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Alrighty yumsizzlers! Today we’re working on some lentil and mushroom burgers, some oven baked fries, and a little cabbage and carrot slaw. This is a killer vegan meal. Wait, what? Rewind…did I just say vegan meal???

It’s VeganSizzle!

Yup, there ain’t nothing wrong with an amazing veggie based meal and this one doesn’t disappoint. Now, I love me some meat, but there’s something super satisfying about tucking into a proper vegetarian meal. These lentil and mushroom burgers are nice and flavorful, a little spicy, a little meaty, a little lentil-y, but most of all completely delicious.

Moist…Moist Moist MOIST MOIST MOIST

The key to a great veggie burger is managing the amount of moisture. Too much and you end up with a ball of goop, too little and you end up with a burger that falls apart. For this recipe we strike the perfect balance of moisture, so that we end up with a crispy outside, and textured inside. There are two steps in this recipe where I take control of the moisture content. First is while sauteing the mushrooms, onions, and garlic. This step not only builds up an amazing flavor base, but also cooks out a lot of the water in the onions and mushrooms. That’s an amazing double whammy! 

The second way we control moisture is in the final mixing by using bread crumbs. Some veggie burger recipes use oats, some use big chunks of bread, some even use chia seeds! My preference is for panko breadcrumbs (not just for these burgers, but for most bread crumb applications). I’ve found that panko breadcrumbs manage moisture better than other kinds of binders, for some magical reason even if you use a little too much or too little, panko breadcrumbs even out a level of ‘goop’ better than the other options. 

Usually I would use an egg as an additional binder (check out my black bean burger recipe), but we don’t need it here because lentils are super starchy. The starch from the lentils acts as a glue in the final mixture, we just need to give it a little time to set up and get soaked up by the mixture.

Let’s Get Cooking

The first step is to get the lentils into a pot of salted water. Pop that bad boy on the stove and get it up to a rolling boil, bring it down to a simmer, and cook the lentils for 15-20 minutes until they’re nice and soft. You can use any kind of lentil, but green works the best, some of the other kinds get too mushy, or are too tough. Tasting the lentils as they cook will give you a good idea of the different textures you can get from one kind of grain (always taste as you go, you never know what you’ll learn). 

While the lentils are cooking I’m going to chop up some onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Add those all to a pan and get them nice and browned. This is a step where we can get out some of that moisture, and build up a solid flavor foundation…double whammy! Keeping it simple here, just a rough chop (it’s all going into a food processor), a little olive oil, some salt and some pepper (don’t forget the salt, it helps to draw the moisture out of the mushrooms and onions).

Secrets Are Fun!

Once the lentils are cooked and the veggies are browned it’s time to bring it all together with a little secret ingredient. SHHHHHHHHH

Drumroll please and our secret ingredient is…..chipotle in adobo sauce! It’s one of my favorite flavor enhancers, chipotle in adobo has this great smoky flavor that goes SO well with veggie burgers. It definitely adds a bit of spice to the dish, if you don’t like spicy substitute 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce, or half the chipotle pepper and use 1.5 tbsp of BBQ. 

Combine the lentils, mushrooms, onions, and chipotle in the food processor, pulse it until you get the right consistency, still some whole lentils but mostly they’ve been pulverized. Pop the lentil mixture into a bowl, fold in some bread crumbs, a little olive oil, some garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before forming it into patties. 

Cook them over a grill, on the stove top, or bake them. And Boom! Got yourself some Lentil burgers! This is when you can have fun and be creative (well, you should be doing that anyway…), get some toppings on there! Literally anything crunchy would go great with these burgers, simple lettuce, cole slaw, or something else cooked like a fried green tomato or onion rings.

Fry Time!

Onto the fries! Honestly, having eaten these fries for two days in a row now, they are better than a LOT of the fried fries I’ve gotten in my life. They are uber crispy, super fluffy, and have that real fry flavor that oven baking usually doesn’t give you. I implore you to make them, they are fantastic…seriously.

These fries are oven baked, but in order to get them super crispy I’m going to par-boil them first.  Basically what that means is I’m going to get my sliced potatoes into a large pot and bring it up to a boil, then cook my potatoes until they’re juuuust fork tender, then drain them and get them in a bowl. The par-boiling is going to bring out a lot of the starches in the potatoes and give us the nice fluffy interior. I’m using large baking potatoes for this, they work the best. 

Once the potatoes are juuuuust tender we get to do some tossing! In a large bowl I’m going to season the mostly cooked potatoes with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried rosemary, and paprika. Then give that bowl a vigorous tossing. I mean really knock those potatoes around. No worries if some of the potatoes get broken while tossing, when was the last time you got a batch of fries that were all the same size?

For the tossing what you’re looking for is a slushy of potato starch and spices to form on the outside of the fries. That’s going to give them the super crispy outside, without us needing to fry anything. Woo, saved calories! 

Bake the fries on a high heat (450 degrees) for 20 minutes, flip them over, bake for another 20-ish minutes and you’ve got yourself some amazing fries. I’m so into these, they’re going to be a summer BBQ staple for sure, screw those bags of frozen fries.

Simple Slaw

For the slaw, I’m keeping it simple and light and going for a vinegar style dressing. Just slice the cabbage as thinly as possible, grate up the carrot, finely shop some white onion. 

