You can easily make meat substitutes yourself. Isabel, also known as the Hip Vegetarian is sharing the recipe for her bean burger this month.
Meat substitutes are available in pure form such as tofu, tempeh and seitan, in a processed form such as the ready-to-use meat substitutes from the supermarket, but you can also easily make them yourself. Nothing is as tasty as homemade falafel, a bean burger or beetroot burger. Many variations are possible, once you know which minimum ingredients are needed to give the burgers their structure and ensure that they become a whole - which is not always easy, but practice makes perfect. And they are very tasty even if they have fallen apart a bit.
Ingredients for 8 bean burgers
the basic ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 egg whites or 2 tablespoons of linseed with 2 tablespoons of hot water
- salt and pepper
choose your legumes
400 grams
- chickpeas, cooked
- lentils, cooked
- black beans, cooked
- kidney beans, cooked
- peas, cooked
choose your grains
100 grams, optional
- quinoa, cooked
- brown rice, cooked
- spelled, cooked
choose your binder
amount by feel
flour of your choice
- oat flakes
- breadcrumbs
- rusk crumb
- roughly chopped nuts
optional for creaminess
choose your tastemakers
maximum one wet ingredient
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tahini or nut butter
- 2 tablespoons spring onion, chopped
- handful of fresh green herbs
- a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
- a handful of nuts, kernels or seeds, chopped
- a handful of parmesan cheese, grated
- a handful of goat cheese, crumbled
- 100 grams of kale
- 100 grams of tomato puree
Get started
- Put your basic ingredients together with your legumes and possibly your tofu in a food processor. If desired, you can add all your grains and seasonings now, depending on whether you want them to be ground in or to keep them coarse, otherwise stir them in later.
- Grind the whole into an even mass. It is probably now too wet to form balls with your hands and it will remain
- stick to your fingers. Then add tablespoons of your binder one at a time to make it a manageable substance, be careful not to add too much, because then it will become dry.
- If you hadn't already added your extra grains and seasonings, do this by hand now.
- Put the whole thing in the fridge for half an hour so that it can stiffen up a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 170 ˚C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Roll 8 balls of the batter with your hands and flatten them like a burger on the baking paper. You can also choose to make smaller burgers.
- Bake the bean burgers in the oven for 20-30 minutes until done and 'dry' so that they remain a whole. Remember to turn them over after 15 minutes. Depending on your oven and the size of the burgers, baking may take longer or shorter.
Curious how Isabel gives her vegetarian recipes taste? You can read about it in the April issue of Santé in the interview with Isabel. You will find more information and recipes on her blog the Hippe Vegetatiaanse.
Recipe and image:The Hip Vegetarian
