This has become our recent favourite burger, the recipe tweaked and improved to suit our tastes. Finally, a vegetarian burger with a delicious crispy outer coating and not something which falls apart. Lots of flavours and textures here, which even our paleo older son enjoyed.There are quite a few ingredients but don’t let that put you off as it’s all very easy, especially second-time round (which happened in the same week, as everyone enjoyed it so much).
The burger recipe is one of those ‘toss-together-all-the-ingredients’ recipes – after you’ve cooked the raw quinoa of course!
If you don’t want the feta in the burger I suggest adding some extra spices such as cumin, crushed coriander seed or some finely grated ginger.
Second-time round, instead of the guacamole (for those avocado NON-afficionados) I roasted more butternut then mashed it up, adding the yoghurt, sea salt, pepper and some cayenne – simple and delicious.
Serves :4
For the quinoa burgers and roasted butternut:
150g red or mixed quinoa
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp potato flour
1 heaped tbsp tahini
2 handfuls chopped soft-leafed herbs such as basil and parsley, or dill and coriander
1 butternut pumpkin (100g peeled, grated & squeezed dry; the remainder chopped in large chunks and roasted as a side dish)
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
50g pumpkin seeds
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
generous pinch cayenne if you like a ‘bite’ to your burger
200g feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
coconut oil for roasting the butternut and frying the burgers
For the Guacamole
2 ripe avocadoes, mashed
1 large, or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (I used the current Marmande tomatoes, delicious!)
2 heaped tbsp chopped herbs – your choice, how about coriander or parsley, dill or basil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
generous squeeze of lemon or lime to suit your taste buds
1 finely chopped red chilli – if you like some heat
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt (optional)
Anything else?
A mix of salad greens as an accompaniment
Method:
Cook the quinoa for about 10-15 minutes in 500ml of water with some sea salt. Place the chunks of pumpkin in a roasting tin and drizzle with coconut oil, season and roast for about 30 minutes, until tender and golden.
Mix together the cooked quinoa, and all the other ingredients EXCEPT 100g of the crumbled feta and firmly press into 12 small burgers. I used my clean hands for the mixing as the tahini was being awkward and didn’t want to mix…
Space them out on a baking sheet and cook in the oven on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning halfway so they crisp up but don’t catch.
Mix together all the guacamole ingredients, easy.
Now put your dish together. Begin with a mound of greens at the bottom then the burgers, topped with some crumbled feta (or dollop of guacamole if you’re not using feta). On the side, a generous dollop of guacamole, and the chunks of roasted butternut.
Great colours, great taste!