We adapted a Martha Stewart recipe for Veggie Burgers from http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/veggie-burgers.  Although the recipe was already packed with yummy healthy food, we don’t like to do things half-assed so we cut out even more of the crap (we nixed the egg, cut back on cheese and bread crumbs, substituted english muffins for buns, amped up the mushrooms, and decreased the portion size) and ended up with absolutely fabulous burgers.  I was really nervous the burgers wouldn’t hold together, because homemade veggie burgers usually crumble to pieces and demand delicate attention throughout the cooking process.   It turned out the quinoa/mushroom/bread crumb combo was the perfect texture to keep a shape. I seriously am planning on making them again this weekend for the real Fourth of July…YUM!

Mushroom Quinoa Burgers

Servings: 20

Serving Size: palm sized burger, or approx 1/2 cup

Yield: 20 burgers

6 oz portobello mushrooms without stems, finely chopped

14 oz crimini mushrooms, finely chopped (i wish i had a food processor)

2 small zucchini, shredded with grater

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large shallots, minced

1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1.5 cups quinoa, cooked according to package directions

salt and pepper to taste (we may have added a little too much, test as you go)

squeeze of half a lemon

2 cups gluten free bread crumbs (we made it gluten free for Jackie)

20 english muffins, toasted and cut in half

1. Cook quinoa, set aside.
2. Mix shredded zucchini and chopped mushrooms in a bowl. 
3. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in skillet (we used a wok, cause we made a huge amount) over medium heat until it shimmers.
4. Add red pepper flakes and shallot and cook for 2 min until softened
5. Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook for 5 min.
6. Remove from heat and drain a little of the excess water that may have leaked out of the mushrooms and zucchini. (I didn’t drain it all because it seemed to help bind the burgers)
7. Add parmesan, quinoa, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and bread crumbs
8. Shape into burgers and put on covered tray in fridge for on hour or until firm.
9. Remove from fridge and bake on cookie sheet in oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly brown on both sides, and flip once halfway through.  
10. Place burger between english muffin bun and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts per serving:

Original recipe with bun: 483 calories; 18.5g fat; 2.9g saturated fat; 16.5g protein, and 7g fiber.

Our modified recipe with english muffin: 292 calories; 9.3g fat; 1.3g saturated fat; 9.8g protein; 6g fiber.

At our party last weekend, we knew one thing was a non-negotiable: BURGERS. Just in case you’ve been living on McDonald’s and aren’t up on the health news, burgers are often linked with clogging up the ol’ pipes and keeping you refilling your Prevacid Rx.  So, how did we succeed so intensely at making burgers that didn’t taste like a weird amalgamation of tire rubber and wheat grass, without tipping the calorie scale? BUFFALO MEAT.  Yes, you heard correct. b-u-f-f-a-l-o.  

Buffalo meat is like the holy grail of grilling—tender, juicy, red meat that is super lean. And oh my god so so good.  Their smell alone was so good in fact, that little old “I’ve been a vegetarian for 7 years” me, broke down and had to try a bite. (I’m sure I’ll be hearing an earful from PETA tomorrow.)  Also, don’t worry, we did not leave the more pious vegetarian’s adrift, I made the BEST veggie burgers of my life, hands down, and promise to share that mind-altering recipe tomorrow.

Anyway, back to meat.  The best part about buffalo, it’s NOT expensive. It was only $1 more a pound than the hamburger at Whole Foods, so you have no excuse to avoid it. And because Jackie and I are cheap and health conscious, we made smaller burgers for our guests.  I promise you, you do not need a monster sized burger to satisfy!

I basically don’t have a recipe to share with you, because we just seasoned our burgers with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and plopped them on our grill pan with a little Pam. We served our burgers sandwiched between 100-cal multigrain english muffins and offered our guests some lettuce, tomato, onions, ketchup, dijon, and BBQ sauce to top their little pieces of burger heaven. 

Here is a comparison though of the nutrition facts of a 2.6 oz bison burger with an english muffin vs a 2.6 oz 17% fat hamburger with a regular bun. 

Buffalo Burger: 204 calories; 4g fat; 1.2g saturated fat; 21.2g protein; and 8.4g fiber

Hamburger Burger: 290 calories; 14.2g fat; 5.4g saturated fat; 17.7g protein; and 0.9g fiber.

yum yum yum yum 

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On a side note about food safety…

We quickly discovered that cooking burgers indoors can be a safety hazard. As our apartment filled completely with smoke, the whole hacking party was forced to run for their lives…

Hmm kind of odd our fire alarm never went off…!  

Lessons learned:

A.) Baking burgers might be a better plan than using the grill pan indoors. Meat + Heat = Smoke. Or, if you are one of the few lucky New Yorkers that has a backyard, go ahead and grill those burgers as god and our country intended.  Just remember that buffalo has less fat to protect it from heat, so it shouldn’t be cooked directly on the flame at such an intense temp.

B.) Check your fire alarm batteries, please.  You don’t want to kill yourself and your neighbors in pursuit of a low-fat burger.

C.) With a little booze, and a lot of fan power…the raging never stops!