Veggie Burger!

I have to admit that hamburgers are one of my all time favorite foods, so when I decided to go vegetarian I had to find a healthy replacement. Don't get me wrong, the store bought veggie burgers are delicious, but contain a lot of salt. So I've been tweaking a few recipes over the last few months and have finally figured out one!

Ingredients:
- 1 can red kidney beans
- 1 can white kidney beans
- 1 can whole mushrooms(or a handful of fresh ones)
- 1 Large carrot, grated.
- 1 onion
- 1.5 cup cooked brown rice*
- 1/3 cup cooked couscous
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 spicy pepper
- olive oil
- 1/2 pack of non-salted crackers, crushed
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of both katchup and mustard
- Spices

1. Drain and rinse beans. Place grated carrot and kidney beans in a large bowl, mash with a potato masher until the beans are mushed and mixed well with the carrots.

2. In a blender or food processor, add soy sauce, 1 tbsp olive oil, spicy pepper, katchup, mustard, 1 cup brown rice and couscous. You will need to add a bit of water to help the mixture blend together. It should end up looking like a thick paste. When this is mixed, add it to the bowl with the bean mixture.


3. Chop mushrooms and onion into small pieces. Put in a frying pan with a tsp of olive oil. Fry on medium heat until the mushrooms are soft and the onions are near transparent. Add to the bowl with bean mixture.

4. Add the remaining ingredients in the bowl, including the rest of the rice. Mix together and add any spices you want. I like to add turmeric, dried mustard, pepper, a little salt. You don't need much in the way of spices, these burgers are very tasty all on their own!

5. Form the mixture into patties and bake at 350 degrees for 10-25 minutes. They are done when browned. You can also fry with a little olive oil.

This recipe makes about 20 medium sized patties. You can also use it as a meat replacement. Some of the things I have made with this recipe are:

Burgers
Meatloaf(add some tomato paste or sauce when cooking)
Tacos

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!