Do you guys ever have days where everything you make just turns out from bland to horrible and everything in between? That was my Sunday. Sigh….from a chia seed pudding that tasted bland, a salad that was tasteless, ho hum soaked almonds (that I didn’t have time to dehydrate so they were a little soggy), a shake made with not-so great protein powder that I’m trying to use up and a dinner that just fell apart and I barely saved. Yes I blog about food, but no I am not a master cook and boy did Sunday prove that statement very true.
I decided the only was to salvage my day was to write about a successful recipe and share it with you all! I shared these almost 2 weeks ago in a What I Ate Wednesday post, and now I’m finally posting the recipe. Jeez I’m slow eh? Well hopefully you all forgive me and please let me make it up to you by providing the details.
I was so proud of these burgers! They were my first ever veggie burgers that I felt comfortable grilling and they totally worked! They have a slightly sweet taste making them perfect pairings for super savoury and spicy toppings like sauerkraut or kimchi, sriracha and anything else you can imagine!
I used edamame and sesame seeds as the main flavours, going for a Japanese feel and I loved how it turned out. The edamame provides a sweetness as well as great protein while the sesame seeds add crunch and tons of calcium. All the flavours really come together with the help of some Bragg’s, molasses (you can read about how good blackstrap molasses is in this post!) and cumin and the quinoa flour and tahini provide extra nutrition in addition to being rock star binders.
The trick? Freeze the burgers for about 30 min before grilling them! This helps them firm up before cooking so they stay together during the cooking process. You don’t want to freeze them, just chill them a bit. I imagine the logic behind this is similar to the logic behind chilling cookie dough. Anyway, the real point is, chilled burgers = grillable burgers and that makes me a happy veggie burger eater :)
check out those grill marks!
I served these with a spicy Asian slaw (that I lost the recipe for- clearly the food gods have turned against me!). It was cabbage, carrot and apple with a rice vinegar, agave, sambal olek and Bragg’s dressing. I highly recommend adding something crunchy, savoury and spicy to top these burgers!
Sesame Edamame Burgers (Vegan, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free)
Ingredients (6 burgers)
- 1 cup edamame
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 1/3 cup quinoa flour (chickpea flour would also work)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 tbsp Bragg's
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
Instructions
Heat a small pan over medium heat. Dry toast the sesame seeds until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside.
In a food processor add all ingredients expect the sesame seeds and process until the beans are mostly broken down, but there are still some pieces left. Add the sesame seeds and pulse a few times until incorporated.
Place in the freezer for about 30 min to allow them to firm
Grill on a hot grill for about 5-10 minutes each side until warm throughout and slightly charred on the outside. Alternatively you can bake these in a 350F oven for 20 minutes after chilling in the freezer as well.
Top with a slaw or toppings of your choice!
I am submitting this recipe to Wellness Weekends, Real Food Wednesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Gluten Free Fridays and Allergy-Free Wednesdays!
I hope you all had better weekends than I did! Thankfully, this is the start of a new week with no mistakes in it yet. AND I have tomorrow off :). Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
You mention Bragg’s – I’m new to your website, just happened to drop in here. Braggs makes several products, I started using their vinegar actually. Assuming you aren’t putting vinegar in your burgers (though I love it in almost everything ;-) are you referring to Bragg’s Aminos?
Yes I was referring to Bragg’s Aminos, but any kind of tamari would work!
Is 1/4 tsp of toasted sesame seeds really the correct amount? In the picture the sesame seeds are so visible for such a small amount?
Oh no, I'm so sorry! It's 1/4 cup. I'll fix that right now!
Winner, winner, veggie burger dinner! I’m crazy about edamame but usually just eat them straight out of the pod or in salads. I hadn’t thought about making them into patties, but now it seems so obvious. The addition of sesame sounds like a perfect element to add nuttiness and balance.
I love edamame too! I always am sure to order some at Japanese restaurants. Making burgers with them helps me sneak more of them into my meals which is never a bad thing :)
that burger looks very grillable! all tight and crsip.
ahh .. luckily my dog will eat most everything if not spicy or the compost microbes will:)
Very lucky to have that pup around :)
Wow! These looks amazing – as does the coleslaw!! Will have to try :-)
I have nominated you for the one lovely blog award xx
http://toxicvegan.com/2012/08/15/hello-again-one-lovely-blog/
Thanks, on both counts! I’m honoured :)
Those look great! I’m always wanting to try veggie burgers that are outside-the-box so I can’t wait to give these a try.
