Jalapeno, kidney bean and quinoa veggie burger.

I haven't really eaten veggie burgers much since living in the UK, very few restaurants have them on the menu here in Bali and when they do they are usually pretty disappointing. This week I created a mouthwatering recipe from what I had at home on a day when I was unable to drive having put my neck out and so couldn't get to the supermarket. It really was improvising at its best and the end result was marvelous. 

Full of flavor and texture.

As a teenager my mum sometimes used to buy me veggie burgers from the supermarket made from kidney beans, so I knew that would be a good starting point and I always have a tin of these in the cupboard. Although the ones my mum used to buy were quite tasty, I always used to add a spicy sauce as they were a bit bland so I knew I wanted jalapenos in my recipe to bring them to life. Breadcrumbs feature in a lot of burgers, veggie and non-veggie, so I whizzed up some of those in the food processor too. I have been using quinoa quite a lot recently so figured this would work well in the mix too as I've seen a lot of veggie burgers made with brown rice over the years and they are similar. So that was my starting point and the rest was inspired by the contents of my fridge. Give them a try, they really were fantastic and I have already made them again since! I served them with salsa that I'd made the day before and also whipped up a cup of cucumber and mint raita. Yum!

Ingredients

(makes enough for 4- 6 burgers)

Burgers:

1 cup of cooked quinoa (cooked in vegetable stock)

1 tin of kidney beans rinsed and drained

A handful of corriander leaves

1/4 cup of finely diced celery

2-3 small shallots finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

3 tbsps of breadcrumbs

1-2 tbsps of pickled jalapenos (if you don't like spice leave them out) 

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp Tabasco

Seasoning

1 egg whisked

2 tbsp of vegetable oil for frying 

The uncooked burger mix.

To serve:

Enough burger buns for the number of patties you make

Grated carrot

1 tbsp of salsa per bun

Some sprigs of corriander 

A handful of arugula for each bun

2 tbsp of cucumber and mint raita per bun

Arugula, cucumber and mint raita, grated carrot and salsa.

Method 

Put the corriander, celery, shallots, garlic, breadcrumbs, and jalapenos in the food processor and whizz together so that they are mixed and fine. Pour this in a bowl and add the quinoa, kidney beans, mustard, Tabasco, and seasoning and mix by hand. Add one whisked egg and mix. The mixture will be quite gooey so place in the fridge for about one hour.

Once the mixture has chilled form into patties. These will still be quite wet and sticky but don't worry. Heat up a qood non-stick frying pan and add the oil. Add the patties into the oil and turn the heat down to medium. Use a spatula to press the patties down a little. Let them fry for approximatley 2 mins before turning.

Once cooked place on some kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. On the bottom half of a bun put some salsa with grated carrot on top and a few sprigs of corriander. Then place the burger on top of this. On the top half of the bun place some arugula and some of the cucumber and mint raita. Place the top half on the burger. Enjoy the spice of the burger and salsa with the coolness of the raita and the crunchy of the carrot and salad.

The burger crisping up in the frying pan.

Arugula and raita on the top half of the bun and salsa, carrot and corriander on the bottom.

Crispy burger on the bun.

I love a bit of extra raita.

Cheat's raita

Into a few tablespoons of plain yoghurt mix 2 tsp of mint sauce and a couple of tablespoons of diced cucumber.