Lentil Burger

If you are planning to treat your little ones with these healthy burgers, you can also modify them into little lentil meatballs. Serve them as snacks or as a starter with a dipping sauce to appreciate the chewy texture.

In general, I don’t eat lentils much. I don’t mind eating them, but I don’t love them. I can probably count the number of lentil recipes that I have cooked in the past on one hand, and of these, there were only two that I really enjoyed, including dashi braised lentils and lentil Bolognese. (If you want to get these recipes, shoot me a message!) This lentil burger recipe is the third one I’ve really liked. They are delicious!
 
Once or twice a week, I like to go through my pantry and clean out anything that’s about to expire. Recently I found a pack of lentils that had been there for some time. I just hadn’t found a day where I felt like cooking them, as they usually take a little while to prepare.
 
But this day, I was inspired by Bon Appétit and transformed these lonely lentils into a high-protein vegan dish. I substituted hard tofu for the mushrooms in their recipe, and the overall texture came out really nice and chewy and packed with flavour. If you are planning to treat your little ones with these healthy burgers, you can also modify them into little lentil meatballs. Serve them as snacks or as a starter with a dipping sauce to appreciate the chewy texture. Enjoy!

Makes 6 (6 cm diameter) patties

Ingredients

• 150 g hard tofu
• 1 cup green lentils
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 big clove of garlic, finely grated
• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Siracha Mayo

• 3:1 ratio for mayo and sriracha sauce
• Dash of unseasoned rice vinegar
• Sprinkle of white pepper

Home pickled jalapeños
See full recipe HERE

Recipe Preparation

Rinse lentils and put them into a small saucepan with twice the amount of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until the lentils are a bit soft but keeping their chewiness. Drain lentils through a fine sieve to remove excess water. Spread out semi-cooked lentils onto a medium/large baking sheet to cool.
 
Pat tofu dry with kitchen paper to remove excess moisture. Chop finely and put in a medium mixing bowl. Combine tofu with with paprika, grated garlic, miso paste, and oil, then set aside.
 
Add cooled, drained lentils to a food processor and pulse with intervals until lentils are over 1/3, but not quite ½, coarsely chopped. Your goal is to have about 60% chopped lentils and 40% whole lentils in the mixture. Once you have the right consistency, remove lentils from the processor and stir into the tofu mixture with a spatula until well combined.
 
Prepare Sriracha mayo:
Using a small bowl, mix all ingredients together until well combined.
 
With a measuring cup (I used a 1/3 cup), scoop out a portion of the mixture and squeeze with both hands to form a patty, gently flattening it into a 3/4-inch-thick burger. Repeat for remaining mixture.
 
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat and fry lentil burgers in batches, about 2 minutes per side or until surfaces are brown and crispy. 
 
Serve on burger buns, topped with a sunny side up egg, a slice of cheddar, a generous amount of siracha mayo, and a few slices of jalapeños.
 
Note:
If you aren’t going to cook them all, wrap each patty individually with cling film and refrigerate for up to 4 days.