Craving Burgers? Just Beet it!

Pun intended here! :) Okay, so maybe I'm not cut out to be a comedian, but this burger is made for me and my fellow sassy cats who love burgers, but don't want to splurge on the $$$ for quality burger or the calories that come with red meat!

Using beets (so pretty!), leftover quinoa (because I know all you San Franciscan's are obsessed) and cooked lentils, you can guiltlessly enjoy a  hearty burger that won't leave you feeling like a greasy spoon!

I'm starting to think I should call this the hipster series, what will all the vegan/vegetarian and gluten free-ness going on in my latest blog posts! But the true source of this inspiration was actually the much, coveted Paleo diet. Seriously, the Paleo diet is sweeping the Bay Area, let alone the country, along with its highly intense workout regiment and booty-kicker, Crossfit. While I've haven't fully engaged in either the work out or the diet, I like the that Paleo diet follows the concept of a "slow carb" diet. Basically this means that our bodies are naturally, or just have a harder time, breaking down complex carbs, dairy in overload and processed foods eaten on the reg.

What I don't like about the Paleo diet is that it doesn't make room for error, or your metabolism. It's go hard or go home FOREVER. Otherwise you seriously risk gaining all that weight back if you stop doing Paleo! (Hmm...sounds like a lot of other fad diets I've seen over the years). Anyhow, I decided to single out one the Paleo no-no's that I feel I MUST keep in my diet...that would be lentils.

In my culture, lentils ARE one's main source of protein, so eliminating it from my diet, all together, seems ridiculous. Lentils can fortify a meal with a lot of wonderful nutrients, like fiber...added plus is that they retain flavor really well, so it's all about the spices when cooking with lentils!

This burger will seriously make you beet red with delight :)

Red Beet and Lentil Burgers

Topped my gorgeous deep red beet burger with a slice of smoky gouda, a smear of tangy Dijon mustard, fresh spinach and avocado!

Kneading Sass original

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of baby beets, cooked and peeled , shred with a grater (each package comes with about 5-6 baby beets)
• 1/2 cup of lentils (I used green!)
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp  of minced garlic (1-2 garlic pods)
• 1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook lentils in 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boil, bring down to a simmer for about 30 minutes, until cooked. 
2. Shred baby beets with a grater and set aside. 
3. While lentils are still cooking, in a pan, saute garlic, mushrooms and minced onions with a a few teaspoons of olive oil, on medium heat. Mushrooms and onions will be soft after 6 minutes of cooking. 

      4.  Transfer mushroom, onions and cooked lentils to a food processor. Chop, not puree until mixture is chunky. Add beets to processor and chop as well. ( I had to do this in two parts because my food processor is too small to fit all of these ingredients!

      5.  Transfer chopped veggies into a large mixing bowl and add your cooked quinoa. I used leftover qunioa which also works here as well! Add all your spices and mix well.

    6.  Heat a large frying pan with olive oil or medium high heat.
    7.  With your hands, form patties and tightly compact the mixture, as the beets will make the patties more wet than if you were making burgers with ground meat.
 

    8.  Place 3-4 patties on the pan and cook each side for about 5 minutes. Got leftover patties you don't want to use? Totally A-okay! Freeze your patties, places a square of parchment paper between patty, to keep them from sticking when frozen