Makes 4-6
I think I might have just eaten the best Veggie Burger I can remember tasting. Fresh, flavorful, satisfying. I know to call anything “the best” sets expectations high, and maybe I shouldn’t go there. But I can’t remember ever seeing a veggie burger that is also low FODMAP. So, I am pleased with my Veggie Burger and I hope you enjoy it too.
This all came about when I was handed the job of coordinating the catering for my Flynn’s year-6 graduation. Our school likes to put on a special night of celebration for our finishing students and their teachers who have nurtured them over the last 7 years. The graduation takes place over dinner time, but I have heard the kids don’t tend to eat much; all the excitement I guess. So I set out to plan a menu that offered a decent meal but wouldn’t result in too much waste, and had to be fun too!
Low FODMAP Veggie Burgers Recipe
With my small budget, 30 minute meal time, and dietary considerations (vegetarian, gluten-free, low FODMAP etc) in mind, I have chosen to serve sliders and fries, with an ice cream dessert bar. Surely we can’t go wrong with that! My butcher is kindly making 50 beef and 50 chicken patties without gluten, onion or garlic, to cook on the barbeque. The Veggie Burgers, however, have been up to me.
I had a look at a few recipes to start, but as you can imagine most had onion, chickpeas, lentils, beans or soy in them, all the ingredients I needed to avoid. I have been playing around with ways to replace chickpeas in dips, and have found that baked parsnip and zucchini blended with soaked almonds work well. I combined this chickpea substitute with protein-rich quinoa and sautéed carrot, pumpkin and spinach to make the burger mix. With some herbs, spice, quinoa flour and egg to bind, the burgers took shape.
I have a handy Tupperware burger press which makes shaping simple. I let the burger sit in the fridge overnight, and this allowed the quinoa flour to absorb some moisture and bind the mixture. Today I pan-fried the first Veggie Burger in a little olive oil until the outside was golden and crispy. With my favourite spelt bread, baby spinach, tomato, cheddar and a little basil aioli I had in the fridge, I was ready to taste test. YU-UM
I used a tri-coloured mix of quinoa for the visual interest. I cooked 1 cup of well-rinsed quinoa using the absorption method as per the package directions. After measuring out the amount I needed for the burgers, I put the leftover cooked quinoa in the freezer for another time.
