The Tale of Two Burgers

[Deleted User]

One is a vegetarian recipe, the other for meat eaters. Both are wonderful, and I have my hungry family to vouch for it.

First, the Chilli Burger with Roasted Tomatoes & Red Onion Relish

Cook 15-20 mins
Easy and Serves 4

500g minced beef
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped OR, a pinch of chilli flakes
2 tbsp chopped coriander, OR Parsley (plus small handful leaves, to serve)
300g pack cherry tomatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
juice 1 lime, OR juice 1 lemon
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 small red onion, cut into wafer-thin slices
2 English muffins, toasted

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/ gas 6. Mix the beef with the chilli and some chopped coriander, then season well. Shape into four patties about 2.5cm thick. Chill until needed.

2. Put tomatoes in a roasting tin. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of olive oil and season. Roast for 12-15 mins until just soft.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick frying pan. Then cook burgers on each side for 4 mins for rare or 5 mins for medium.

For the relish, mix 2 tbsp of olive oil, the lime or lemon juice and sweet chilli sauce, parsley, coriander leaves and red onion.

To serve, place a burger on a muffin half, add a branch of tomatoes and top with red onion relish.

[Deleted User]

The Really Hungry Vegetarian Burger

Photo by Brian Ferry

Recipe taken from The Telegraph UK

Please be assured that this is not the breaded sweetcorn and mushroom mush excuse that usually shows up between two white buns. This is a hearty, health-packed wonder that makes no apology to anyone.

Serves 8

Ingredients

olive oil
6 big Portobello mushrooms, roughly chopped
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 × 400g tin of haricot or cannellini beans, well drained
4 fat Medjool dates, pitted
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
200g cooked and cooled brown rice (100g uncooked weight)
50g breadcrumbs or oats
the grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

To Serve

1–2 avocados, peeled and sliced
tomato relish or ketchup
pickled cucumber (see above)
a few handfuls of spinach leaves
8 seeded burger buns (I use wholemeal ones)

Set a large pan on a medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Once the oil is good and hot, add the mushrooms and thyme and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fry on a good heat until the mushrooms have dried out and are slightly browned, then set to one side and leave to cool.

Next, put the drained beans in a food processor with the dates, garlic, parsley, tahini and soy sauce. Pulse until you have a smoothish mixture, then transfer to a bowl and add the rice, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and cooled mushrooms. Mix well, and put in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to firm up, then shape the mixture into eight patties. Place these on baking paper and keep in the fridge for up to a day (the burgers also freeze well at this point).

When you are ready to cook the burgers, heat your oven to 230C/gas mark 8 and bake them for 15 minutes, until nicely brown. If you like cheese on your burger, place a slice on top a couple of minutes before it comes out of the oven.

While your burgers are cooking, get your toppings ready. I go with avocado, tomato relish and pickled cucumber, plus a few spinach leaves. Hummus, grated carrot and beansprouts are another favourite, but feel free to improvise. Once the burgers are golden, toast your buns and layer everything up.