Awesome! These are one of the first I made that almost feels out of the box, but way better! Hope you like them!
These look amazing! Thanks for the inspiration :)
Thank you very much :)
Gabby these look SO GOOD! Edamame Burgers whoa!!!!
Sorry to hear about your kitchen mishaps, believe me we all have them (most of the time I am denial about mine :))
And I toally think you chould try and recreate that slaw recipe – it looks so good!
Thank you Heather :) They were pretty gosh darn tasty!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who has off days. hard to imagine you do- you churn out the most delicious food!
I’ll do my best!
girl these looks so professional! grill marks and everything!
Hehe thanks Sara! I can’t take complete credit for the grill marks though, my dad had a hand in those ;)
Awesome flavour combo (MUST try edamame in a burger!) AND genius freezing-tip! Don’t worry about the so-so day in the kitchen – I have them ALL the time – and I’m a better cook for all the FAILS I have – you cook, you learn ;)
Thanks Lou! It really is an awesome veggie burger addition! I haven’t used it very much but I’ll definitely start using it more! I love the subtle sweetness and all that protein!
You are so right- I have definitely learned a few things and won’t make those mistakes again :)
Hope you’re doing well! How’s the eating going? I finally got my Pau d’Arco tea and have been drinking it like a champ. Plus I found a resource that recommends taking 1 raw garlic clove a day, minced not crushed, on the back of your tongue and swallowed with water, so I’m going to try that. Today will be day 2 and you should see results in 3-10 days!
Sweet I have been trying to find out how LONG it takes before you feel some sort of results, so that’s encouraging…. my skin has totally improved which is great. Think I’m on the UP :)
Yay Lou that’s so great! You will be in tip top shape for your wedding I’m sure :)
As I type this I am feeling flu-ish. Maybe this is the healing crisis I haven’t gotten yet? I sorta hope so…
BTW, Gabby, I’ve nominated most deserving you for an award! If you’d like to accept it, please check out my post here. If you’d rather not, please know that I respect the work you put into your blog and am more than happy just to have been able to mention it, lovingly, on my own.
With love,
Anne
Thank you so much Anne :) I am honoured to have been nominated by you for such a lovely award! And in return I just have to say likewise, your blog is inspiring and I truly enjoy reading every word.
Hope all is well with you :) xox
Great tip for freezing the patties. I don’t like veggie burgers that much but will keep it in mind for next time. :-)
We all get those days with flop after flop. I felt bad because I made a ton of food this weekend and the only down that was a flop was earmarked for Rob. He tells me it is OK even if the only ingredient he can taste is love. Just a bit bland, even for me, it I am sure he will just have to add some hot sauce or something. Anyways, I just hate throwing out food the most.
Here’s to less kitchen flops!
You don’t like veggie burgers? Craziness!
Aww that’s so sweet of Rob :) I can handle bland food- I don’t like wasting so I’ll eat it, but there’s really no fun or joy in eating them. Plus I had one flop that I had to throw :( Oh well, things have been going much better lately! Hopefully for you too!
I know exactly how you feel. I have days like this (who am I kidding, I have weeks like this!) all the time. I mostly just hope that my mistakes were lessons for future attempts!
These burgers look amazing and BRAVO for finding a way to make them grillable! I’m going to have to give that a try! :-)
It’s comforting to hear other people experience the same thing. Especially you- you churn out such fantastic looking recipes, it’s hard to imagine you ever make anything untasty ;)
And thank you! They were delicious and I was so proud of that trick! Hopefully it works for you too!
Yummo!
totally :)
Wow those burgers are handmade? I don’t think my premise frozen patties come out looking that good! Lol
Haha well thank you! These are the first veggie burgers I’ve ever made that looked quite this good :)
Yikes! Sorry that things weren’t going your way in the kitchen, I think we’ve all had those days. The thing that bums me out most about a failed recipe isn’t that the recipe failed, it’s that I wasted some really awesome ingredients. Oh well, we live and we learn and I’m sure you’ll make up for it tomorrow ;)
On the plus side, this burger sounds so amazing and interesting! I’ve never made my own veggie burgers but this one seems like a great place to start! I love the tip of chilling the burgers before grilling them! So smart :)
Hope things are going better for you today! I had a pretty brutal weekend too… I feel bad for anyone that was around me lol, I was a major crankypants… mostly because of exhaustion. Taking it easy now though!
