Veggie Burgers, June 24
Searching for a good veggie burger recipe? I know I’ve been searching for one for several years. As soon as I heard that this month's recipe was coming from Whitewater Cooks, I knew I had to come out to this workshop. I'm a big fan of Shelley Adams' recipes so I knew this would be good.
As with every Food Connection workshop, we introduced ourselves to everyone at our table.
We were asked to share our experiences with veggie burgers. I confessed that during my post secondary education, I was obsessed with a neon reg veggie patty that I discovered in the cafeteria. I also told the story of my vegan friend who said the best veggie burger came from KFC. Now who doesn't like fried chicken flavoured veggie burgers? After a good few laughs, listening to each other's stories, we had dinner.
At supper, we were able to try the burgers prior to making our own. We were all quite impressed that the Food Connection team had 29 veggie burgers prepared for exactly 29 participants.
Verdict at our table - this burger is really good! The flavour was complex and it held up quite well, without little bits falling out. Let’s just say, I'll be adding this to my veggie burger repertoire.
After supper, we separated into two groups. One group prepared a vegan version while the other group prepared the non-vegan version of the recipe. The recipe comprised of black beans, nuts, bread crumbs, carrots and oats supplemented by aromatics such as onion, garlic, cumin, chilli powder and sesame seed oil. Once we made up our burger mix, we went to town with all the add-ons that were available to us. We got to pick from green onions, oregano, dill, chives, sage, mushrooms, walnuts, garam masala, and black sesame seeds. Once the ingredients were mixed, everyone got their hands dirty and formed their own patties to bring home.
I can't wait to make these again, perhaps experimenting more with the flavour profile. With this base recipe, I can see so many possibilities such as substituting the black beans with other beans, using grated beets instead of carrots or using quinoa instead of oats. I'm looking forward to coming back to the Food Connection and hearing about what other combinations people came up with.
It was another wonderful night, connecting with everyone old and new to The Food Connection.
To see more photos from the Veggie Burger workshop, click here!
Need inspiration rustling up easy delicious meals with basic ingredients from your fridge and pantry? We hope you'll join us on Wednesday, July 29 for our Creative Chef Challenge!
