Almond Burgers Recipes

LENTIL AND ALMOND BURGERS

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil, stir in lentils and simmer until very tender, about 25 minutes, or 30 minutes for green lentils. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet. Add carrots, shallots and celery and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
• Add almonds, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook a couple more minutes.
• Transfer to a food processor and add 1 cup of the cooked lentils. Pulse several times until coarsely ground.
• Transfer to large bowl and add rest of the lentils. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in yolk and lemon juice.
• Cover and chill one hour.
• Form into 5 patties. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in large skillet medium high. Cook patties about 4 minutes, flip and cook until lightly brown and heated through.
• Serve immediately.

ALMOND BURGERS

Steps:

• Mix together the almonds, tahini, onion and carrot in a bowl.
• Stir in half the tamari and half of the lemon juice.
• If mixture seems dry, add up to the remaining half of each ingredient until the mixture holds together in patty form, but is not sloppy.
• (NOTE: you can add additional ground almond if the mixture gets too wet... but it's easier to control things with the liquid.) Form 6 patties and fry in a little oil or broil until golden brown and a bit crispy.
• Serve on a roll or in a pita pocket with your favorite condiments.

TOASTED ALMOND TOFU BURGERS

Steps:

• Wrap tofu in doubled dish towel. Place on work surface. Weigh down with a board topped with food cans or weights for 1 hour. Squeeze towel-wrapped tofu to extract as much liquid as possible from tofu. Transfer tofu to medium bowl. Using fork, mash into small pieces.
• Spray medium nonstick skillet with nonstick spray; place over medium heat. Add carrot, green onions, ginger and garlic; sauté until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Cool. Mix carrot mixture, almonds, egg white, soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds into tofu. Season with salt and pepper. Shape mixture into four 1/2-inch-thick patties. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)
• If grilling, spray grill rack with nonstick spray, then prepare barbecue (medium heat). If sautéing, spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and heat over medium heat. Lightly spray patties on both sides with nonstick spray. Place patties on grill or in skillet and cook until golden brown and heated through, about three minutes per side.
• Place 1 burger on each bun bottom. Top each with 1 tomato slice, some sprouts and bun top and serve.

MUSHROOM BURGERS WITH ALMONDS AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Place the bulgur in a bowl with a little salt if desired. Cover with ½ cup hot water and leave for 20 to 25 minutes, until most of the water has been absorbed and the bulgur is soft. Drain through a strainer and squeeze out the water.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, grind the almonds coarsely.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. When they begin to soften and sweat, turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened. Add the garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and white wine, and continue to cook, stirring, until there is no more liquid in the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to the food processor and process until very finely chopped.
• Return the pan to the heat and add the spinach, a handful at a time. Cook just until it wilts and remove from the heat. Transfer to a strainer and, with the back of a spoon, press out excess water. Add spinach to the food processor and process with the mushrooms and almonds until the ingredients are well blended. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, stir in the bulgur and egg (if using), and season to taste with salt and pepper. Form into patties. If there is time, cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
• Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy skillet or on a griddle over medium heat, and brown the patties for 3 minutes on each side, being very careful when you turn them over. Don't worry if they fall apart; just patch them together. An offset spatula works well for turning them, and when you remove the patties from the pan, it helps if you place the bottom bun over the patty, slide the spatula underneath the patty and, with your hand on the bun, flip it over. Serve with the condiments of your choice.