Vegetable Burgers With Lentils And Mushrooms
Lentil and mushroom veggie burgers are suitable for those who, for medical, ethical or moral reasons, limit their consumption of meat or simply want to include more plant sources in their daily diet.
It is a very versatile food that goes very well with rice, salad, steamed vegetables and different varieties of wholemeal bread. Let’s see together the recipe for preparing lentil and mushroom veggie burgers.
The benefits of vegetables and legumes
Among the benefits of daily consumption of vegetables, we mention:
- They have a high fiber content. This contribution promotes digestion, regulates the amount of cholesterol in the blood and improves constipation problems. It will also make you feel fuller for longer hours, thus reducing your total calorie intake.
- Nutritional density. Vegetables are very complete foods from a nutritional point of view. The amount of the various vitamins and minerals will depend on the type of vegetable chosen.
- They contain polyphenols. These provide a dose of antioxidants that have beneficial effects for the body, such as lowering LDL, commonly called bad cholesterol.
Among the benefits reported by the daily consumption of legumes we highlight:
- High amount of fiber and nutritional density, just like vegetables.
- Excellent supply of vitamins and minerals: B vitamins (such as B1, B6 and B9) and essential minerals such as calcium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, iron and magnesium, necessary for the proper functioning of the body.
- High energy intake with low percentage of fat: With the exception of soy and peanuts (commonly classified as nuts), legumes are low in fat.
- Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids: in addition to being low in fat, they are unsaturated.
- They are inexpensive and easy to combine and cook.
Vegetable burgers with lentils and mushrooms
In this article, we present two veggie burger recipes whose main ingredients are lentils and mushrooms.
1. Recipe for lentil and mushroom veggie burgers
Ingredients for 4 people
- 150 grams of raw or potted lentils.
- 75 grams of mushrooms of your choice.
- 4 cloves of garlic.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- 1/2 onion.
- Salt, pepper and parsley.
Preparation:
- Soak the lentils for about 5 hours. If you don’t have enough time, you can replace raw lentils with pre-cooked ones.
- Once this time has elapsed, wash the vegetables and chop until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
- Cut the mushrooms, onion and garlic into brunoise (very finely chopped) and add to the lentil purée.
- Season and add any spices you like, such as parsley, oregano, or basil. You can add a little flour or breadcrumbs if the consistency is not adequate.
- After shaping the burgers, it is recommended that you keep them in the fridge for a couple of hours to ensure they hold their shape while cooking.
- To cook the veggie burgers we have two options : bake them in the oven at 180 ºC until golden or in a pan with a small amount of oil.
You can do all the steps before cooking and store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days until you want to cook them. This recipe goes very well with vegetable pesto or salad.
2. Red lentil and mushroom veggie burger recipe
Ingredients for 4 people
- 30 grams of dried red lentils.
- 1/2 small onion.
- 3 cloves of garlic.
- 100 grams of mushrooms.
- 100 grams of leek.
- Salt, pepper and basil.
- Extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin coconut oil.
Preparation:
- Red lentils need less soaking time than classic lentils.
- Again, you can cook the burgers in the oven or in a pan. You can also adapt the amount of garlic and spices to suit your tastes.
Perhaps red lentils are more difficult to find in the supermarket, but they are present in the “bio” sections of some supermarkets, as well as in herbalists.
