I can't believe our meat free month is almost over! To get some inspiration for the last few days I've been thinking about what veggie food has impressed me over the years. I remembered one of my favourite street-food stalls - The Veggie Table. Treating myself to one of their amazing burgers was always the highlight of my week when I worked near one of their stalls.
I don't get chance to visit their stalls much at the moment so, inspired by their Heavenly Haloumi burger, I decided to try my hand at creating my own veggie burger to knock the socks off those unspiring, cardboard-like 'fake-meat' ones.
I used the following ingredients:
250g (1 block) of halloumi cheese, grated
250g of grated veg - mostly carrot and a little onion
3 mini-scones (sorry this is a bit random, they needed using up - bread would also work!)
Fresh corriander and parsley
Some lemon zest
25g of couscous (pre-cooked weight)
1 egg, beaten
Here's how to make the burgers:
1. Prepare the couscous as per packet instructions and set to one side.
2. Put the bread or scones, herbs and lemon zest in a chopper attachment for a stick blender (or similar device) and whizz until they form a bread-crumby type mixture.
3. Mix everything together and form into patties - get your hands right in there and squish everthing well to get them to bind together.
4. Brush with oil and cook in a lightly oiled frying pan. Don't move them about too much as you're cooking them or they might fall apart. Mine held together pretty well, better than I thought they might, but I'm not sure they would survive a barbeque grill!
The verdict? I was actually pretty impressed with my creation. Don't get me wrong, they weren't as heavenly as the original Heavenly Haloumi burgers (you have to try one of these if you visit Borough or Broadway Markets - they're sooo good). But I'll definitely be making these again. I've a feeling I'll be perfecting this recipe and creating new versions with other veg, herbs and spices for many years to come.
I dolloped some very tasty Bengali Tomato Chutney, from Tiger-tail Chutney, on my burger today. A new discovery in my local shop. Possibly the most delicious chutney I've ever had, and made only a few hundred meters from my home. If this is what London's local food revolution tastes like, bring it on!
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