If you are horrified by reading a recent New York Times article about how a 22-year old woman was paralyzed after eating a contaminated hamburger, ("E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection") learning how to make "burgers" from non-meat products might suddenly sound more appetizing. I did not set out to write this post as vegetarian manifesto, standing on a box of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, saying "I told you so," in a nanny-nanny-boo-boo voice. But when a news peg falls in your lap, it's too good to pass up.
In 1996, about a year into my vegetarianism, Kraft's Morningstar Farms products appeared in the my grocer's freezer section. Coming from a household (and a "southern" food culture) that was meat and potatoes, eating fake meat products made the transition--and resolution to stay meat-free--much easier. More than a decade later, while reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, I discovered that the fake meat products all had corn and soy in them. I had a crisis of conscience when I realized the meat replacer "food-like products" were a part of the same industrial food chain that I was protesting against.
I wish I would have discovered lentil burgers earlier. At the time I read Pollan's book, I was in grad school and had absolutely no time to be making burgers from scratch. But as a freelancer still in search of regular assignments, I've got the time to plan soaking and cooking lentils. I got this recipe from a cookbook our former neighbors left us when they moved out of this apartment. We thought they were at least healthy eaters because they got the same CSA delivery box we did. I adopted this recipe from Meatless Meals for Working People, which also has an extensive section on vegetarian and vega n selections from fast food restaurants.
Ingredients:
1 c. lentils, soaked overnight in water
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 or 2 garlic cloves, mashed or minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 pinches of cumin
2 pinches of paprika
1 tbs. oil or butter
Remember lentils will expand several times, so you may need to add more than a cup of water while they are soaking. In a 2 or 3 quart saucepan, sautee the onions and garlic until they are slightly golden and transparent. Add the lentils and enough water to cover; cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about an hour. Add salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Because you are mashing them into patties, its okay if they split open or break into pieces.
After the lentils are cooked, drain any excess water if it seems to soupy. Add wheat germ and butter or oil, and mix and mash together until you can form patties. Fry on a skillet with a bit of extra butter or oil, turning to cook both sides evenly. Serve on a warm roll with lettuce and tomato, or if you're feeling spicy, add some curry mayo. It would be best to add curry to Miracle Whip, because regular, un-sweetened mayo wasn't as great as I expected.
The recipe says this will serve 6, but I made 4 patties; I cooked two (ate one) and froze the rest. I'm happy to report that reheating the cooked frozen patty in the toaster oven (375 deg for abt 17 mins), was nearly as delicious as the freshly-cooked one. The other good news is that the onion lentil mixture is a great base for lentils and some Ecuadorean food that I will attempt soon.
Now eating frozen lentil burgers may not represent the pinnacle of health, but it is a quick, hearty meal when you are too exhausted to prepare and cook from scratch. And unless you have some serious hygiene issues, there is practically no chance you could contaminate these burgers with e. Coli. The nutritional information from this recipe book says each serving has approximately: 147 calories, 4 g. fat (more depending on how much butter you use), 10 g. protein, 21 g. carbs, 3 mg. iron, 21 mg. calcium, 4 g. fiber. According to Nutritionpedia, a 2 oz. serving of a real hamburger patty is: 100 calories, 60 g. fat, 10 g. protein, 0 carbs, 0 iron, 0 calcium, 0 fiber. (However, most hamburger patties begin at 4 0z--hence, a quarter pounder).
There isn't anything else I can say about the industrial food chain--or the health, environmental, labor, immigration, and cultural consequences of this food system--that many others have already said, or written about in length. But if there weren't enough other (aforementioned) reasons to try making lentil patties instead of beef burgers, lentils are dirt cheap, more so if you can buy them in bulk. Even if you live far from a locavore oasis, natural food stores or ethnic grocery stores or "world markets" carry bulk grains and legumes, like The Earth in Norman, Oklahoma.
Enjoy!
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