Brown rice and mushroom "burgers"

One night while the kids were here visiting, we decided to have burgers for dinner. They made their own meat version, and I made these vegetarian patties for George and me. They are so much better than any veggie burger I've bought at the store. This recipe could also be formed into a loaf and sliced into sandwich shaped slices and frozen for future burger nights. This recipe is also used as the filling material for "Cabbage Parcels with Sweet-and-sour Sauce". I made that a couple nights later and was actually disappointed that I didn't have any more of the filling material left to just cook up and eat when I felt hungry. It's really yummy.

I made the recipe while up at Lake Tahoe, and I didn't have a food processor, so I just chopped it up after it was cooked. It didn't stick together in burgers very well. I'd like to try it again and see how much difference the food processor makes.

Ok, Let's Get Started

• You'll need to start out with 1 cup cooked brown rice. It's great to use leftover rice, but if you need to cook the rice, get it going first. Brown rice usually takes about 45 minutes to cook.
• Grate 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Have 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1 egg standing by for later.
• Chop an onion into fairly small dice. Have 1 t. dried sage leaves and 2 pinches of thyme standing by. (I used fresh sage and fresh thyme.)
• Heat 1 T. olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and crumble the herbs on top. Cook over high heat stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.
• While that is cooking, chop 1/2 pound of mushrooms, 1/2 cup of cashews, and 1/2 cup of pecans.
• Add the mushrooms and nuts and cook, stirring frequently. The mushrooms will release their juices and then they will reabsorb back into the dish.
• Stir in 1 teaspoon tamari (or soy sauce if you don't have tamari). Season with 1/2 t. salt and pepper to taste.
• Transfer this mixture to a food processor. Add 1 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup bread crumbs.
• Pulse this mixture in the food processor until it resembles ground meat.
• Fry a dab in some olive oil to check the seasonings and correct them if needed.
• Fry up your veggie burgers by scooping 1/2 cup measures into a heated skillet coated with oil. Press down on the mixture with a spatula so that the patties are about 1/2 inch thick. Fry over medium heat until brown, 4 to 5 minutes, then turn and cook the second side.
• Serve with buns and burger fixings.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time

I'd use a food processor to get the texture right. Even though I just chopped it all up really fine with a knife, it didn't alter the taste, and they were delicious. I'd make a whole batch of this and freeze the leftovers in pre-formed patties for later use. I might also try cooking the whole batch in a loaf pan, slicing it and freezing it to have individual patties that could be used for quick weeknight "burgers".

Cost to Prepare

1/2 cup brown rice (to make one cup cooked) - $.25

1 large onion - $.50

1 t. dried sage, 2 pinches dried thyme - negligible

1/2 pound mushrooms - $2.50 (for cremini in bulk)

1/2 cup cashews - $2.00

1/2 cup pecans - $1.50

tamari, salt, pepper - negligible

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese - $1.00

1 egg - $.50 (less if you buy conventional eggs)

1/2 cup bread crumbs - $.25

TOTAL - $8.50

This made enough for 2 burgers, plus filling for the Sweet and Sour Cabbage Parcels which I made later. If you used this just for veggie burgers it would make about 6 or 7 of them.