"Whaaat? Beets on a sandwich? That's just crazy-talk," you say.
Well, my friend, you'd be mistaken. Fact: Beets make AWESOME veggie burgers. I'm sure our favorite
beet farmer/
Assistant to the Regional Manager would agree.
I've always found beets to be questionable at best, particularly in cooked and/or roasted form. There's simply something about eating them that is a little too much like putting your face into a planter full of dirt. But as our recent CSA box contained a bunch, and since I am not one to waste perfectly-good-albeit-dirt-tasting food, I sought out some new uses for the jeweled vegetable.
My Googling led to
this post on The Kitchn featuring "The Best Ever Veggie Burgers from Northstar Cafe." I know what you're thinking--best ever? That's a big promise, Kitchn. But the comments on the post raved about the burgers from Northstar Cafe in Ohio, and people were professing their manic attempts at recreating the cafe's version.
So I had to try.
And, man, was I convinced.
A little sweet, a little savory and a little spicy, these burgers are both gorgeous and tasty. They take a bit of preparation, which can be done in advance of grilling, but are worth the trouble. They got two thumbs up from my meat-eating husband, and I deemed them worthy of appearing on my fantasy cafe menu. We paired them with a side of corn and basil quinoa for a fresh, weekend-barbeque worthy meal.
The Schrute {adapted from
this recipe}
Makes about 6-8 burgers
1/2 cup brown or white rice*
1 onion, diced small
3 large red beets (about 1 pound), chopped small or shredded
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons parsley, minced
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-2 Tablespoons old fashioned oats
Smoked salt, if possible (or substitute regular salt and a tiny bit of paprika)
Fresh ground black pepper
thin slices of provolone, monterey jack, or havarti cheese (optional)
Brioche or challah rolls (I highly recommend Whole Foods' vegan challah rolls)
Bring a large amount of water to a boil. Add a handful of salt and the rice, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the rice until it's a little beyond al dente. You want it a little over-cooked, but still firm. This should take about 35-40 minutes for brown rice. Drain the rice and set it aside.
Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the onions are translucent and softened. Stir in the shredded beets. Cover the pot and cook until the beets are completely tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan using the cider vinegar.
Empty the black beans into a large bowl and use a fork to mash them up a bit. Add the cooked rice*, beet and onion mixture, chipotle pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and all the spices. Stir to combine and then taste for seasonings. Add smoked salt and pepper to taste. Once it tastes the way you like it, add the flour and oats and stir until you see no more dry flour.
*Note: if you are pairing the burgers with a quinoa salad, or happen to have quinoa already cooked, feel free to substitute some of the rice with quinoa. I added about a tablespoon or two of pre-cooked quinoa to the mixture.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or grill pan over the highest heat. Brush on a liberal amount of olive oil onto the bottom of your pan. When you see the oil shimmer and it flows easily, the pan is ready.
Using your hands, scoop up about a cup of the burger mixture and shape it into a patty between your palms. Set it in the pan, where it should begin to sizzle immediately. (If it doesn't sizzle, wait a minute or two before cooking the rest of the burgers.) Shape and add as many more patties as will fit in your pan. Once all the patties are in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-high.
Cook the patties for 2-4 minutes, then flip them to the other side. You should see a nice crust on the cooked side. If they break apart a little when you flipped them, just reshape them with the spatula - they'll hold together once the second side is cooked. If you're adding cheese, lay a slice over the burgers now. Cook the second side for another 2 minutes.
Serve the veggie burgers on soft burger buns (such as brioche or challah) or lightly toasted sandwich bread along with some fresh greens. We brushed our challah buns with Earth Balance butter and toasted them briefly in the broiler, which added the perfect amount of light crunch to the burger.
Cooked burgers should be eaten that same day. You can also save leftover mix in the fridge for up to a week and cook just one or two burgers as you want them. I shaped patties out of the remaining mixture and refrigerated them until the next day. Before grilling, microwave the patties or allow them to come to room temperature.
