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Bird-Friendly White Bean Burger (GF) with barbecue sauce.
Well, this is #3 in my bean burger series. When I discover a formula that works, I go with it!
Burger #1 had a Mexican flavor. Burger #2 had an Italian quality.
Now, burger #3 has seasonings that most people associate with poultry (i.e. dead chickens and dead turkeys.)
In December 2008, I was newly vegan but the rest of my family was still eating animals. My niece was 4 years old. While preparing dinner for Christmas, my sister made a comment about the “bird” in the oven. A few hours later, my little niece sat down to eat and said,
“But mommy, I don’t want to eat a bird.”
I’ll never forget that. Fortunately, that was the last turkey that my niece had to eat. My family no longer cooks birds. We have Vegan Holiday Meals.
Here is a savory burger that you can enjoy without causing chickens and turkeys to die.
I’d like to stop seeing the chicken trucks regularly, when I drive to work.
Bird-Friendly White Bean Burgers (GF)
WET INGREDIENTS
2 C (or 1- 15 oz can) white beans (Cannellini (white kidney) or Great Northern beans)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/3 C chopped onion
1/3 C chopped celery
2 T tahini
1 T tamari (GF)
DRY INGREDIENTS
1/2 C oat flour (GF)
1/4 C ground sunflower seeds
1 T nutritional yeast
1 t EACH: dried parsley, thyme & sage
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t EACH: ground *rosemary, celery salt & black pepper
dash garlic powder
(*I grind dried rosemary to a fine powder using a coffee grinder)
ASSEMBLY
Use a small food processor to puree the wet ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine the wet puree with the dry ingredients.
Divide the burger “dough” into 4 balls or 4 portions. You can do this right in the bowl using a spoon, or you can pour a drop of olive oil on your hands to handle the balls manually.
The burger dough will be very sticky and soft- don’t panic! Create 4 patties (see the other burger recipes for pictures of this phase). If you want to keep your hands clean, just spoon the dough balls right onto parchment paper and flatten them there.
Refrigerate the patties on parchment for at least 30-60 minutes before cooking. The time will allow the excess moisture to soak into the oats, which will bind the burgers. Trust me!
Cook the patties on medium heat in a saute pan using the oil of your choice (I use coconut oil). It should take about 10 minutes per side. Shake the pan periodically to make sure they aren’t sticking.
Try these with some barbecue sauce or mushroom gravy.
Thank YOU for caring about birds of all kinds.
Kauai Chicken – May 8, 2011
I first learned about “blended salad” from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. If you don’t know who Dr. Fuhrman is, be sure to click the link! In my opinion, his book “Eat to Live” is one of the best books on nutrition. I love his “nutritarian” approach to health. It’s all about nutrient density.
A blended salad is basically another type of green smoothie. My morning green smoothie contains a lot of fruit. My evening blended salad contains mostly vegetables.
Here’s what I put in my blended salad last night (serves 2):
Parsley, spinach, zucchini, carrot, cucumber, apple, red pepper and lemon juice (frozen).
PREPARATION
These are tips for preparing lots of vegetables ahead of time. This cuts down on the amount of work involved. If it’s too much work, then you probably won’t make blended salads regularly. Not good!
1. Buy several bunches of parsley. Discard the thickest stems. (I don’t need that much fiber!) Rinse, spin dry, and freeze on parchment paper. Store in a freezer container.
2. Have dark leafy greens in your fridge at ALL times. Rotate through kale, spinach, chard, collards, etc. Rinse the leaves and remove the tough stem. Most of the time I throw the stem away, but sometimes I mince it up for soup.
3. Buy a large variety of vegetables and apples. Wash, chop (2″ pieces) and freeze most of it. Always save some of everything for the fridge. Don’t forget about tomatoes, celery, and avocado. Keep the tomatoes and avocado fresh.
4. Use a citrus reamer to juice a whole bunch of lemons at once. Freeze the juice in ice cube trays.
5. If you have a juicer, you can also juice some of the vegetables and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Using some vegetable juice instead of all whole veggies will cut down on some of the fiber (if getting too much fiber is an issue.) Save your carrot pulp for other uses (like these muffins).
5. Blend everything in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Add at least a cup of water per serving.
It’s interesting to read nutrition charts showing the percentage of protein, carbohydrate, and fat found in fruits and vegetables. People are surprised to learn that fruits contain protein and vegetables contain fat.
Please repeat after me:
ALL PLANTS CONTAIN PROTEIN.
PARSLEY: 27% protein, 57% carb, 16% fat
SPINACH: 39% protein, 49% carb, 12% fat
ZUCCHINI: 25% protein, 67% carb, 8% fat
CARROT: 8% protein, 87% carb, 5% fat
CUCUMBER: 19% protein, 69% carb, 12% fat
APPLE: 2% protein, 95% carb, 3% fat
RED PEPPER: 13% protein, 78% carb, 9% fat
LEMON: 7% protein, 90% carb, 3% fat
(Protein, carb, and fat percentages are from the book, “Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets,” by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. This is another excellent book on nutrition. You don’t need to be “raw” to read it.)
Happy blending!
Freeheel Vegan 