It's a scrumptious burger with all the fixins. Only it's not beef... it's lentils!!
When I was looking through this cookbook a couple years ago a recipe for lentil burgers stood out because lentils are so cheap and common here. I gave it a whirl, even though I greatly feared my husband's reaction (a burger made with beans, c'mon on!!), and we both LOVED them! We've been eating them regularly ever since.
And because a friend of mine recently asked how to do it... I thought I'd share it with the entire virtual world out there. I don't even follow a recipe anymore and it's really so easy that it's not necessary!
Basically you cook red lentils until soft. Then continue to simmer them until they are a very thick consistency. As thick as you can get them without having them burn from being over-cooked. You might notice that the consistency is quite similar to that of ground beef!
Then you just add the extras like you might do when making burgers out actual meat. An egg or two, lots of chopped onion, salt, pepper, bread crumbs or oatmeal, etc.
Now you'd usually form patties. However mine is never quite thick enough for that, so I end up carefully spooning it out of the bowl in a glump and forming the patty in the hot greased frying pan instead. Let it fry as long as you like... you're just trying to cook the egg and get it all to hold together a bit better (which is the most challenging part). I actually like ours best when they become blackened. Bonus here cause then you can call them 'Blackened Lentil Burgers' and it sounds almost gourmet, huh?
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