Then get the dressing ready, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, mustard, a little honey, salt and pepper, badda bing badda boom. Got yourself some slaw! Toss it all together and let it sit for a bit before serving. This slaw is a really nice refreshing alternative to the heavier mayo based slaws.

And dinner is served! Delicious lentil and mushroom burgers, super crispy baked fries, and an amazing fresh slaw.

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Vegan Lentil and Mushroom Burgers

These lentil and mushroom burgers are nice and flavorful, a little spicy, a little meaty, a little lentil-y, but most of all completely delicious. 
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Burger, lentil, lentil burger, mushroom, Onion, vegan, vegetarian
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Food Processor

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Dry green lentils
  • 6 oz Mushrooms Crimini, white, whatever is on sale (1 package)
  • ½ Large white onion Chopped
  • 2 Cloves garlic Chopped
  • 1 Chipotle in adobo sauce + 2 tsp of sauce Sub 3tbsp BBQ sauce
  • 1 tsp Garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Onion powder
  • ½ tsp Paprika
  • ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • Salt + Pepper

Instructions

  • Put the cup of lentils into a medium size pot, fill the pot with water and add in a large pinch of salt. Bring it to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer the lentils for 15-20 minutes until they're nice and tender.
  • While the lentils are cooking - roughly chop the mushrooms, onion, and garlic and saute them in olive oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until they're nice and brown. Season the veggies with salt and pepper (as usual).
  • When the lentils are done cooking, strain them and place them in a large mixing bowl with the cooked mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Take the chipotle pepper and tsp of the sauce and put that in bowl and mix it up. If you're substituting BBQ sauce for the pepper add it in now (3 tbsp).
  • Pop that lentil and vegetable mixture into your food processor and pulse until the desired consistency is achieved. We're looking for some mush, some half lentils, some whole lentils, and a whole lot of delicious. I go for 8 or 9 pulses.
  • Empty the mixture back into your large mixing bowl and add in the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, bread crumbs, olive oil, a large pinch of salt (1 tsp) and a bunch of fresh pepper. Fold it all together with a spatula and taste is for seasoning - if you like things salty you'll probably want some more salt in there. If you're not on the vegan train feel free to add in some cheese to the mix!
  • Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes and then form patties. This is good for 4 large burgers.
  • Once the patties are formed you can toss them in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. You can also freeze them (the freeze really well). As for the cooking you can grill them, bake them, or cook them in a pan like I did. Non-stick pan over medium low heat with a little oil in it. Get the oil hot, then place in your burgers and let them cook untouched for 4-5 minutes. Once they're browned on one side flip them over and cook for another 4-5 minutes. I served mine with super crispy oven fries and a really fresh slaw in a pita pocket! Enjoy!

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Crispy Oven Baked Fries

Honestly, having eaten these fries for two days in a row now, they are better than a LOT of the fried fries I’ve gotten in my life. They are uber crispy, super fluffy, and have that real fry flavor that oven baking usually doesn’t give you. I implore you to make them, they are fantastic...seriously.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: crispy, fluffy, french fries, fries, fry, potatoes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 Large baking potatoes
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tsp Dried rosemary Fresh will work too
  • 1 tsp Garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Paprika
  • 1-2 tsp Salt

Instructions

  • To begin, cut the potatoes into the shape you want your final fries. I like to keep the pieces a little thicker, this way the final fries are a nice bite with some good fluff on the inside. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then slice the potato half lengthwise into ¼-½" slices. Turn those slices on their faces and cut them into fry shape (long sticks). Place the cut potato pieces into a large pot and cover them with water, giving an inch or two extra liquid. Bring the potatoes and water to a boil together.
  • Check the potatoes every couple of minute for tenderness. We want to cook them until they are just fork (or knife) tender, this should take 10-15 minutes after the water start boiling, but it will also depend on the size of your pieces and your stove. Just keep an eye on them, it's not biggie if they overcook a little, you might just end up with small fries in the end. When the potatoes are tender drain them and get them in a large bowl (a.k.a. the biggest baddest bowl you own). Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.
  • Into the bowl with the potatoes add in the spices and oil, then toss the potatoes together with the spices....vigorously. You want to build up a slushy mixture of spices and potato starch on the outside of the taters. Some of the pieces will break, those turn into the really awesome crispy short fries.
  • Once you have a nice layer of slushy potato built up empty the bowl onto a baking sheet and evenly distribute the fries - no overlapping pieces. Place the baking sheet into your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, then flip the fries (as best you can, I know it's annoying flipping all those pieces), and bake for another 20 minutes.
  • Serve them hot! Enjoy, these are a classic summer BBQ side dish!

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Fresh Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

Super simple vinegar based slaw to brighten up any dish.
Prep Time10 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cabbage, Carrot, coleslaw, dressing, easy, fresh, salad, slaw, vinegar
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 Large carrot Shredded
  • ½ Green cabbage Shredded
  • ¼ White onion Small dice

Dressing

  • ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup Olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Mustard
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • Salt & Pepper

Instructions

  • Super simple. Grate the carrot using a cheese grater (the large size). Slice the cabbage as thin as you can go (use a mandolin if you got it!). Small dice on the onion, place all of these in a bowl.
  • Whisk together the dressing ingredients. If you don't have honey sub in 1 tsp of sugar.
  • Toss the dressing into the slaw and you're good to go! Serve it immediately or let it soak for up to 24 hours. Enjoy!