Oh I know I hate wasted ingredients, especially when they are high quality and expensive :(. But things appear to have turned around! I seem to be having much better luck now :)
Thanks! I definitely recommend making your own burgers- so economical and tasty- you get to tweak them exactly how you want!
I hope you’re feeling better! Get lots of rest, we would hate for you to get sick again!
Every single ingredient in this is one of my favourite things. ‘Course, I have about four thousand favourite edible things, but still! I’m looking forward to having a kitchen again eventually :P
Haha I know how you feel- so many favourites! I guess that’s a good thing too- means we just LOVE food!
These burgers sound so good. I have the same issue with making veggie burgers that just fall apart. I will have to give these a shot…the edamame and sesame seeds with quinoa flour sound great. I’ve had quinoa flour for awhile and have yet to use it.
I think it must be something in the air these days. I haven’t exactly had the same issues as you with recipes failing, but my issues are more about being uninspired to try and create something in the kitchen. Luckily, I have some recipes on backup I’ve been meaning to post for awhile so that’ll give me some things to post about for a bit, but my recipe inspiration has been down the toilet!
Enjoy your day off tomorrow! I’ll be in touch soon!
Thanks Shelby! I found quinoa flour to be an awesome binder and it adds protein which is always good! It’s actually one of my favourite flours, but I don’t use it nearly enough.
Sorry to hear about your lack of inspiration! I always keep a couple recipes on file too just in case I can’t get inspired for a few days. Hopefully we both get back on track soon.
I will definitely enjoy my day- although a weird pain in my hip, that I have nooo idea where it came from, is making moving around difficult. Looks like I’m resigned to the couch!
hey gabby! Sorry your sunday eats didn’t turn out the way you wanted. I hate when that happens:P But gosh, do those burgers look great! i love that they use edamame! ANd so smart to freeze the burgers before you grill! I’ll have to try that! have a great day!
Thanks Caralyn :) It seems like the terrible food string has passed and I managed to create some delicious food! I hope the freezing trick helps! Have a lovely day yourself!
Those burgers look great! Thanks for sharing about your cooking mishaps – sometimes when I read food blogs I wonder how everyone can be such a perfect cook but me!!! So, it helps to know that not every dish a food blogger makes it perfect on the first try! :)
Thanks! And yes I have way more kitchen flops than I’d like to admit! You only see the good stuff on my blog!
Those look great, I love homemade veggie burgers!!
Thanks Barb me too! So much more satusfying since you can tweak them to just how you like!
Those burgers look delicious! I love chickpeas and throw them in everything, but hadn’t thought to make edamame a main burger ingredient. It also looks really healthy! We all have those days when nothing works out, happens to everyone!
Thank you Sarina! Edamame is a pretty new ingrdient to me but I love their subtle sweetness and colour! I definitely want to use them more!
I know exactly what you mean too…sigh… I wrote about the same thing on Friday… So frustrating! But then… A little something “right” happens and the woes aren’t as impactful.
Burgers look great!
Thank you Lauren! Things are already looking up today :)
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been having a lot of days like that where my smoothies haven’t been turning out well at all in fact a lot of them have been so disgusting I’ve had to actually throw them away and I hate wasting food. I have been experimenting with different grains such as rice, rye and millet flakes and they have been really bad, but I’ve had a couple of successes too so all is not lost.
These burgers look amazing. I eat a bought veggie burger once a week but I keep meaning to make my own burgers but couldn’t really be bothered. These look really easy to make with ingredients I can easily access and it looks like a good low cost meal too so I’ll definitely be bookmarking it.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having issues too! Must be something in the air. Although as my dad told me last night that’s a necessary result of experimenting sometimes. You learn and make it better :)
Hope you like the veggie burgers if you make them! I really enjoyed thwm- so much I had eaten through them in a couple days!