Tofu Mushroom Burgers

These are very low calorie for a burger of any kind, but the flavor and texture are very good for a vegan burger.

Note: this one takes a bit of time to make the burgers as they stay in the pan about 15 minutes for each round of 2-4 burger patties.  So, I usually set my timer and go about my other business once the pan cooking starts (soup making or laundry!).    However, even though this recipe takes some time, it makes enough burgers for several meals, or you can freeze them for later use (they freeze wonderfully). 

Ingredients:


1 pound block of organic firm tofu
1 large onion

½ pound button mushrooms

½ pound other variety mushrooms (oyster is a favorite)

1-2 cups raw old fashioned or quick oatmeal, as needed

Seasonings (adjust as desired for your family’s tastes):

Pepper, about 2 teaspoons

Crushed red pepper, about 2 teaspoons (or cayenne, about 1 teaspoon)

Garlic powder, about 2 teaspoons

Paprika, couple dashes from the jar

Chili powder, 1 teaspoon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Rough chop the vegetables.  Put the tofu, mushrooms, onions and seasonings in a food processor and blend until smooth.   (If mixing by hand, dice the onions and mushrooms fairly small, first.)   Then add 1-cups of oatmeal to thicken.   The consistency will not be runny but will not be firm either.  

In a skillet misted with oil or wiped out with a paper towel that has oil added on it, scoop out ½ cup of the mixture.   With a small or medium skillet, you may only be able to cook 2 patties at once.   My big one will do 3-4 at one time. 

Cook on medium-high until the burger starts to brown on bottom, allowing you to flip to the other side cleanly.   Once both sides are browned and it’s firm on the outside, remove the burgers to a baking pan or sheet.     You may have to refresh the oil spray or wipe between burgers but shouldn’t have to do so when you flip each one. 

Once all burgers are ready, put the baking pan in the oven on 350 for at least 30 minutes.    They will continue to firm up on the inside in the oven, and even more so as they cool once removed from the oven.    A convection oven will require less time. 

For toppings, we use as many vegetables as we can fit onto the bun… raw onions for sure, chopped lettuces, sliced tomato, and sauces like ETL friendly ketchup, mustard, and others (Bbq?).    On lower grain days, I use with romaine leaves – still delicious and cuts the calorie count down significantly.

Our bun is a 100% whole wheat, low sugar, not terrible on sodium one, or you can use a whole wheat pita that you cut down to the size of the burger patty (bake the pita scraps later for hummus).

Tofu Mushroom Bean Burgers

That title is quite a mouthful, but this is a somewhat complex burger.    It's not hard to make, and it finally converted my bean-burger-hating son over to the dark side.   He's eating a double patty burger as I type this. 




Ingredients:
1 pound organic, sprouted tofu, drained
1 can beans or equivalent in fresh cooked beans
1 cup oats, whole or processed into flour

1/2 pound mushrooms
1/2 large onion
4 garlic cloves
1/2 bell pepper
green chiles, 1 small can or equivalent fresh peppers
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup spinach (or more)

seasonings:  cayenne or crushed red pepper, to taste, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, etc.


Chop the vegetables and saute in a teaspoon of olive oil or 1/2 cup water.   When onions are translucent, let vegetable mixture cool, then add to tofu, beans, oats, and seasonings in the food processor and process until smooth or nearly so.    Taste the batter to test the seasonings - there's nothing animal based to worry about eating raw.

Bake in 350 degree oven until firm, flipping at least once.   Or, pan fry on the stove top with a mist of olive oil.    We generally bake them since we do so many at once.

Today's Menu, At a Glance

We often get asked, if you don't eat meat, eggs, dairy, sugar, white flour, processed foods, oils, etc., then what exactly DO you eat? 

Here's my answer....

Breakfast ~



which translates to this:




Lunch ~ 

Recipe here




Recipe here    (I only ate the burger part, not the bun, but couldn't resist posting the picture of the fully formed one! It looks like a real burger.)





Dinner/Dessert ~


Quick Soup, Healthy Soup  here


Chocolate "shake"   here


Cookie here

Potato Mushroom Burgers

These taste like a healthy hashbrown - so good!    No need for a bun, for sure. 


Ingredients:

2 cups black beans
1 # mushrooms
4-5 potatoes (sweet or white)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup oats or oat flour
2 organic eggs or 2 chia/flax "eggs" 
seasonings to taste

Start the chia "eggs" first if you're using them (2 Tbsp chia+1 cup water in the blender, blend on high, let sit 15 minutes, hit "high" and blend once or twice more during the 15 minute wait. 

I put the mushrooms, potatoes, onions and garlic through the Grater blade on the shredder.    Add this mixture to a large bowl and put in the eggs (or "eggs"), beans, and oats/flour.    Mix well with a large spoon or your hand and season it well.   

Bake at 325 for 45 minutes (flipping once) or in a pan with a little oil or water misted into it (Note:  baking didn't turn out as well as the pan "frying" did with the potatoes for some reason).   This is a big batch of burgers because we like to freeze them, but you can definitely cut it down some. 

Not the prettiest picture since I burnt half of it, but the taste makes up for it.    The reason I had to take a picture of the half burnt one is because the rest were gone so fast! 

Mushroom Burgers

Even though these "burgers" have a bit of beans in them, they are not true  bean burgers because they are comprised mostly of mushrooms.   Once again, they need plenty of spices and seasonings, but the taste was wonderful. 

Ingredients -

1 pound button mushrooms
1/2-1 cup ground oats or whole wheat flour
1/2-1 cup minced onion, depending on taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup beans or lentils 
Season to taste - Pepper, garlic powder, a dash of cayenne

Mash it all together with a fork or potato masher, shape into burgers, and bake at 350 or cook in a lightly oiled or watered pan on the stove.   The burgers will release water from the mushrooms as they cook, so you really don't need to use oil, just a little water wil do great. 




The finished product:

Bean Burgers

So, the first thing to remember is that these are not really burgers...they are beans.  With that in mind, sadly, you can't just slap them between two buns and enjoy.   They need a little help in the way of spices, seasoning, and toppings.  Okay, they need a lot of help.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that you can dress them up in many ways.  This one is a spicy burger topped with sautéed mushrooms, but you can add avocado, onions, barbecue sauce, and the like.   With a little shredded cabbage and soy sauce in the mix, they have an Asian flair.   Add taco seasoning, avocado, and top with salsa for TexMex burgers.

They freeze really well either "raw" or cooked so make a double batch to make next week's dinner easier.


Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans, rinsed well, or equivalent
1/2 cup salsa, drained of juice, as spicy as you like it
1 cup chopped mushrooms, optional
1/2 cup dry oatmeal or whole wheat flour
Seasonings (pepper, garlic, cayenne, etc)
1 tsp oil or water in pan,  OR bake them


Mash beans with fork or potato masher.  Season well with spices to your tastes.
Add salsa, mushrooms, and oats or flour and mix with fork.
If mixture is too dry, add more salsa.  If it's too wet,  add more flour.
Heat oil in pan and add burgers.
Cook until crispy on one side, flip and do the same to the other side.
You can also cook these in the oven.