Juicy, smoky, meaty, dirty burgers... they're great. I know it, you know it. There's not much else to add. So, I'm going to show you how to make a deeeeeeeeelish vegan burger that's quick, easy and will satisfy veg and meat eaters alike! Perfect for the summer BBQ!
I know I've already posted my burger night, but a friend of mine had words with me about the burger not being homemade in that recipe, so I'm making up for it now! (sorry, Gareth.. are you happy now?!)
You'll get 4 decent burgers out of this mixture, it's best to make these a day ahead of when you want to eat them
One you've nailed this, you can spice it up however you want.. this is a great starting place to get creative with flavours!
Go shopping and buy this stuff:
1 can of kidney beans, 1 medium beetroot, 2tsp garlic powder, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 3 tbsp liquid smoke (you can buy this online), 2 tbsp oats, 1 vegan beef stock cube (I use OXO) 11 heaped tbsp vital wheat gluten (roughly 100-125g)
Marinade: 3 tbsp liquid smoke, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup.
1. Firstly, peel and chop up your beetroot (fresh is best) and simply roast for 25 minutes with a little oil until tender.
2. Whilst the beetroot is cooking, blitz up the kidney beans (no need to drain them), garlic powder, soy sauce, stock cube, liquid smoke and oats until you get this texture... you still want some little lumps and pieces...
3. Transfer the mixture into a bowl. Once the beetroot is cooled, blitz this as well into little pieces.. not too smooth! we want that texture. Then mix the beetroot in with the kidney bean mixture. Gradually add in the gluten a couple of spoons at a time. Taste it, and add salt and black pepper as needed. We want to bring it to a pliable dough. Knead the dough for about 2-3 minutes, until you can see the gluten strands like this...
4. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Flatten into burger shapes and, as usual with my seitan recipes, wrap tightly in cling film and then tin foil. Let these simmer in a pan of water for 1 hour. Have a cuppa tea, put your feet up!
5. After an hour, unwrap the burgers. In a bowl, mix up the marinade ingredients and brush over both sides of each burger. Let the burgers completely cool, ideally in the fridge, before frying or grilling. As they cool, the seitan will firm up and give the burgers a great texture. If you cook them straight away, they will be too soft!
6. THAT'S IT. You will be left with a meaty, BBQ style, pink-in-the-middle vegan burger! ENJOY!
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