Lentil and Almond Burgers

I may be a former vegetarian, but I still love meatless burgers. In fact, I usually prefer them to their beefier counterparts. (Except for you, Village Whiskey burger of my heart!) So when I stumbled across this recipe on Eating Well for lentil and almond burgers, I immediately added them to my to-make file. I tweaked the recipe somewhat, partially based on what I had and partially to make it a little Weight Watchers friendlier.

My biggest issue with homemade veggie burgers is getting them to hang together. They are always so delicate and crumbly that I’m stressed out from the moment I decide to make one until it’s done. Even the recipe Tara and I developed for Almost Meatless requires a gentle touch to keep it from falling apart in the pan.

And these burgers, even with everything I did to encourage cohesion, weren’t perfect. A few were crisscrossed with fault lines:

I got over it, though, because these patties were very satisfying. I skipped a bun in order to accommodate, from a WW perspective, the points for a glass of wine.  Instead I served mine over chopped salad greens and tomato slices. I made a sauce of 1-ounce Greek yogurt with some minced garlic and about 1/4 cup of cucumbers mixed it and poured it over the top. Honestly, I think my plate looked more appetizing than Dan’s, who had his on a roll with mayonnaise.

Lentil and Almond Burgers
Adapted from Eating Well

Makes 6 burgers; 4 WW points each

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup minced carrot
1/3 cup minced celery
1/3 cup minced red onion
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 cup blanched almonds, chopped
1 teaspoon minced thyme
2 cups cooked lentils, divided
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large non-stick pan. Add the carrot, celery, red onion and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened completely and begun to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the almonds and thyme and cook until the almonds begin to toast, about another 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the vegetable-almond mixture to a food processor along with the brown rice and 1 cup of the lentils. Pulse until well ground but not totally pureed. Add the remaining lentils to a large mixing bowl along with the ground mixture and stir to combine. When cool, stir in the egg, the black pepper and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

After one hour, form the mixture into 6 tightly packed burgers. Arrange on a platter, cover with plastic and refrigerate again for another hour or up to overnight. These resting periods are really essential to helping these burgers hold their shape.

When you’re ready to cook the burgers, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a larger non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook, undisturbed, for 4 minutes before crossing your fingers and flipping very carefully, remembering that they still taste great if they crumble a bit, and cooking another 4 minutes.

Serve on a bun, in a pita or over salad.