Creating a tasty vegan burger that is also gluten-free and nightshade free is quite a task. This has to be our best effort so far! It all came together at the first attempt and didn’t break up when cooking or turning. It was spicy, with some texture from the peanuts, mushrooms and celery. We will definitely make these again.
The challenge was to make something a bit different, preferably savoury, with the pulp left-over from making the horchata or Tiger Nut Milk with the new Naked Organic Peeled Tiger Nuts from The Tiger Nut Company.
(Don’t be put off if you don’t have access to tiger nuts, you could use other nut pulp or robust glutenfree flour).
Here’s the result:
(All ingredients are organic except the bouillon powder, everything is also vegan, gluten and nightshade-free, except the teaspoon of chilli flakes. I don’t generally eat peppers of any kind, but decided to have a pepper holiday for the purposes of this exercise. You can use any spice you prefer).
Ingredients
1 Cup Cooked Red Kidney Beans, or Tinned and rinsed
3/4 Cup Naked Tiger Nut Pulp (or any nut pulp or glutenfree flour)
1/2 Cup Coarsely Ground Organic Red Peanuts
1 Medium Purple Onion, chopped
1 Large Clove Garlic, pressed
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds*
3 Small Chestnut Mushrooms, chopped
2″ (5 cms) Courgette (Zucchini), washed and chopped (skin left on)
4″ (10 cms) Celery Stick, chopped + some chopped celery leaves
1/2 Small Carrot (skin left on) grated
1 Tsp Vegan Bouillon Powder
1/2 – 1 Tsp Chilli Flakes, depending on how spicy you want them
Splash of Tamari
Pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt and plenty of Ground Black Pepper to taste
Tiger Nut Flour for dusting – we used Chufa de Valencia because that’s what we had. It added a little texture when cooked – but chickpea flour is good too.
Coconut oil for frying
Method
Put everything except the Flour in a food processor and keep pulsing until it comes together enough to make a ball. You don’t want it smooth and mushy, but still with some bite.
Dust a board with some Tiger Nut Flour and some on your hands. Take small handfuls of the mix and shape into burgers. The mixture should be enough to make 5 burgers, depending on size, we got a bit over-enthusiastic with the first and ended up with a tiny 5th one!
Heat some coconut oil in a frying pan until hot but not smoking.
Cook the burgers, turning over a couple of times with a fish slice to cook through.
We had intended to have savoury rice or quinoa and a green salad with them, but we were so caught up in the creative process and whether they would work or have to scrap it and make something else, we quite forgot and ended up steaming some leftover veggies. Regardless, they were very good. Even boingghealth would like them! (He loves his chilli!)
Ps There are more Tiger Nut Recipes here
*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/
Copyright: Chris McGowan
I haven’t had home-baked scones – or any scones for that matter – for soooo long! Many moons ago, before I became vegan, gluten-free, juicer and raw foodie, they were my favourite comfort food. They were so quick and easy to make.
Sift the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and coconut palm sugar into a large bowl.
Gently roll it to out to just over an inch in depth. They won’t rise much so bear that in mind.
Anyone who is gluten-free for whatever reason will know how difficult it is to find a commercial gluten-free loaf that doesn’t look and taste like cardboard and is, if you’re lucky, only ‘good’ for toasting. It lasts a day and then breaks up. It has no flavour other than of additives, and no texture – and if you look at the list of ingredients, you may as well be reading a chemistry experiment!
There are times as an ex-cheese addict when you just have to have something vaguely resembling a cheese sauce or dip, with pasta or crudités or sweet potato chips for instance. Here is a simple basic recipe that you can adapt with your own flavours, making it more spicy if you like eg with chilli flakes, cayenne, garlic and so on. You can make it as thick or as thin as you want, depending whether you prefer a pouring sauce or a thicker dip.
This was born on a very chilly, wet and windy July day a few days after I had finished a 7 day juice challenge. I had been having salads since, and this was my first fully cooked meal. I wanted something light but warming – it didn’t feel at all like summer – but we had a lot of summer vegetables and fruit so we decided to combine a little of both with some filling and nourishing basmati rice and served with large chestnut mushrooms lightly stir-fried with crushed garlic and tamari.
pearsnotparsnipsdotcom 
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