No Meat. No Wheat. No Dairy. No problem.
Last week, we were invited to cook in the kitchen with Amanda from Everyday Allergen Free. Her and I are coworkers, and on many occasions, I've seen her allergies take priority when attending social gatherings. Amanda has anaphylactic allergies to dairy, nuts, peanuts and all legumes, including beans, peas, lentils, and never leaves home without her Epi-Pen and at least 10 Benadryl. When Amanda invited us over to cook in her kitchen it took us a few days to dissect her allergies and play around with ingredient combinations and recipes. No allergy was going to keep us from this challenge.
Every time we thought we found the perfect alternative to nuts, it was legume based and every time we found a substitution for dairy, it included nuts. Instead of trying to adjust our own recipes to fit the allergies of Amanda, we paused and pulled inspiration from the local farmers market. As you know, I have a fascination with beets. Red beets, golden beets, candy beets. Beets. Now in season and with an endless possibility of allergy alternations, we were in awe of creating something beautiful, something that attended to Amanda's allergies, something familiar – new and bold. We aimed to create a recipe that highlighted the beets, the deep rich colour and the earthy tones devoured with each bite.
Now, do you want to know the genius behind this recipe creation? The leading factor that turned our beet vision into beet reality? Are you ready for it? The light bulb moment behind this recipe is that while menu planning Phil was craving a burger, so we made a beet burger. What can we say, we're simple folks.
This gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free vegetarian burger boasts a layered, meaty and chewy texture. It's the greedy bite you're hoping for when it comes to the ultimate veggie burger and satisfies any burger craving (as noted by Phil, and trust me, this man loves a beefy, cheese, bacon topped burger). The delicious and zingy combination of capers, and orange dressing packs this dish with all the benefits of the classic pub fare, not to mention the sesame bun, courtesy of Amanda.
Bon appetit xo
Chef | Sous Chef
Recipe Card
Beet Burger with Orange Caper Mayo
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets roughly diced
- ½ cup brown rice cooked and cooled
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- 1 tablespoon mayo
- 1 teaspoon capers chopped
- 1 teaspoon orange juice
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- No. 1 | Preheat a skillet at medium heat and add onion. Sweat for 2 minutes and add garlic. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until translucent and remove from heat.
- No. 2 | In a small food processor, add rice, chopped beets, and cooked onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and pulse until the combined and mixture resembles ground beef. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Place in a bowl.
- No. 3 | Add egg and mix until well combined. If the mixture is wet, add rice flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Form into burger size patties.
- No. 4 | Re-heat skillet to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Gently place patties and cook until slightly darkened, about 7 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for same amount of time.
- No. 5 | While burgers are cooking, in a small bowl add mayo, orange juice, zest, and capers. Mix to combine and taste. Season if necessary.
- No. 6 | Place burger on a bun of your choice and top with lettuce, cucumber and orange mayo.
Lauren says
A lot more filling than I expected. The hint of orange pairs nicely with the beets! Great vegetarian burger option.