Monday, April 6, 2009

The AnBurgers...for those who cant have Angus!

I love burgers and fries, but most of the stuff available is non vegetarian and very obviously doesn't fit my lifestyle. However, I realize that even if I was a non vegetarian, I wouldn't have touched the burgers served here with a barge-pole. I saw the movie SuperSize Me. I've wanted to watch this movie for ages now and finally got to watch it. I almost fasted that day. That movie scared me. I knew all the facts stated in the movie, but to watch it happen to this guy scared the living daylights out of me. I also remembered the book Fast Food Nation I'd read a couple of years ago. Then, I wondered if I could EVER eat a burger and be happy about it. And when I shared my fears to A, he, as usual, being the the one who thinks and come up with action plans decided to make a dinner out of this fear that night. We didn't have burger buns and didn't have the time at 7 PM to bake them either. So, A created these two types of patties - beans and Tofu-veggie and we had a burger w/fries dinner that night. One of the best dinners we've had and one of the best times together cooking in the kitchen :)

Here is the recipe for you guys!

Advisory: The burgers that you're about to witness are very healthy and do not contain any potatoes ;)

Ingredients (makes about four 4" burgers):

For the AnTofu burger (that's right...the first two alphabets are a shameless way of copying McDonalds and taking credit for it :D)

1/2 lb firm tofu
1/2 cup bread crumbs*
salt and red chili powder to taste
1/2 tsp crushed, dried oregano
1 tsp Kraft BBQ sauce
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (you can remove the seeds if you want)
1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup corn cobs (thawed and drained if frozen. If using fresh corn, boil it in water and remove the cobs and drain them)
1 tsp olive oil

* the use of bread crumbs depends on how well you drain the water from the tofu so adjust accordingly. It is not necessary to drain all the water from the tofu. the idea is to have enough moisture to hold the burgers while cooking them.

For the AnBean proteinaceous Pattie (yup, we did it again!) (makes about six-seven 3" patties)

1/2 cup chick peas
1/2 cup navy beans
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup Great Northern beans
1/4 cup coarse corn grits
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp olive oil

1. For the AnTofu burger, wrap the tofu with a tea towel and place a 3 lb (or similar) weight and let it drain for 15-20 mins.

2. When done, crumble the tofu in a bowl and mix everything else.

3. Make large balls and flatten them to 1/4-1/3" thickness. Try to pack as much stuff as you can to make a nice dense ball. This will hold the burgers while cooking them. I guess one could try using a burger press, but we cant guarantee if it'll work ;)

4. In a flat bottomed pan, bring some oil to heat and cook the burgers on each side for about 7-8 mins on medium heat. Try one burger to see if it 'holds up'. If not, add some more bread crumbs and try it again. We had to do this once as our first burger fell apart a little bit. Once the burger doesn't disintegrate, you could make 3-4 at a time.

5. Take 'em out and place on a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil.

6. For the AnBean patties, mix all the beans in a bowl by tossing them with your hands. take 1/4 of this mixture and pulse them 2-3 times in a food processor or a blender. Remove the resulting thick mass.

7. Mix this with the remaining beans and everything else.

8. Form balls (as big as you want) and flatten them to 1/4-1/3" thickness. cook them just like the AnTofu burgers.

9. Serve with accompaniments like pickled cucumbers, mustard, ketchup and fries. We had ours with some baked sweet potato fries.
































This extremely healthy veggie burger/sandwich what with whole grain bread and all the beans and veggies goes to Srivalli who is hosting this month's Monthly Mingle, an event started by Meeta of WFLH.

These are two vegetarian burgers with totally different tastes. The AnTofu burger has the smoky taste from the BBQ sauce and the AnBean burger has its own distinct taste from all the beans.

Another thing is that these are essentially Vegan burgers. Or at least these can be easily adapted to suit your vegan appetite. neither contain any potatoes ;) As far as the event goes, we don't have any kids yet but we were kids ourselves at one point of time ;) So we KNOW how hard it is to feed them vegetables. These burgers are packed with nutrients. The AnTofu burger is a great source of proteins, vitamins and minerals. The AnBean burger is once again, loaded with proteins and is a good way to feed legumes to kids. And to make them aware of the existence of vegetables that are not called potatoes ;)

If that's not enough, you could ask your kids to make those patties for you...saves you time (or maybe not!) and it keeps them happy. And you could give them a couple of pointers on how to take pics so that they don't have any trouble creating their own food blog :D

49 comments:

FH said...

I HATE the smell of Angus burgers, tried once and never again! :D

I would love to have this one though, super healthy with beans galore, love it! :)

Trupti said...

burger looks mouthwatering.. lovely clicks

veggievixen said...

thanks for the recipes! i love making veggie burgers. it's fun making them out of leftovers too.

Soma said...

I really like that name:D

I never used Tofu to make burgers. Should give it a try for this looks delicious. Keep using the regular chana or black bean/red bean thing.

BTW: I added a couple of more links for that spring onion thing.. the more i read, the more confused i get. but i will post a pic the next time i find these in the store.. with the scallions:-D

Archy said...

