Beet Burgers
Beet burgers - a great choice for my vegetarian (and non-veg!) friends.
Inspiration:
For my veggie friends: beet burgers. Inspired by Tucson training camp meals made by my good friend, Heather Jackson, the beet-quinoa burger was first introduced to me two years ago. I have been wanting to make them ever since. I fooled around with a few ideas and came up with this rendition. Are you not a beet fan? Neither was my husband, Chris, and tonight he was all over this veg-friendly dinner.
Ingredients:
1 c. grated beets - raw
1/2 c. cooked quinoa
1 15oz can of black beans - rinsed & drained
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion - chopped small
4-5x button mushrooms - chopped small
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. oats OR almond meal OR bread crumbs
salt & pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chile powder or chile flakes
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (optional)
Garnish:
Buns
Cheese - choose your favorite; I’d recommend goat or feta
Greens - lettuce, spinach, arugula
Veggies - sliced tomatoes, avocado
Dressings:
Ketchup
Mustard
Tzatziki
Hummus
Instructions:
Heat skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and cook onion about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms to the pan and season with salt & pepper. Cooking onions & mushrooms another 5 minutes or so.
In a large bowl mash rinsed & drained black beans with a fork. Add the onion & mushroom mixture and combine the ingredients.
Add quinoa, grated beets & seasonings to the mixing bowl with the beans, onions & mushrooms. Mix everything together well.
Lastly add oats a little at a time (I use oats, but you can use any sort of almond meal, bread crumb - something to bind the ingredients together.) Use your hands to form the mixture into 1” patties. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more oats.
Transfer patties to the fridge and let sit for a few hours, or even overnight.
Pre-heat oven to 375.
Put patties on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper & bring them to room temperature.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Flip over. Bake another 15-20 minutes.
Optional, you can “crisp” up your burger in a skillet on the stove to finish them off.
A few notes:
Makes 4 larger burgers, or 5-6 smaller ones.
You definitely want to let the burgers sit in the fridge for a few hour or overnight to help them hold their form & not turn out overly dry.
You can actually freeze these if you don’t want to eat them all at one. Follow steps all the way through baking, and freeze once back to room temperature. Remove from freezer and heat in oven + finish on stove.
If you’ve never worked with raw beets - I recommend wearing gloves so that you don’t stain your hands in beet juice. If you don’t have gloves, don’t worry - beet juice comes off hands after a few washings. I just peel the skin off the beets with a paring knife and grate the beets on a box grater.
Don’t worry about exact measurements on this recipe. True to my cooking form, a little of this, and a little of that and you’ll somehow end up with a great tasting beet burger.
Beets are great for athletes: a source of nitrates, fiber, vitamin C. These burgers are also protein-packed with quinoa and black beans.
Feel free to add a variety of seasonings to the mix - you can make these “Greek-Style” by topping with hummus, cucumbers + Tzatziki. I served the above version with goat cheese, lettuce, tomato + avocado. You can also serve these over greens and skip the bun.