Wellness Weekly

By Sandy Considine

I have tried all kinds of plant-based burgers, if it’s out there I have tried it. Now that I am Celiac I must eliminate those with gluten in them. Now my choices are slim to none. I came across this recipe that is a “clean” burger. Not with highly processed ingredients and a recipe anyone can make.

No funky or long listed ingredients. If you do not have tapioca starch you can use corn starch. Nutritional yeast can be found at the Weis Market or Walmart stores. If you are unfamiliar with nutritional yeast it is nondairy, cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast (aka ‘nooch’) that is a rich source of vitamin B12 and has other good-for-you nutrients.

Nutritional yeast is a species of yeast known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the same type of yeast that’s used to bake bread and brew beer.

However, nutritional yeast is an inactivated version, which means that, if you tried to use it to make bread or beer, it wouldn’t work well and would likely be too bitter to enjoy.

Marmite can also be purchased locally. It is NOT gluten free. Miso is a substitute or store brand like (Aldi) carry their own gluten free marmite. Marmite is made from yeast, the first thing most people will notice when they open a jar of Marmite is the smell. That’s right, it has a pungent smell. I have never used this product, but it serves its purpose. One of those love it or hate it product.

Plant-Based Burgers

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Can Black Beans
Can chick peas
Can Lentils
2 large Portobello mushrooms
1 tbsp vegetable oil or of your choice
1 cup of oats
1 medium beet
1 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp marmite (not gluten free) substitute Miso for it
1 tbsp liquid smoke
Salt and Pepper to taste after cooking
Bun of choice

•Original recipe from Chef David Lee from Planta calls for Parsley and Rosemary, Cayenne/chili flakes to liking instead of Liquid smoke and Marmite.
I wanted to give you 2 options for this burger. I prefer the one made with parsley and rosemary but if you want a bolder burger go with marmite and liquid smoke.
You can also add fresh garlic, play with it, make it your own. That is the fun and beauty of cooking.
Now add some fresh cut air fryer French fries and you got a great summer meal going on.

Instructions
Drain and rinse all canned beans
Lightly brush portobello mushrooms, chop mushrooms
Heat some lightly flavored oil in a skillet over medium heat adding mushrooms once heated and cook until soft
Add black beans, chickpeas, half a can of lentils oats and mushrooms into the blender. Pulse quickly to mix
Peel and chop beet and add chopped beet to the blender. Pulse to mix
Add tapioca starch, marmite, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke to the blender and pulse. Pour mixture into bowl and add remaining lentils
Heat a skillet on medium high heat adding some oil, make a small ball with burger mixture, place it in the skillet and press down using spatula making the burger pretty thin. I like it thin but you can make it how you like your burger (thick or thin) cook until patty is firm.
Since I make these very thin burgers, make it a double. Add cheese of choice and condiments to your choosing.

Please feel free to email on what you what to know about for a future article at
sandra.considine@yahoo.com