Ginger, Carrot and Quinoa Vegetarian Burger Patties
These gourmet vegetarian burger patties are packed with the flavours of ginger, lemongrass, carrot and soy. Top these gluten free veggie burgers with lime and coriander (cilantro) onions and sweet chilli sauce and watch them disappear!
Rinse the quinoa under cold running water and drain. Place in a medium saucepan along with the water and bring to a boil over a high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep covered for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the bbq to a medium heat. Add the oil and the spring onions, ginger and lemongrass. Cook, stirring, until the ginger and lemongrass are fragrant and the spring onions start to lightly caramelise. Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl.
Place the onions on the grill and cook, stirring only every so often, until the carrots soften and are some bits turn golden. Place in the bowl with the spring onions.
Add the cooked quinoa, soy, recap manis, sesame oil, peanut butter and stir well to combine.
Place the oats in a food processor and process until a fine crumb. Add to the quinoa mixture and stir through. Taste and adjust your seasonings as necessary and leave the mixture to cool completely.
Drain the cashews and pop them in the food processor. Process until the cashews form a paste. Add the water, lime juice, sweet chilli sauce and soy and process until smooth. When smooth, with the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil and process until smooth and well combined. Decant into a jar or container and refrigerate until needed.
Make a well in the centre of the quinoa mixture and add the egg. Mix the egg until well combined before mixing it into the rest of the mixture.
Form into patties roughly the size of your burger buns. I got 4 generous burgers from this mixture. Press the mixture well in your hands and form into a circle. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or a couple of hours to allow the burgers to firm up a little. This ensures they are less likely to break when cooked.
While the patties are firming up in the fridge prepare the onions. Place the onions in a bowl along with the lime, ginger and coriander. Mix well and leave to marinate.
Heat your bbq to a medium low heat. Lightly brush the burgers with the olive oil or your favourite cooking oil. Cook over a medium low heat for 5 to 7 minutes each side. If you are using a barbeque with a lid (such as the Barbeques Galore Ziegler & Brown brand of BBQs) close the lid to help the burgers cook all the way through. If you are cooking the burgers on the stove top cover with a lid.
Serve your burgers on burger buns (I've gone with Brioche buns) and top with the sweet chilli cashew cream, onions, cucumber and lettuce.
Notes
Kecap manis is a sweet Indonesian soy sauce. If you don't have kecap manis replace with 1 tbs regular soy sauce and ½ tsp honey or maple syrup.These burgers can be made vegan by substituting the egg with a flax or chia egg.