open-face quinoa + bulgur wheat burger on tofu toast

I have been trying out various store bought veggie burgers and thought to experiment making my own. Often times, you never get the full flavor of vegetables from the frozen patties.


I used quinoa and bulgur wheat as the protein binder along with the bulgur wheat and chose a variety of vegetables such as edamame, carrots, onions, mushrooms, corn and asparagus. You can essentially use any vegetable as long as it is cooked ahead of time.

Serving Size : 4

Ingredients
-Vegetables
     1/2 large yellow onion
     1 cup boiled edamame
     1/2 cup yellow corn
     8 spears of asparagus
     16 oz white button mushrooms
     1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts and almonds
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1/2 cup quinoa
1 avocado
1 roma tomato
Handful of alpha sprouts
Tofu Bread*
Balsamic vinaigrette

Mise en place
Slice the mushrooms and cut the heads of the asparagus spears

white button mushrooms, asparagus, yellow corn

Sautee the mushrooms over a hot skillet with salt + pepper


sauteed mushrooms


Take the asparagus heads and chop into slices and boil in water

asparagus

Put aside the boiled edamame, shredded carrots and dice the white onion

edamame, carrots, white onion

 Sautee the diced white onion over a hot skillet with salt + pepper

sauteed white onion

Place the shredded carrots, sauteed mushrooms and walnuts + almonds in the food processor and put aside

mushrooms, walnuts + almonds, carrots

Main
 Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add quinoa. Cover and cook until liquid is absorbed; approximately 15 min

quinoa

 Bring 1 cup of water to low simmer and add bulgur wheat and cover until liquid is absorbed for about 20 min

bulgur wheat

Pulse all the above ingredients in a food processor and form into 4 patties

raw quinoa + bulgur wheat veggie patty

Plating

Though a grill would be preferable, the patty can be heated over a hot skillet with a drizzle of olive oil



cooked quinoa + bulgur wheat veggie patty



Toast the tofu bread until lightly browned and place on plate

Place the alpha sprouts on top of the toast

Slice the avocado and tomato and place on top of sprouts

Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette



 N.B. These patties can be frozen and re-heated on heated skillet if you want to make batches in advance

Pairing
Carrot, apple, beet and ginger juice

*Tofu Bread can be found @ Cafe Zaiya (18 East 41st Street between 5th Avenue + Madison Avenue)