Vegan Soy, Lentil, & Veggie Burger Sliders Using Tvp

Why should us veggie types miss out on all the fun with sliders? There used to be this place on the Upper East Side that made pretty good steamed veggie sliders, Sassy Sliders, and I wasn't aiming to make a direct copycat but the texture gave me a pretty good idea. There's a lot of good options for seasonings, like just using a teaspoon to 1/2 a tablespoon of seasoning salt or another spice mix you like, but I decided to base the seasoning off of Emeril's Burger Seasoning for this, rounded down to roughly a little over 1 teaspoon and most amounts adjusted downward since reviewers since said it was quite spicy. Adding the nooch and marjoram was my idea though. Confetti shredded carrots are the best for this! Prep time does not include the time for cooking the lentils, as you can cook them on the stovetop or pressure cooker, if using a 15-oz can 1/3 cup uncooked = about half a can.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 16
• Yields: 16 sliders

Ingredients

• BASE FOR THE SLIDERS

• 1  cup  textured vegetable protein
• 1  cup vegetable broth
• 2  tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon marjoram
• 1⁄8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1  dash cayenne pepper

• VEGGIES

• 1⁄4 cup  chopped onion
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  minced garlic (1 small clove)
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup broccoli, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup carrot, finely shredded
• 1⁄3 cup  uncooked brown lentils (half a can)

• BINDER

• 1  cup ground flax seeds

Directions

1. If you're using dry lentils on the stovetop and not the pressure cooker, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil, add the lentils, and lower the heat to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes; drain any excess water when done cooking.
2. Nuke the vegetable broth for about 2 minutes depending on your microwave's strength. You want it to be near-boiling but not too hot to handle.
3. Add all the dry spices listed with the nutritional yeast under "Base For The Sliders" to the heated vegetable broth. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the TVP, making sure it's all covered. Let it sit for 10 minutes in order to expand, hydrate, and soak up all the seasonings.
5. While you wait for that, finely shred the carrot if not using pre-shredded.
6. If not using pre-chopped broccoli like those frozen packages, finely chop up about 1/3 head of a broccoli to get about 1/2 cup of finely chopped broccoli pieces. Put the broccoli aside for now.
7. Heat up the olive oil in a skillet and sautee the onion, garlic, carrot, and broccoli together until nicely browned, about 5 minutes.
8. The TVP should be all soaked up by now. Stir it to make sure all the seasoning dispersed.
9. Add the lentils and sauteed veggies. Mix thoroughly.
10. Bind with the flax seed. Feel free to add some bread crumbs for extra crunch, or more flax if it's not binding well enough. This part was tricky for me because the original mix didn't bind at all. I don't recommend using eggs or egg whites to bind because it'll make the mix even more liquidy.
11. Preheat the oven to 425°F Put a little olive oil on a cookie sheet-- cooking spray just won't work the same for this-- about a teaspoon or a little less, and brush it on evenly with a BBQ/pastry brush or paper towel.
12. While the oven preheats, let the mixture sit out for about 10 minutes.
13. Etract the mixture and put it on the cookie sheet. Carefully squish it out evenly, sort of like you're stretching out pizza dough. It should be a large thin rectangle.
14. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top.
15. Flip it over so the other side can cook for another 10-12 minutes.
16. Use a pizza cutter to cut into slider squares, you'll get about 16.
17. Serve on wheat rolls with lettuce, tomato, Vegenaise, Soy Kaas, avocado slices, and/or your other favorite vegetarian "burger" fixings!
18. If you want to make these as normal veggie burgers, you'll get 4 big patties and have to bake for about 15 minutes on each side.