The Garlic Press

I just couldn’t decide between the pecan pie bars (which I was craving) or the nut burgers (which I thought sounded interesting and have been wanting to try for some time). So, I went with both!

These burgers are pretty good. I wouldn’t make them unless I had a vegetarian friend coming over to a cookout, but maybe that is because I don’t really eat burgers very much. Actually, there was a period of maybe 10 years or more in which I didn’t eat hamburgers period. I didn’t like them that much anyway and I suppose I was a little scared of getting mad cow disease (I was a kid, and the news and Oprah talked it up a lot). However, those fears have pretty much dissipated, but my general dislike for burgers still remains… I will try burgers from places the my husband gets them and I usually just find them unimpressive. This is crazy, but the only place I will order a hamburger and eat it with abandon is B-Bops. Weird. I’m sure there are great burgers out there besides B-Bops, and maybe even better than B-Bops, but I haven’t found them yet.

So, back to the nut burgers… they were really easy to make and the texture was pretty meaty. The recipe claims you can make them into sloppy Joes or meatballs, and I believe it. So, for all you vegetarians out there, this could be a recipe to try. Next time around, I would probably season it a little more to give it a little more flavor. The other problem I encountered was that the cottage cheese in the burgers burns during cooking and they appear to be burned and inedible. However, they really are okay and they don’t really taste that burned. When I read the recipe I wondered how there could be cheese in it that did not burn during cooking, but I guess maybe it was supposed to happen. I have changed the recipe a little from the original recipe to give it a little more flavor and to try to avoid the burning cheese factor.

Nut Burgers

 

Adapted from Paulette Mitchell’s book The 15 Minute Gourmet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup wheat germ, toasted

1/4 cup 2% cottage cheese

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon minced onion

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

Stir together everything but the oil in a large bowl. Shape into 4 patties. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties 2-3 minutes per side until browned. Watch to make sure you don’t overcook them…