Have you ever had a Veggie Burger?

I like to call myself an omnivore.

I love meat, fish, eggs (dairy doesn’t like me) but I absolutely love my fruit and veggies too.

As I’m responsible for 90% of the grocery shopping and cooking in the house I like to make sure we have a good variety of meals during the week. I like to mix it up. Mexican one night, Italian the next, then Spanish, then Irish but I also like to alternate proteins. Thursday night is fish night for the most part, Friday is pizza and Monday and Tuesday are meat and vegetarian.



Now, it doesn’t always work out that way….I don’t like to be too boring and rigid with my meal planning as it can take all the fun out of cooking but still it’s good to have a framework to use.

I think vegetarian food can get an awful hard time. Nature is full of some many gorgeous fruits,veggies, pulses, legumes, nuts and seeds of all kinds of colours, flavours and textures. I love to experiment while giving our tummys a rest (as well as it being a good idea for the environment).



So I try to keep note of any good veggie recipes that I come across and I swear by the Cornucopia cookbook. Here’s a lovely bean burger recipe I came across…I can’t remember where but I promise you’ll like it if you’re open to try new things. And as they say, a change is as good as a rest!!



Bean Burgers

Serves 3-4



1 tin cannelloni beans, drained & rinsed

2 tbsp red pesto

85g wholemeal breadcrumbs

1 egg

salt & pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 chilli, finely chopped (optional)

3 or 4 granary baps

3 – 4 tbsp hummus (optional)



1. Roughly mash the beans with a potato masher until they’re almost smooth, then stir in the pesto, breadcrumbs, egg & seasoning to taste. If it looks too wet add some more breadcrumbs.



2. Heat half the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a low heat and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add to the bean mixture and mix well.



3. Divide the bean mixture into 3 – 4 equal portions and shape into a flat burger.



4. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan and cook the burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden.



5. Meanwhile, spread the bottom half of each bap with a teaspoon of hummus.



6. Remove the burgers from the frying pan and drain on the kitchen paper. Place each one on a bap and top with tomato, cucumber or gherkin slices and lettuce leaves.