Homemade Veggie Burger

Made up this recipe to try to replicate a veggie burger from a local restaurant in Richmond. Very healthy, and can easily be part of a totally vegan meal. My extremely non-vegetarian fiancee loves these too. Can be made to order, or made ahead of time for later use Very versatile, as you can add veggies you like or whatever you have on hand. (For those who don't know, bulgar wheat looks a lot like rice and is in the organic section of the grocery store. You make be able to replace with rice in the recipe, but I haven't tried it).

• Ready In: 43 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 8 patties

Ingredients

• 1  cup dry lentils
• 1⁄2 cup Bulgar wheat
• 1⁄2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup carrot, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1⁄4 cup mushroom, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup  breadcrumbs
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
•  salt
•  black pepper

• optional

•  bell pepper, garlic, cayenne, garlic powder, cumin (I usually do 1t each (or more)

Directions

1. Boil lentils in a pot for about 30 minutes until tender.
2. In a separate pot, cook bulgur wheat by package directions (1/2c wheat in 1c water according to my package).
3. In a medium sized pan, heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add all chopped veggies and spices.
5. Cook about 15 minutes, until all veggies are soft.
6. Put all ingredients to a big mixing bowl.
7. Add enough bread crumbs to be able to form patties. (You can put veggies into a fine-mesh strainer to get out excess liquid first if you want to use less bread crumbs.).
8. To cook, pre-heat pan on stove to medium and spray with non-stick spray. Cover with a lid. Brown each side (about 3-4min per side).
9. I cut wax paper to fit into a tupperware container to separate the patties.
10. If freezing, I wrap individually with plastic wrap, cool in refrigerator then transfer to the freezer.