Zesty Lentil Burgers

There are times when you are just not in the mood for a meat meal and cast about in your kitchen to throw something together that’s dairy or vegetarian. So I dove headfirst into my pantry to see what I could find that appealed and discovered a package of green lentils which my mother sorta foisted upon me saying she has no idea how they showed up in her house and has no intention of using them. Well, okayyyy.

Smiling to myself, I decided to make lentil burgers to prove that they have worth beyond lentil soup, which I do have on the blog (an older post with less how to pics but still easy to make https://kosherfromjerusalem.com/2018/08/13/lentil-soup/ and so I decided to cook the whole package so I’d have for both soup and burgers. But I digress.

So, I’ve eaten lentil burgers and they can be kinda bland so I decided to rock some exciting flavors in this.

First clean and wash your lentils and drain well.

Then, the proportion of water is 3 cups water to 1 cup dry lentils for just cooking – for soup the proportion is different. Fill the pot with the water and DO NOT ADD SALT. I cannot reiterate this sufficiently, it will toughen your beans and you will have a conniption fit that they never seem to soften. They won’t if you add the salt. Save yourself the aggro as my English friends would say.

Bring to boil, lower to medium simmer and cook for about 25 minutes or so. The best way to test if they are done is to eat one. Now it won’t be soft and mushy, it’ll be a tad al dente. That’s normal. Drain the lentils and let cool a bit.

If they “shed” their skins a bit, no big. You will be grinding them up so don’t worry.

Assemble your food processor (or blender, preferably NOT a stick blender) and your ingredients.

No boring burgers here, we will make them yummy.

First you whirl together the onion, mustard, mayo, parsley and spices to make sure they get properly ground up and only then add the lentils, breadcrumbs and almond flour and lastly the egg.

Pulse together till a nice thick paste is formed. It’ll look sorta like a felafel mixture.

It already has a great smell and then take a scooper (like an ice cream one, I use my Oxo scooper) so that your burgers are the same size and will cook at the same time.

As you can see, it’s really thick, as it should be.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and gently place the burger mixture in the oil, flattening the balls into patties.

fry at medium heat for about 4-5 minutes on each side, checking to make sure they don’t burn. Add oil between batches as needed, don’t skimp too much or they won’t cook properly.

Scoop out with slotted spatula after second side is nicely browned and drain on paper towels.

These are delish served hot but equally good cold. DH and I like ’em cold in a sandwich. Serve with mustard and mayo on the side, with rice and you’re good to go. These are, by the by, incredibly filling and filled with protein (which the almond flour also ups).

Zesty Lentil Burgers

3 cups cooked lentils (1 1/4 cups dry lentils to 3 1/2 cups water)
1 heaping tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 heaping tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 flat teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sautéed onions (or 1 small onion peeled, chopped and sauteed)
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup almond flour
Oil for frying

Directions:

First cook your lentils with NO salt in plain boiling water for about 25 minutes or till just done but not mushy. Drain and set aside to cool a bit.

Put the mustard, mayo, baking powder, spices and onion into the processor and pulse till finely chopped. Next add the lentils, breadcrumbs, almond flour and egg. Chop just till a thick paste forms, you don’t have to do this for more than a minute or two.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and take an ice cream scooper or two tablespoons (or oil your hands and prepare) and make patties with the mixture. Put in the hot oil carefully (which you lower to medium heat) and fry for about 4 minutes on each side, checking to make sure they don’t burn. Add additional oil between batches, letting heat up again before putting next batch in.

Use a slotted spatula to scoop them out and drain on paper towels. Nice served with mustard and mayo, rice or in buns with tomato, lettuce and pickles with dressing as a lentil burger sandwich.