Receta Lentil Olive Burgers
The very day I start complaining about not being able to stock my freezer with burger patties, I open up the freezer to find lentil burgers frozen from last week – a meal that was pushed to the way side due to unexpected changes in dinner plans (the horror!).
So I’m here to tell you, from experience, that these freeze beautifully prior to cooking.
Do you ever wonder who gets the prettily staged dinner plates at our house? Well, it is my husband. His plates are always stark white, cleaned of any stray crumb or juice puddle, parsley just perfectly placed. The evening we ate these burgers, his beautiful plate was adorned with two burger tops rather than a top and a bottom.
“What a great idea,” he remarked, right as he mentioned the burger bun snafu. Hey. If that makes his day that much, I’ll give up my burger tops each and every time we grill out!
What he was actually talking about, though, was how wonderful the flavors of the burger were. And mind you, we had these burgers just the previous the night. These did not disappoint the Omnivore. The texture was NOT mushy and squeezy like some homemade veggie burgers are. The flavor is earthy and strong.
Lentil Olive Burgers (adapted from PPK)
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Fresh black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup dried lentils, cooked
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, divided
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan non-stick (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat. Add mushroom, garlic, black pepper, thyme and tarragon and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, until mushroom is cooked.
While mushroom is cooking, place olives in food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped (not pureed.) Remove from food processor and set aside. (No need to clean it out for the next step.)
When mushrooms have cooked, add mushroom mixture to the food processor. Add all other ingredients except for 1/2 a cup of the breadcrumbs. (Reserve 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs, this will give them better texture.)
Pulse until mostly smooth, but there should still be a little texture. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs to the burger mixture, along with the chopped olives, and thoroughly combine.
Divide burger mix into 4 equal pieces.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Form mixture into patties, spray with a little more cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes. Flip burgers and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes, until nicely browned.
They taste great served immediately but they’re also excellent at room temperature so don’t be afraid to stuff into a sandwich and take as a lunch.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)