Zon's Homemade Veggie Burgers

I consider myself a part time vegetarian for the past 2 years now, I choose to buy meat as little as possible but I will eat it now and then. I have listened and considered many different views on why some have chosen the veggie life and it was great, for them, but not for me. I just didn't have those same convictions. Then I read a book titled, Living More with Less by Doris Longacre, in it was an interview that seemed to make more sense to me and aligned more with my lifestyle. An excellent book if you're ever in need of a good read on simple living.

So when it comes to cooking I like to get creative and make substitutes for my occasional meat cravings and this recipe came out of one of those times when I was really craving a good burger. It seemed to hit the spot and I kind of surprised myself with how well they turned out so I decided to make them again and share my recipe. I do realize that they look like cow turds but they taste great and remind me of an egg roll a little bit and I love egg rolls! 

This recipe really could go any way you'd like as long as the consistency in the end is the same for baking. So you could use other veggies or a different variation of veggies. I used mostly what I had on hand at the time. In fact the green onions were some I just had growing on my windowsill.

I suggest using a food processor and an extra large mixing bowl for this recipe. It makes quite a bit so the larger bowl is nice when mixing your ingredients together. And the food processor, I have learned, is a glorious tool in the kitchen and has made my life a whole lot easier for certain recipes.

Zon's Homemade Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

8 cups chopped cauliflower or about 1 head of cauliflower
1 9 oz bag of spinach
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped green onions
1 large peeled onion
1 garlic bulb peeled into cloves
8 eggs
3 cups shredded cheese
1.5 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups bread crumbs (I use gluten free)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Break up your cauliflower* into smaller pieces to be blended in the food processor.  Blend cauliflower to a nice small consistency but don't pulverize it. Pour into a large to extra large mixing bowl. 

2. Blend spinach, carrots, green onions, onion and garlic cloves to a nice fine consistency, again being careful to not pulverize. Add to cauliflower mixture. 

3. Add shredded cheese and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, beat 8 eggs** and add to mixture, mix thoroughly then add bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add however much salt and pepper you feel desired.

4. Form into patties and flatten slightly, place on a non stick baking pan about an inch or so apart. Bake at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes or until they start to turn a nice golden brown color.

Serve on a bun with fixings or by itself. These taste really good with bbq sauce (I'm from the midwest I love bbq with everything) or honey mustard. They keep well refrigerated or frozen for later meals. I like to prep my lunches for the week and these were great for that. Really easy.

Makes about 32 burgers. I imagine you could possibly make these ahead of time and toss them on the grill with foil when your vegetarian friends come over for a cookout this summer.

*I used all of the cauliflower, stock and leaves. You can choose not to but really there is no difference in the taste and I like to not be wasteful.
**If you chose not to use the cauliflower stocks then you may need to use one less egg.

Tip: I like to keep a bowl for compost close by, when chopping and peeling, for the garden. Also you can add your egg shells to the compost or wash them out and make some excellent plant food with them.

Enjoy your veggie burgers, If you try them another way I'd love to hear about it!

-Zon