Changing your diet to a plant based one isn’t about the foods you have to take out – it’s about the new flavours, fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices you add in.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was twenty one years old and from a vegetarian start, my twenty six year old son was the first of my children to explore a plant based diet to help with his arthritis symptoms. He shares recipes, as does my eldest son and my daughter has been exploring gluten free baking, following my diagnosis of IBS, since her teens. I’m lucky to have had my children to guide me on the first steps to my partner and I enjoying a plant based diet.

Each week I’ll be sharing a plant based recipe, easily made gluten free, that I’ve tried and adapted to suit our palate. Where possible, I’ll share a link to the original source recipe.

Today’s recipe is ‘5 minute vegan burgers’, adapted from a recipe by Cheap Lazy Vegan, featuring The Happy Pear, on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLh_golyZm0&t=391s

Making them in five minutes isn’t compulsory!

Five minute vegan burgers

Burger

Oil – rapeseed or sunflower – 1½ tablespoons

½ red onion – I use a whole one – roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic – crushed or finely chopped (you can use garlic granules)

Mushrooms – any kind you like and lots of them! About 300g – roughly chop button, tear other

2½ tablespoons tamari – if you’re fine with wheat, you can use soya sauce

 

100 gms breadcrumbs

2½ tablespoons nutritional yeast*

1 tin kidney beans, rinsed well – a friend used mixed beans and said they worked just as well

 

*Nutritional yeast or Nooch adds a cheesy nutty flavour to many plant based recipes and is one source of complete protein and vitamins, in particular B-complex vitamins. It contains folates, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, selenium and zinc.

To serve

Great in buns or pitta breads with sun dried tomato paste, hummus, mixed salad leaves, avocado, tomato….my partner enjoys his with mustard on bottom bun and hummus on the top. My favourite so far is with ketchup on the bottom and sweet pickle in the top with shredded romaine and grated beetroot. Also delicious with salad and sweet potato wedges.

 

 

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil on medium heat. Cook red onion until soft. Turn up heat. Add garlic.  Add mushrooms, coat well with onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes on high heat. Add tamari and stir.

 

Add above wet ingredients to breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast and mashed up kidney beans in a bowl. Combine all ingredients. (If using home made gluten free breadcrumbs, you may need another 20g if mixture is very wet) Make into burgers and coat with rice flour.

 

Fry in remaining oil.

 

You could probably brush them in oil and bake in the oven if you wanted to, as they’re so tasty.

 

Five minutes is a bit of a push, as you’ll see from the video but I can get these on the table in 15!

 

Enjoy your mushroom burgers, share this post and help spread the word about plant based eating for a healthier planet and a happier, healthier you