Money's Mushroom GardenBurgers - can't find them anywhere

Tofu is a sore point with me. Years ago I went to a Malaysian Restaurant in Soho and had some exquisite deep fied tofu in peanut sauce. It was the first time I ever tried tofu and I loved it. I was wrong. Ever since then I have never enjoyed tofu.

It's one of those bland ingredients that you really have to know what you're doing with to make it interesting.
Very good for you, though.

Next time I make it I'm going to add chick peas and maybe oatmeal, if necessary. Can't remember if your recipe calls for an egg, chai, but I used two with 2 cups of cooked rice. Maybe it didn't even need it.

And whatever you do, don't make them too thin or they'll likely fall apart. I'd make them at least 1/4" but better around 1/2". You can bake them for 20 min or so then cool and freeze.

I'm curious olga, why did you stop eating vegetarian after 20 years?

Ok, I just checked out my larder.

I've got the brown rice, it's long grain but so what.
Got red lentils
Got some good olive earl
Got fresh garlic & onions
Got pepper for grinding
Got grated cheese (asiago, romano and parm blend)
I think instead of breadcrumbs (which I've got) I'll sprinkle some polenta in there.
I'm not big on basil and thyme. I'll throw in some borracho bean seasoning, spice things up a little.

need to get the schrooms.

I knew someone would ask.

Long story, chai.
My life was is a chaotic mess ... unbelievably busy at the time. Relationship bust-up, had to buy then move to a new house (with 3 cats!), also was looking for a new job while finishing up at another one at the same time. And lots of other demands. I didn't know whether I was Arthur or Martha.
Anyway, I became quite unhealthy & worn out & simply didn't have the time (& I confess, the motivation, either) for my usual vego food planning, food preparations & cooking at the time. It just seemed that something like a piece of grilled fish with salad was such a quick, healthy & easy solution. So I took the easy way. Also, I confess, I had grown really tired of beans & lentils!
It took years to tackle red meat again. Didn't have a clue about cooking it!

Thanks for the explanation olga.

ok, back to the burgers.

They are GREAT!

Wally and I both give them two thumbs up!

I can think of all kinds of variations, as far as the veggies in them, spices, etc.

Excellent, excellent, chai!
Did you use any sauce on them. If so, I'm curious: what sort?

I hate to sound declase, but after I ate half of one, I added some ketchup and mustard.

Tasted a lot better even.

Next time, I think I'll use less mushroom, more onion and red pepper.
I put red pepper in this batch.

you know what might be good?
Some peanut butter in it.

Yeh, I've some good recipes collected for using beans, black, usually, but sometimes the recipes call for white beans. I never get around to doing it, since I'd rather just eat the beans by themselves or in soup, or as a dip.. But, I've plans to try it.

Well, y'all know me, if I were going to go vegetarian, I'd just use recipes for vegetables from my french and italian cookbooks. There's enough there to make me quite happy.

Ha, but that's half the fun of cooking these things, chai!
I use a really spicy chutney, or even good ol tomato sauce, sometimes.
Yum!
Don't get all that many opportunities to indulge in those!


Now you're getting really innovative!
Let us know how that goes.
Not too sure about that, myself.

I know, osso.
Planning is of the essence with these things.
Trouble is, you might have been inspired when you soaked the beans, then not so inspired when they're ready for cooking.
When I found myself in uninspired mode, I'd freeze them ... & use them later in a big hunza pie, or something like that.

One of the really good things about black eyed peas/beans is that they don't require all that prior soaking. I think I prefer their flavour to kidney & other varieties of beans too, these days ....

I'll second that!
Good ol regional peasant food! Yum!

I first went the Indian/Asian route when I didn't have a clue about vegetarian cooking & had to start somewhere .... Madhur Jaffrey taught me everything I neede to know!
Also those old US vegetarian cookbooks (Moosewood, Vegetarian Epicure, etc,) were great!

Black beans are my likely favorite, though I like cranberry beans and anasazi beans and pintos too. And garbanzo/ceci beans if home cooked. White beans and I suffer a kind of distance re mutual interest. But I've never had fresh ones. I hear that can make all the difference. A friend once told me that real fresh lima beans were another whole ball game from what most of us think of as lima beans.

I don't know much about black eyed peas and my experience so far is not stellar. But that is probably me, not the peas.
We had them at our new year's week openings at our gallery.... not all week, whenever the opening event time was.

I have a Jaffrey book.. I suppose I should put it in some useful place in my kitchen.

OMG - the second batch was waaaay better than the first.

I cooked the rice in chicken broth and lemon juice again (1 c. brown rice, 1.5 c. chicken broth, .5 c. lemon juice), and when it cooled, I added sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, grated raw beet and carrot, finely diced kale from my garden, oatmeal soaked in water to bind it, and breadcrumbs. Oh, and I added toasted pinenuts and slivered almonds for some crunch.

You bake them at 350 for 15 min, then flip them over and go another 15. Cool, freeze on a baking sheet, then put them in a ziploc. To cook, just thaw, reheat in the microwave, and I put them under the broiler (toaster oven) with cheddar.

They aren't binding as well as they could be so next time I think I'll add some dry oats to them... anybody got a binding idea?

Thanks - these sound too delicious not to try.

You were married to whitey?

I emailed the company a while back and they do not sell Garden Burgers in Canada anymore. Something about marketing and demand. too bad , but I will try your recipe. We eat too much of the processed soy nuggets etc for convenience. Need to get away from soy and corn since they are GMO ! hate what Monsanto is allowed to do.