top

Directions

1. Rinse and drain lentils. Place in a small bowl and cover with water. Let sit covered in the fridge overnight. Drain the lentils and pulse in a food processor until very finely chopped, but stopping short of forming a paste. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

2. Wipe the food processor clean and add mushrooms to the bowl. Pulse until very finely chopped. Heat 1½ tbsp oil in a large sauté pan. Sauté mushrooms with soy sauce, miso and ¼ tsp each salt and pepper until liquid is evaporated. Add to bowl of lentils, along with all remaining ingredients (through scallions). Fold together until just combined. Divide into 6 balls and shape into patties, about 1" thick.

3. Working in batches, heat ½ tbsp oil over medium low in a pan. Add half of the patties and cook for about 5 minutes. Once a good crust has formed, gently flip patties over. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until golden. Place on a plate in a warm oven to keep hot. Repeat with remaining oil and patties.

4. Serve with whatever toppings make you happy!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I have the "O" cookbook and LOVE all the recipes in there too!

janet @ the taste space said...

This looks like such an interesting burger. The soaked lentils seem like they would add nice texture. Glad it worked out!

Locavore Family said...

My sister-in-law left me the June edition and this is the very burger I wanted to make! Thanks for confirming it's awesomeness and I like your tips.

Alyson said...

The texture is great. Deefinitely some of the best legume based burgers I've ever had.

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