A friend of mine mentioned the other day that every time she saw vegan food, it always seemed weird and like most people wouldn’t want to eat it. I think there are some older, outdated ideas like that but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, many health-conscious people are already eating almost vegan and haven’t even thought about it. Like pasta? salads? Chili over rice?
Anyway, one of the things I came to realize was that if I’m going this way, I am going to have to cook more. So I chose one of the recipes in Main Street Vegan, (possibly one of the best books about food I’ve ever read), and here’s how it went. It’s called a Lentil-Spud Burger, but I’d say “burger” quite loosely.
First, gather the ingredients … hard to find some of these organic, but I got what I could. The recipe called for whole wheat panko crumbs which I couldn’t find, so I used a mixture of plain panko crumbs and whole wheat bread crumbs.
I chose redskin potatoes because they have more flavor, and as always, steam rather than boil them.
I sautéed 2 cloves of garlic in just a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Meanwhile, I whisked up a little vegetable broth using an organic vegetarian base that I was happy to discover on my supermarket shelf so I wouldn’t have to waste a can or box of broth for such a small amount.
I mashed the steamed potatoes, and was, of course, happy that there was a bunch left over for some other purpose, then mixed in the lentils, bread crumbs, broth, garlic and herbs. This was a very nice selection with there being twice as much chives as oregano, parsley and basil. I mashed all the ingredients together with a fork and made 4 patties. It held together quite nicely. The mixture did need a bit of salt, but not too much.
I cooked one of the patties in a little oil along with some grilled asparagus and served with fresh-from-the-farm Jersey tomatoes and voilà!
It was quite delicious and not like something my friend described at all. (And I still have more I can cook up!)
I could never go vegan. Don’t eat potatoes, whole wheat, soy, lentils! Now the veggies go down…;-)
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Ahhh – I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like! I love whole grains, soy I’m careful with, and beans … in moderation. It’s a definite change, but more than anything … I still miss cheese. 😦
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Just had a French Roquefort with fresh figs for lunch. Paid a king’s ransom for the blue, yet worth every cent!
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OK, now you’re just being mean! (said she who must not eat cheese at the moment.)
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Could you use something besides chicken broth?
This sounds interesting. I’m not vegan but I have many food allergies and I’m always on the look out for NEW foods to make. The chicken is a BIG problem in any form so it’s a no no. But an alternative might work okay.
Hi
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It isn’t chicken broth, actually, even though the jar says bouillon – it’s an organic vegetarian base. They also make it in chicken and beef but this is strictly veggie based. (I changed my text – thanks – not even realizing I’d said chicken broth! Now it says vegetable broth.)
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