Sesame Lentil Burgers

• By Ruby
• December 11, 2012
• 8 Comments

My last week!

I’m on my last week of my economics class. How exciting. I thought this week would never arrive!

Pretty soon I will have more TIME!

TIME to relax, have fun, finish reading The Hunger Games, catch the final Twilight at the theater, finally watch Dark Shadows (is it still in theaters?) Oh my, am I so far behind?!

Soon there will be time to be BORED! Maybe there will be so much time I probably won’t know what to do with it! (Laughs maniacally)

& I will have even more time to COOK and BAKE! Sweet!!

Of course then I have to search frantically for a job…

Reorganize my bedroom and closet clutter…

Do laundry, vacuum the floor, ETC!

Ummm. Not everything is fun, is it?

But making theses vegetarian lentil burgers WAS fun! Yes! I mean it really helped me de-stress and stop panicking and crying about term paper madness.

I really enjoyed forming the lentil mixture into balls, and then flattening them into cute patties. They looked so much like real meat, so much that I kept washing my hands repeatedly.

Then the food therapy came in and  healed and relaxed me as the smell of ginger, garlic and onions sizzled away on the skillet. The kitchen came to life! AND so did I!

These lentil burgers look so much like beef but they don’t quite taste like beef burgers.  They deceived me!

However they have their own special LENTIL thing going on! They have a very tasty combination of ginger, garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Beautiful flavors! It’s a really satisfying and a nice meat-free alternative VEGETARIAN burger! The sesame seeds with the lentils as always pair fantastically and give it a nice texture.

What a perfect little lunch break to fuel my brain… and charge me up for the rest of the day as I WORK WORK WORK on my economics term paper!

These sesame lentil burgers could be served as a main dish or as little appetizers. I made both mini burgers with leftover dinner rolls and regular sized burgers too. For the condiment, I just mixed some mayonnaise with a pinch of ginger powder, a drop of soy sauce, and a drizzle of honey. Then I topped it with finely shredded cabbage and slices of tomatoes. It worked really well! But I have a feeling that some teriyaki sauce would taste even better! (Which I happened to have none of)

& OMG I am seriously so far behind here posting about LENTIL BURGERS while everybody is posting about Christmas food and yummy treats.

Isn’t there still 4 weeks left ‘till Christmas?!??

Sesame Lentil Burgers

Print recipe

Yields	4-8
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Appetizers, Lunch, Main Dish, Snack

These vegetarian lentil burgers are made with ginger, garlic, onions, and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups brown lentils (dried)
• 3 cups stock (or water with a bay leaf)
• 2 cloves garlic (smashed)
• 2 tablespoons bell pepper, any kind (minced)
• 1/4 cup onion (minced)
• 1-2 tablespoon ginger (freshly grated or finely chopped)
• 1 medium slice bread
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2-1 tablespoon flour
• 3-4 tablespoons sesame seeds

Note

Slightly adapted from Meatless Monday

Directions

Step 1

Wash and rinse the lentils. Bring to boil in a pot with stock or water and a bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove lentils from heat and drain. Discard the bay leaf but keep the garlic cloves. Let cool.

Step 2

Combine the bell pepper, onion, ginger, chopped bread, sesame seeds, and salt. Add the lentils. Mix in the egg. Add the flour. Blend everything well.

Step 3

Form into 4 regular sized patties or 8 mini patties. For better results, refrigerate them in a covered container for a few hours or overnight to allow the ingredients to "marry".

Step 4

Heat some oil in a nonstick skillet. Add lentil balls and flatten them with a spatula. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side.

Step 5

Top the patties on buns or rolls with your favorite condiments and toppings.