Kicking things off this year is everyone's favourite meaty disc, encased in bready discs... THE BURGER! Now, I know what you're thinking... "It's not a meaty disc though, is it? It's made of plants" and you're right. This particular meaty disc does not contain meat. BUT it is still a disc, so we will plow on.
The Non-Meaty Disc
For this particular burger, I used Aldi Plant Menu No Beef burgers, which are FLIPPIN DELICIOUS and CHEAP in comparison to other options. If you haven't tried them yet, I urge you to ASAP. You can obviously use your favourite burger, I just happened to have these in the freezer already, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend money on something I already have in!
The Bready Discs
For this burger, we are using vegan brioche burger buns, also from Aldi! (I feel a vegan Aldi review will be on the cards soon.. watch this space!)
Now, I've never tried these before, so this is exciting! Also, very well priced if you're on a budget (and let's face it, who isn't?!) I would take this opportunity to mention Make No Bones vegan brioche, which are INSANELY GOOD! The company is from Sheffield, and holds a special place in my heart for vegan junk food 😍 Check out the bread and the mavericks here...
Toppings
You can't just have a disc between discs, right? you need a bit of something fresh, something saucy, something melty.. it needs to be a bit messy and dirty. So, this is where the crisp lettuce, fresh sliced tomatoes, Violife cheese and homemade burger sauce comes in! this will take your burger from Rustler to Hustler. If I had pickles, there would be an entire layer dedicated to them, but alas.. I've been in my PJs all day and couldn't be bothered to go out to Tesco, so here we are. Let's just pretend they're there.
Other Stuff...
I don't know about you, but to make a burger into a meal you need: Chips, onion rings and coleslaw.. so that's exactly what I'm making! The chips will be hand cut, seasoned and baked to perfection. The onion rings will be battered and fried to a crisp golden brown, and the coleslaw will be so creamy and delicious, you would fight your nan to get your hands on it. THE CHIPS You will need: Potatoes, oil (or oil spray), turmeric powder, garlic powder, dried mixed herbs, paprika, veggie stock cube
Choose your potatoes - you can't go wrong with a Maris Piper Preheat your oven to 180 degrees!
Cut your potatoes into chips - or wedges, or discs, or cubes.. however you like your taters! I like to go for a classic chip.. but as long as you cut them into roughly equally sized pieces, you're hot to trot!
Put your chips into a big bowl and add: 1 tbsp. Oil (or oil spray, such as Frylight) 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp dried mixed herbs 1 veggie stock cube, crumbled up Mix these up in the bowl until the chips are evenly coated in the deliciousness!
Transfer into a lined baking tray (less washing up!), making sure the chips are evenly spread out, not overlapping too much.
Pop into the oven and bake at 180 degrees for around 40 minutes, turning/mixing half way through to bake thoroughly.
Once the chips are golden and crisp, tuck in! (in fact, give them a few minutes to cool. Nothing worse than a burnt mouth.. it ruins the whole meal)
THE COLESLAW
You will need: Red cabbage, onion, carrot, red pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried mixed herbs, vegan mayonnaise
Finely slice your cabbage, onion and red pepper - equal amounts of each, but feel free to go heavy on whatever your favourite is!
Peel and grate the carrots - again, equal amounts to your other veggies.
Mix up everything in a big bowl, and add in 1 tsp each of garlic powder and dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste - get your hands in there and properly coat everything to get the best flavour!
Add your vegan mayo - I will be using Hellmann's vegan mayonnaise, but you can get some great cheaper options in supermarkets! Go for 2 tbsp and see how you get on. add more if you want it creamier!
Mix it all up one more time.. and ta-dah! Give it a cheeky taste to make sure you like it (would be embarrassing otherwise) and you're done! Top tip- It's best to make this ahead of time, as it gets tastier when it's been sat in the fridge for a while!
THE BURGER SAUCE
You will need: Ketchup, mustard, vegan mayo
Literally mix these things together, equal amounts mayo to ketchup and a dash of mustard to taste (depending on the strength of your mustard), easy peasy!
ONION RINGS
You will need: Onions self raising flour, water, salt, pepper, garlic powder, turmeric, oil, pan suitable for shallow frying
Cut your onions into rings - simply take a slice and pop out each ring.. remember.. onions are like ogres..
Make the batter by mixing self raising flour, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, a pinch of salt and pepper. Slowly add the water until you've got a batter that resembles thick-ish pancake batter.
lightly coat your onion rings in flour, then dip into the batter.
Pop your oil in a pan, around 1cm deep. Making sure your oil is hot enough (drop a small amount of batter into the pan, if it sizzles straight away, it's ready to use)
Drop the battered onion rings into the hot oil CAREFULLY and away from yourself to prevent any nasty splashes.
Fry on both sides until golden and crispy, drain excess oil into kitchen paper and let cool slightly before enjoying!
Add a little bit of lighting and... ta dah!
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