Terrific Tofu Burgers

Sharon123's Note:

The cooks at Moosewood serve these open-faced on toasted whole wheat bread with fresh lettuce, sliced tomato and Russian dressing. Try substituting the basil with marjoram, and combine herbs any way you like so long as the total does not exceed 1 tablespoon for dried or 3 tablespoons for fresh. The uncooked burger mix keeps for two days in the refrigerator. Formed into patties, these freeze well. Thaw at room temperature before baking. This was adapted from Vegetarian Times Magazine.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 (16 ounce) packages firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups diced onions
• 1 cup peeled and grated carrot
• 1 cup diced bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 2⁄3; cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons light miso
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 -2 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Generously oil baking sheet.
3. Place tofu between two plates, and rest heavy weight on top plate.
4. Press for about 15 minutes.
5. Drain off liquid from bottom plate.
6. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet, and sauté onions, carrots, peppers, oregano, basil and dill for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables are just tender.
7. Crumble pressed tofu into large bowl.
8. Stir in walnuts, bread crumbs, tahini, miso, soy sauce and mustard, if using.
9. Add sautéed vegetables, and mix well.
10. Using about 3/4 cup burger mix per burger, form 8 patties by hand, and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
11. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until burgers are firm and browned.
12. Serve hot.
13. Enjoy!

Reviews

[ShortieNJ]

these turned out quite good. i omitted the bell pepper, dill, tahini, and dijon mustard since i didn't have them and served it with some honey mustard as a topping - i would like to find a way to hold them together better so i could grill them instead of baking, but, maybe i just need to form the patties better

[foodie #5]

I've tried many tofu burger recipes and this one has the very best FLAVOR. Two cups of diced onions sounded like an excessive amount, but I'm glad I followed the recipe because it tasted VVG. My burgers also fell apart, so it's best not to try to grill them or flip them over while cooking. I froze these on individual little pieces of waxed paper and transferred the frozen patties to a zip bag. They are perfect on whole wheat or multi-grain tortillas---folded into burritos. Substitutions that I made: I used pecans instead of walnuts and organic peanut butter instead of tahini. Also used organic brown mustard from Whole Foods instead of Dijon.

[groovyrooby]

Terrific flavor, but they turned out more like sloppy joes than burgers. I will definitely be making these again, but maybe eating them in pitas unless I can find a way to make them more cohesive. There will certainly be an again - my husband loved the flavors and we're both tired of frozen boxed patties. I froze extras and nuked them as needed. The walnuts really stood out - great flavor and a nice toothsome texture.