Beet and Bean Sprouts Burger

Milk solids. Two words that are increasingly cropping up on things I have bought. Two words that are making me question how I can in good faith call myself “100% vegan”?! A miniscule amount of milk isn’t the greatest sin in the world, but still.

First my cracker biscuits and now my store bought burger buns contain milk solids. What does ‘milk solids’ even mean?! And why the heck is it mindlessly added to everything? As a former non-vegetarian, I am just not used to scrutinizing food labels – It may be unhealthy, but there’s nothing on those food labels that would make me stop and go “Oh, I can’t buy this. This contains XXX”. That habit of mindlessly picking up stuff that I think should and ought to be vegan will have to be seriously managed.

But I believe in learning my lesson and moving on. I just don’t see the point of just throwing away a perfectly good burger bun that I already wasted my money on. I’ll eat it now, but will never buy the same brand again, and examine all burger bun food labels now that I am aware there might be milk solids. After all, this is a journey and I’m still learning – only about 3 months since going completely vegan. At least I do not consciously crave more obvious no-go items like meat and milk.

Anyhoo…there are a ton of vegan burgers that mimic various meats. I especially liked this burger recipe that uses beets to mimic meat. It looks great, but there is so much effort involved with making stock and cooking and grinding up various nuts and seeds. So, my version – not nearly as pretty or great tasting, for sure – uses beets and bean sprouts. You just grind it all up and deep fry the pattie. However, you do need some sort of flour or beans to hold the whole thing together because beets will start to shed water, and you – like me – risk having a runny pattie.

Beet and Bean Sprouts Burger

Ingredients:

For the pattie:

• 1 beet
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• ½ cup fried onions
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• Juice of half a lime
• Handful of coriander
• Corn starch or plain flour (if needed)
• Dash of semolina

Other trimmings:

• Burger bun
• Green chutney (coriander and chillies with some coconut)
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Lettuce, finely chopped
• Jalepeno peppers

To make:

• In a blender, blend together all the ingredients except corn starch/ plain flour.
• Make a pattie. If it’s too runny, add some corn starch or some sort of flour.
• Let the pattie rest in the fridge for 4-8 hours so that the wateriness goes away.
• Coat the pattie in semolina (or bread crumbs if you have them).
• Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side.

To assemble:

• Cut the burger bun and gently toast it on both sides.
• I added a green coriander and chilli chutney to my buns, and added tomato, lettuce, jalepenos.