Ingredients:
- 1 cup green lentils (preferably covered with water and soaked overnight or for a few hours)
- Knob of ghee or coconut oil
- 1 red onion, sliced
- Couple pinches sea salt
- 2 cups / 175g mixed wild mushrooms, sliced (shiitake, oyster, chanterelle…)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- ½ cup / 80g sunflower seeds (preferably soaked and activated)
- 15 kalamata olives
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1. Wash and drain lentils. In a medium saucepan, cover with 2 cups water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to simmer and cook until tender (about 20-25 minutes). Remove lid off to cool and set aside. Drain if there is any water left.
2. In a frying pan heat a knob of ghee or coconut oil. Add sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about five minutes, then add garlic, rosemary and thyme. Cook for a few minutes, then add sliced mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms to cook without stirring for a few minutes so that they brown on one side. After five minutes, stir mushrooms and add tamari, stir to coat. When mushrooms are cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a food processor grind sunflower seeds until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add cooked lentils, mushroom mixture, mustard, olive oil, and plenty of cracked black pepper. Pulse to blend. You may need to help this process by stirring once in a while. Avoid adding too much liquid – the mixture should be really thick. Season to taste.
4. Pit and roughly chop olives. Add to the food processor and stir to combine (you want them to remain in fairly large chunks).
5. Form 6-8 balls with the mixture, slightly smaller than a baseball. Press to flatten into patties, but keep them thick. Press around the outside edge to prevent them from cracking.
6. You can warm the burgers two ways. Remember that they are already fully cooked, so all you need to do is heat them up.
Frying pan: heat a knob of ghee or coconut oil and cook the burger on one side until golden, 4-6 minutes, then flip and cook on opposite side. Serve.
Oven: Cook burgers in a 375°F/ 190°C oven for 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through bake time.
7. Serve with a fresh garden salad and garnish with anything you like!
This original recipe uses a cashew garlic sauce, pickled onions and a pile of greens. We love the burgers with lashings of home made mayonnaise or the cashew sauce.
Cashew Garlic Sauce
What
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
- Scant ½ cup water
- 1 small clove garlic (start with just ½)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chives
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Squirt honey or maple syrup
How
- Soak the cashews for at least 4 hours and up to 12. Drain and rinse well.
- Add cashews to a food processor or blender, which ever is the most powerful. Add ½ clove garlic, all other ingredients and ¼ cup of water. Blend on high and add the remaining water in increments until the desired consistency is reached – not too thick, not too runny. Season to taste and add the other half clove of garlic if desired.
Variations
- I’ve made this and found I don’t have the sunflower seeds and replaced them with almonds which has worked equally as well.
- Similarly I’ve found I haven’t had the olives and popped in a few capers instead. Taste it first as you may find the dijon mustard is enough without the olives too.
