Versla de Burger
Last weekend I was part of the babysitters club. My brother and sister-in-law were drinking wine in the African sun (not jealous at all) and I was watching the kids. I spent a whole weekend drawing, reading, and playing hide and seek. And the best part was that I had an immense kitchen at my disposal for a whole weekend. Six-burner gas stove, a double oven, a combi-steamer, and a Quooker for my daily dose of tea. I was in heaven, you understand. And what luck that the kids eat absolutely everything. Friday afternoon, there was a call from the play corner at five o'clock: ‘Aunt Moon, are we going to have drinks?’ As Team Drinks, I yelled from the kitchen: ‘Yes, working on it!’
When they then asked me if we were going to eat hamburgers and added that they thought McDonald's hamburgers were disgusting, suddenly there was a huge challenge. So I conjured up my cooking skills and crafted my own vegetarian burger at the table. They cleaned their plates and I watched in amazement. Because: no minced meat was involved (imagine having such a godmother as an example).
Do you want to throw in a vegetarian day more often but find it hard to get your partner on board? Try these burgers and especially don't say what's in them.
For 4 large hamburgers
– 1 can of lentils
– handful of walnuts
– 100 grams of oats
– 1 onion
– 2 cloves of garlic
– generous splash of soy sauce
- 1 egg
– 1 tsp allspice
– pinch of salt
– handful of coriander
1. Chop the onion and finely chop the garlic. Heat some olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent for a few minutes.
2. Put all the ingredients (including the onion mixture) in the blender and mix until a smooth mass forms.
3. Remove the lentil mixture from the blender and form five burgers with your (clean!) hands.
4. Put some oat flour (or flour of your choice) on a plate and roll the burgers in the flour.
5. Heat some olive oil in the pan and fry the burgers until crispy for ten minutes.
I ate the burgers together with a huge pile of red beets and soft goat cheese from the oven. But on a bun topped with lamb's lettuce, crumbled feta, and roasted bell pepper, it's incredibly delicious. Let me know what you thought of it?
