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meat free recipes
black bean & beetroot burger
These homemade burgers passed the taste test in our household. They are an easy, grillable veggie burger that are hearty, and perfect for grilling. They are also gluten and egg free.
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meat free
dairy free
gluten free
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Makes 6
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
3 cups Aduki Beans, cooked
125g cooked beetroot
Handful of fresh oregano sprigs, or 1tsp dried oregano
Salt and ground black pepper
Rice breadcrumbs for coating
burger build;
gluten free burger buns
ready bought Houmous, thinned with a little water
cucumber shavings, sliced using a peeler
mixed bag of lettuce
red onion, finely sliced in rings
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1. Arrange the butternut squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil. Season. Cook at 200oC 400oF for 20-25 minutes or until golden and soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan cook the onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil until just soft and opaque in colour. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Put all the burger ingredients into a food processor and blitz in bursts until the mixture has come together but the beans are still visible. Scrape down the sides and turn out into a bowl. Chill in the freezer until cool enough to stand.
4. Arrange the rice breadcrumbs on a plate. Use a 1 cup holder as a mould. Fill with a portion of the burger mixture, squash down and then turn out onto the rice breadcrumbs. Use a palette knife to turn the burger and gently impact the surface of the burger so you can turn it from side to side. Put into the freezer to chill for 15 min before cooking.
5. To cook, heat a large frying pan with the remaining oil and cook the chilled burger (can cook from frozen) over a low heat for 10-15 minutes and is crispy on the out side and piping hot on the inside.
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6. To Serve; Split the burger bun in half horizontally and fill with your favourite fillings. We made ours with a salad mix first, topped with cucumber stips and red onion. Drizzle with the thinned humous sauce.
Did you know?
Many people assume all beef cattle are kept outside in fields. But, this is not always the case, with some beef production systems cattle are housed throughout their lives and others house animals during the winter period.
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Whether cattle raised for meat start their lives on the range or inside a barn, however, they end up on a feedlot for their last six months before being sent to slaughter. At the feedlot, cattle are confined together in dirty conditions, standing on unnatural slatted concrete floors or in muddy “dry lots” free of vegetation. They are fattened on grain, which causes internal stress and disease because cattle stomachs have evolved to digest forage (i.e., grasses), but are poorly adapted to digest the grains and concentrates (e.g., corn) that producers use to fatten them more quickly.
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Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.
The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world.