Olive Lentil Burgers

Kozmic Blues's Note:

From the Post Punk Kitchen Website! These were DELICIOUS! I love making my own veggie burger, and these had such a wonderfully unique taste. The salty brine of the olives mixed with the meaty texture of the mushrooms made a perfect match. One thing I also really liked about this recipe was the addition of dried tarragon. I do have a small plastic bag of the spice, but I don't really come across too many opportunities to use it. To me, tarragon has a licorice and slightly minty flavor. The flavors of dried tarragon are quite strong, but the 1/4 tsp called for in this recipe, gives the perfect subtle hint. I might be able to use up that bag after all! I did end up baking the burgers in the oven about 15 minutes longer than stated, so about 45 minutes total. I served them on toasted wheat bread with some romaine lettuce leaves and some guacamole.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• olive oil (from 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, your choice)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced medium
• 1/2 lb cremini mushroom, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• fresh black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/2 cup kalamata olive, pitted (or any olive you like)
• 1 (15 ounce) can cooked lentils, rinsed and drained (1 1/4 cups)
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, divided
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan non-stick (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat.
3. Saute onion for about 3 minutes with a pinch of salt.
4. Add mushroom, garlic, black pepper, thyme and tarragon and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, until mushroom is cooked.
5. While mushroom is cooking, place olives in food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped (not pureed.)
6. Remove from food processor and set aside. (No need to clean it out for the next step.).
7. When mushrooms have cooked, add mushroom mixture to the food processor.
8. Add all other ingredients except for 1/2 a cup of the breadcrumbs. (Did you hear me? Reserve 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs, this will give them better texture.)
9. Pulse until mostly smooth, but there should still be a little texture.
10. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
11. Add the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs to the burger mixture, along with the chopped olives, and thoroughly combine.
12. Divide burger mix into 6 equal pieces.
13. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Form mixture into patties, spray with a little more cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes.
14. Flip burgers and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes, until nicely browned.
15. They taste great served immediately but they’re also excellent at room temperature so don’t be afraid to stuff into a sandwich and take as a lunch.

Reviews

[Gianni #23]

OK, let me preface this by saying that I have a personal opinion that five stars is wayyyyyy overused, and it ought to be reserved for ONE item per category. This is a five star recipe. I only tweaked it as follows: chili-garlic olives, cumin instead of liquid smoke, and I added a little Better'n Eggs as a binder. They turned out delicious and I can't wait to serve these up for dinner later. This will be my 'meatloaf' and 'meatball' recipe from now on. BTW, PPk is really awesome, thanks for the reference.

[Dr. Jenny]

So far, these are the best vegetarian burgers I have tried making to date. They were not difficult to prepare, had good consistency (which I have had problems with when making other homemade burgers), and had nice flavor. A little ketchup on top was preferable, in our opinion, to eating them plain. The burgers refrigerated well and held up the next day when we microwaved them for leftovers. I had a bit of difficulty finding canned lentils, but eventually found them at my local Busch's market. Thanks for posting. We are putting this in our keeper file.