soy &gluten free veggie burgers

This recipe should be prepared a day or so ahead, because part of the “mouthfeel” and firmness comes from the cooling and then the re-heating.   The flavor also develops into a rich, dark yumminess.  This method is very similar to making pancakes and requires a bit of spatula work and judgement on “when to flip” etc. 

Our family, luckily, does not have gluten or soy issues; however, this is our absolute favorite veggie burger to this day!!  Enjoy..... this burger is a lot of labor, but well well worth it, healthy and delicious.  Use with different spices to make sausages and crumbled for taco and burrito filling, sloppy joes, dirty rice and the list goes on and on.

soy gluten f veggie burger with best oven fries ever and potato cheez, avocados, lettuce, tomato and onion

Equipment:
Big stainless steel bowl for mixing
Food Processor for veggies

Silicone spatula for removing veggies from processor

Big Saute Pan

Good, heavy duty spatula

Saucepan for cooking rice or quinoa

Big tablespoon and fork for “mashing”

smoker box if you want to “smoke” them. These are delicious non-smoked as well as lightly smoked, heavy smoke would mask the flavor.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked white or brown rice or very well cooked quinoa (not watery)
1 cup of very well drained cooked black beans
1 cup of course ground raw veggies of choice, almost puree but with less water (add nuts if you wish)  I have used everything from celery, onion, bell peppers spinach, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli and brussel sprouts
1/3 cup of dark roasted tahini (if you do not have, I have used vegan mayonnaise)
3 TBL of olive oil or oil of choice
1 giant tablespoon of molasses (this is crucial to a dark, iron taste for the burgers)
1 TBL of balsamic vinegar (this is also crucial to a “roasted” taste)
1 tsp of garlic powder or fresh minced garlic

2 TBL of onion powder
1 TBL of course black pepper
to taste, salt
to taste, spices and herbs of choice. I use 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of oregano, 1 tsp of thyme, 1 tsp of Kirkland sweet mesquite
Approx 1 1/4 cups of gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill).  Please use your judgement on the feel of the mixture because the water content will vary with different vegetables 
Oil of choice for frying
Wood of choice if you are smoking (I like a mix of mesquite and applewood) 

Method...
* Mix quinoa or rice and beans together with the back of a spoon until mashed, but leaving some whole beans just for fun

• *  Add your fat of choice or oil to the quinoa bean mixture
  
• *  Drain veggies if they contain too much water (mushrooms or tomatoes), although they can be a bit wet and you will just add more flour. Add to quinoa and rice mixture 

Add molasses, vinegar, spices, salt and pepper...IMPORTANT —taste for salt and flavor before adding the gluten free flour because that flour will mask the taste and is bitter and horrible uncooked

Now you should combine and mix the mixture and it should be looking like a really thick and lumpy cake batter

Time to start adding the gluten free flour, I’d say 1/4 cup at a time while mixing until it looks like a lumpy clay that is scoopable 

 Heat up sauté pan with around 2 TBL of oil of choice until very hot (if you place these on the pan cold or just warm, they will stick just like pancakes)
With a spoon, scoop out a slap of dough and place on oil, don’t worry about the thickness, you will flatten and correct with the spatula when you flip. Now turn the heat down a bit, a little over medium

When you feel that they are ready to flip (40-60 seconds?), turn heat to high again and carefully flip. After a few seconds turn heat down to medium high. Flatten with spatula until you reach the size you prefer.

After around 40-60 seconds, you are ready to continue flipping, turn heat down to low, cover with foil or pan lid and let cook away, I usually let sit on low, covered for a good 5 minutes each side (gluten free flour must be cooked very thoroughly or you get a nasty bitter taste). When you turn off the heat let the burgers sit until cooled. Place burgers on plate and cover with plastic and refrigerate until completely cool.

Before smoking (if you are smoking), rub a little oil over the top and salt the top of the burgers. I place my smoker outside on a little burner, no smoke in your dwelling. When the smoke starts I let them sit on medium heat smoking for around 4 minutes, turn off, let smoke escape and remove them. (A side note, mesquite will taste extremely bitter if anything sits too long in it).
Remove and cover with plastic on plate and carefully grill or refrigerate. (use care in flipping these on a grill due to the non-stickiness of gluten free flour)


Re-heating:
I reheat these in an oven, covered in foil or in a casserole dish, 350 degrees for around 1/2 hour and use immediately or, after the oven, put them on gas or charcoal grill. They also re-heat very well in microwave.