Savvy Vegetarian Walnut Veggie Burger Recipe

Walnuts, brown rice, veggies, and herbs combine for a completely satisfying vegan veggie walnut burger from Savvy Vegetarian

8 Large Burgers: This recipe was inspired by a Walnut Burger I enjoyed at The Small Planet Cafe in Fairfield IA. I liked it so much, I decided to go home and whip up a vegan version. Many experiments later, this walnut veggie burger recipe emerged.

I got the taste right early on, but the texture was tricky. While Small Planet glued everything together with cheddar cheese, I was aiming for a dairy free, gluten free version, I tried various gluey substances: tahini, hummus, chick pea flour, cornstarch, ground flax seeds, egg replacer. None of those was quite right, so finally I used whole wheat flour, which worked perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup short grain brown rice
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 1 small carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 1" slice fresh ginger
• 1 tsp dried basil leaf
• 1 tsp dried marjoram leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• NON-GLUTEN ALTERNATIVE: 1/4 cup fine corn meal + 1 Tblsp egg replacer OR ground flax seed

Directions:

1. Wash and drain the rice. Bring to boil with 1 1/2 cup cold water and a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, chop the walnuts fine in a food processor or by hand
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium low
4. Peel and mince the ginger and garlic
5. Clean the celery, and chop fine
6. Peel and trim the carrot, and grate
7. Turn the heat up under the frypan to medium. *Sauté garlic, ginger, carrot and celery in oil 5 minutes or until soft
8. Mix rice, walnuts, veggies, parsley, herbs in food processor, or by hand
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Mix in half the flour, until mixture forms a ball. Add more flour if it seems too sticky. The burger mix should be firm.
11. If you don't want gluten, use 1/4 cup fine cornmeal + 1 Tblsp egg replacer or ground flax seeds. The mixture will be more crumbly.
12. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan on medium. Divide the burger mixture into eight balls, flatten, and fry ten minutes on each side.
13. These walnut burgers freeze well, so if you don't want to cook them all at once, freeze some of the patties between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper, and seal in a bag to freeze until needed.
14. Serve on buns with your favorite burger fixings. Or serve bunless with steamed veggies or a salad for a lower cal meal.

*"Sauté" means fry on med-high heat, stirring constantly. It's different from stir fry, which uses more heat, and is the end step in cooking. Usually after sautéing, there's another step, like steaming or adding to a soup or stew - in this case, adding the sautéed veggies to the walnut burger mix.