Was searching for a tofu veg burger, this looks perfect an healthy..

Jayashree said...

Nice, healthy variation.....the first pic is lovely.

Deepa Hari said...

Thats a healthy burger....Looks yum.

SJ said...

You have to give me lessons!! Look at those pics!! hahaaa..I watched supersize me as well- was so glad I am not McD crazy! Love those burgers!!

Cham said...

Being a NON-VEg we don't eat those burgers! Something stop us, i don't know what? May be smell!
Recreating in healthy way is simply an awesome idea!

Anonymous said...

I don't have kids, and good thing too because NO WAY am I sharing these wonderful burgers! YUM! esp the Anbean burger! WOWEZ!

Indhu said...

wwwowww.. awesome burger :)
love the pictures :)
bought some tofu yesterday... will try this one :)

Varsha Vipins said...

Thats a great choice with Tofu's..looks yum..:)

Chitra said...

awesome pics, mouthwatering recipes:)

Bianca said...

Homemade veggie burgers are the best! Much better than fast food!

Unknown said...

bookmarked :)its super tempting...

Uma said...

looks so good and yum! Tofu is a great idea.

NKP said...

I should definitely try making veggie patties once in a while. Thanks for the great tips! And sweet potato fries.. my favourite!

amna said...

lovely!! bookmarked of course :)

Lakshmi said...

super healthy lunch box item for kids. Akash would enjoy his meal with those burgers around with some fries ;)

Priya Sriram said...

Wonderful job guys! Looks super-healthy...
I dream of cooking with Sriram too... lol... :)

Vibaas said...

AnTofu and Anbean sound very cool and look very healthy! I'm sure my kids will like these two :)

Deepthi Shankar said...

Iam glad that I am exactly fond of burgers anymore .. I'd love to try these super healthy ones

Elyse said...

These burgers sound delicious and right up my alley! I just love homemade veggie burgers!! I can't wait to try out your recipes.

Vegetarian Zest said...

Just when I was looking for a healthy recipe for burger patty...i found your blog. This is my first visit. Glad I happened to see yours.

Sanghi said...

Perfect for the event.. Lovely clicks too!!!

Nicole said...

Yay, thank you for the recipe! These look great. So hearty and delicious!

Donna-FFW said...

Your healthy alternatives inspire me to say the least.. they are all so fabulous!! Amazing!

AnuSriram said...

Looks awesome! Gr8 click!

Anonymous said...

Anbean burgers = bestest name ever.

♥Rosie♥ said...

I have watched SuperSize Me too - oooh heck I know what you mean...

Your burgers sound & look delicious and right up my street!

Deeba PAB said...

How yum...Antofu, An bean...ANDELICIOUS!!

Jaishree Iyer said...

Burger looks mouthwatering.I never used Tofu..love the pictures :)

Bong Mom said...

Liked those names(An made by A&N) :) Patented ?

Lisa Turner said...

Nothing terrifying about that bean burger! Sounds great.

Hannah said...

What fantastic alternatives, both types of burgers so delicious!

Bhawna said...

Talking abt Burgers, ur right no choices for vegetarians in US. UR burgers looks great and healthy too.Nice pics with pickle. Oh! they look yummy

Dori said...

The only veggie burger I can get my daughter to eat is a black bean burger... your burgers look so tasty :)

Savi-Ruchi said...

wow, wow!!
I'm all drooling here.
very nice, worth a try,bookmarking right away..

Laavanya said...

Both versions sound awesome and so healthy. Love sweet potato fries too - what a yummy meal that makes.

Lisa said...

Although I love a nice, BEEFY burger, your burgers looks incredible! I'd scarf that in a nano second! YUM!

With that said, I'm thoroughly disgusted by the Yankees play the past two games. Why have the O's owned us since 2005 (especially in the first half of each season)?? There is not ONE pitcher we throw at them that they don't hammer. You'd almost think they were stealing signs, although CC and Wang's performances were LESS than stellar! Let's hope AJ can turn this thing around today. If they hammer him, I'll be more convinced that the O's 'know something' when it comes to playing the Yanks, considering he has an amazing career record and ERA against them! OH, can the Yanks start hitting with RISP, please?? It's like a continuation of last season!!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

It looks really good and droolworthy! I love vegetarian food, although I don't mind a good steak now and then ;-P!

Cheers,

Rosa

Le @HC said...

Love to use tofu for patties.

bee said...

just what's your problem with beef? huh? :D

Mandira said...

delicious lunch, I could eat it everyday :)

Lisa said...

these both sound so delicious! I'm always looking for another vegan burger to try, so many possible variations!

Maria said...

Love this post! I don't eat meat, but I will eat these burgers. YUM!

delhibelle said...

An-mazing!

Srivalli said...

The picture looks so delish!..thanks for the lovely entry..

Bharti said...

Nice! I love bean burgers but haven't ventured making tofu burgers yet. These sound easy and yum..right up my alley.