Sunday’s Kitchen Korner: Veggie Burgers and Asparagus spears

My husband and I do not eat a great deal of meat, and I was never satisfied with the veggie burger’s that you buy in the store so I decided one day to make my own! They’re quite easy to make, I really just put what I would put in regular hamburger’s and cook away.

Real Tech Mom’s Veggie Burger’s

What you’ll need:

• Yves Veggie Ground Round (this is the “fake” ground beef–let’s clear this up, it doesn’t have the same taste as ground beef, but it’s certainly got the same texture and half the amount of fat)– Make sure you don’t get the flavoured kind of ground round as there are different ones (ie. Mexican)
• Three slices of yellow Onion finely chopped, or you can use Onion Soup mix. If you use the onion soup mix you won’t need to add in the spices I do, or you can it’s totally up to you!
• One large egg
• 1 tbs of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (this sauce contains anchovies so for hardcore vegetarian’s you may want to skip this)
• Unbleached whole wheat flour (usually about a 1/4 cup, depending on how much sauces you put in, this is what you are going to use to make it sticky enough to form the burgers, you can use breadcrumbs but I never have–if they are still too runny to make your burgers add more flour)
• Montreal Steak Spice (I buy the clubhouse kind but any kind of spicy goodness is ok to add too!)
• 2 Tbs of Mustard (I like the french’s kind but again any kind you like)
• Buns (If you are looking to make this a lower carb option, I buy the weight watchers buns that have 2 points per bun, or you can buy the big fluffy white buns for the uncarb conscious people–featured in the picture)
• Kraft Cheese Slices (also the light version in this picture, but any kind will do)
• Your Condiments: Ketchup, Mustard, Relish, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Onions, basically anything you want to put on your burger

What do I do next?

Mix the onions with the whole package of ground round. Also throw in the mustard, the egg, the Lea and Perrins, the spices and the flour into the bowl, again if your hamburgers are too runny and aren’t holding together, add more flour.

You can cook these on the BBQ, but remember to cook them on tin foil, otherwise you’ll have one heck of a mess to clean up as they will stick to your BBQ.  I usually do them on the stove top. You can spray a non stick pan with your favourite oil, I generally just pour some olive oil (just enough so spread around). On Medium heat I brown each side, usually about 3-4 minutes on each side. Keep in mind that ground round does not need to be cooked like regular meat but there is a raw egg in there so as long as you see your burgers look “cooked” you should be fine.

I then take them off the heat, and I brown my buns. You can butter them if you like and then stick them on the pan for under a minute. Becareful not to burn them, as they’re usually uneven and the outsides brown but not the insides–so I press them down in the middle.

Once your buns are browned, take your burgers and a pot lid, and place your cheese on the burger and cover the burger until it melts–I find that having clear pot lids really helps in this step. Scoop your burger’s up and garnish your burger to your hearts content! I like to use mixed field green’s as my lettuce for my burger’s but again it’s personal choice! One package of ground round usually makes around 6 burgers.

Serve and Enjoy!

Asparagus Spears

This is just a super simple side that I thought I’d throw in!

What you’ll need:

• Asparagus (depending on how many people you are feeding, it’s really up to you!)
• Olive oil (1 tbs or less)
• Garlic salt (to taste, a few shakes usually does it)
• Ground pepper (to taste, I find a once around usually does it)

What do I do next:

Wash your asparagus, and trim the edges a good inch (so there is no white part showing)

Turn your stove top to Med/High heat, and warm the skillet up with the olive oil. Place your asparagus and spices, and cook uncovered for under 5 minutes for crunchy spears of asparagus. If you like your veggies softer cook for a little while longer. You’ll notice as you cook your asparagus that they will become more green the longer you cook them, you can always test one to see if they’re to your liking!

I usually do this dish last because they’re only crunchy for so long, and I’m not a fan of mushy veggies!

**Note: Wash all of your veggies, even the stuff that says prewashed, you just never know anymore what is on your veggies to make their shelf life longer. You can always buy organic veggies, but again wash them!