Perfect Veggie Burger Obs: VEGAN

8 burgers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• Flax eggs: 2.5 tbsp ground flax + 1/2 cup warm water, mixed in bowl
• 1 cup oats, processed into flour* (other flours might work)
• 1.5 cups bread crumbs (make your own of best bread you get ahold of)
  
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and roughly pureed or mashed
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (or fresh herb of choice)
• 1/3 cup almonds, chopped (toasted if preferred)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, (toasted if preferred)
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Tamari (soy sauce)
• 1.5 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• Fine grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp salt or a bit more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180° (if baking). In a large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in 1/2 tbsp oil. Mix your flax egg together in a small bowl and set aside for at least 10 mins while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Place all ingredients (except spices and salt) into a large mixing bowl and stir very well. Now, add seasonings and salt to taste.

3. With slightly wet hands, shape dough into patties. Pack dough tightly as this will help it stick together. I made 8 medium patties.

4. Cooking methods: You can fry the burgers in a bit of oil on a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. If baking in the oven, bake for 25-30 mins (15-17 minutes on each side) at 180°, until golden and crisp.

Raw Beetslaw

Ingredients:

• 2 medium raw beetroots, grated
• 2 apples
  
• 1 cup (2,5 dl) raw cashew nuts
• 1 small red onion
• 1 small organic lemon, juice & zest
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp pickled capers
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• sea salt and freshly grounded pepper to taste

Directions: 

Start by wash, peel and grate the raw beetroots. Add all ingredients in a food processor and process  until smooth. Taste and add some more mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper if needed. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Beetroot caviar Obs: Vegan

This brilliant puree dramatically elevates the humble beetroot. It's simple and cheap to make, too. Use as a dip with warm blinis, cubes of sourdough rye bread, or any good raw seed cracker.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 450g fresh beetroot
• 2 dl walnuts
• 8 prunes, pitted
• 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves
• 200ml cashew sour cream
• fresh dill
• Salt and black pepper
• Ruccola and pomegranate seeds to decorate
• Blinis or sourdough bread, crackers

Directions: 

1) Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Scrub the beetroot really well, then place in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish. Cover and bake for between 45 minutes and 1 hour, or until tender. Leave to cool.

2) Tip the walnuts on to a tray and toast for 5-8 minutes, or until just golden. Tip on to a plate and leave to cool.

3) Finely chop the prunes and place them in a small bowl. Soak for about 30 minutes in warm water.

4) Squeeze the juice from the lemon, add to half the walnuts and finely grind in a food processor. Crumble or finely chop the remaining walnuts.

5) When the beetroot is cool enough to handle, peel and chop roughly, then tip into the bowl of the food processor. Peel and crush the garlic. Add this to the beetroot, along with the soaked prunes, and whizz until the beetroot is very finely chopped, but not quite pureed. Scrape the beetroot into a bowl, season with salt, pepper and about 2 tbsp lemon juice, adding more to taste.

Olive Crostini

Crostini means “little toasts” in Italian and are made by slicing bread thinly, then toasting or grilling it to make it crispy. Drizzle with olive oil and salt or serve with your favorit toppings. The buckwheat gives this recipe a lighter, crispier texture.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dried buckwheat groats
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup flax ground
• 1 1/2cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped olives

Directions: 

Soak the buckwheat groats overnight and rinse thoroughly.

Put into high-speed blender, add the celery, flax meal and water. Blend until smooth and add the olives last: pulse lightly to mix into batter. Continue as on base recipe to spread on dehydrator sheet and continue as in base recipe above.

Almond Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• ½ cup almonds (optional cashews or tiger nuts) soaked overnight and rinsed
  
• ½ cup dates
• 4 cm ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 fresh chili
• 1-2 Tbsp tamari
• ½ cup water
• 1 squeeze lemon
• ½ tsp salt

Directions: 

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth and creamy. Optionally can be used to dip veggies or on a cracker.

Simple Ganache Tart Crust

Ingredients:

• 1⁄2 cup activated almonds, pecans or hazelnuts
• 3 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp lucuma (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla powder or extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil or cacao butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp water

Method:
Process all crust ingredients, except water and coconut oil, into a food processor until crumbly, but still with lots of texture.
Add coconut oil or cacao butter and water and process just to combine.

Line a springform tart tin with cling film and press the crust in, bringing it up the sides, if that is the type of base you desire. Press the crust so it’s rather compacted.
Set in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes.

Ganache

Ingredients:

• 220g cacao paste ( or 2 bars of your favourite chocolate ) 
• 1⁄2 cup nut/seed butter
• 1⁄3 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla powder or 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup warm water
  

Method:
In a blender, combine the first set of ingredients on low-med speed without the water.

With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the warm water and watch it emulsify ( because it’s fun to watch )
Pour into the crust and set in the fridge ( 4 hours ) or freezer

(1-2 hours).

Design your own ganache tart!
Starting with the crust

The nuts you use in the crust will be one way to customise your ganache tart and make it special. If you’re using nuts / nut butter in the ganache, keep the crust the same nut in order to be consistent. Avoid using oily nuts or over processing them as it’ll create an oily crust.

Using spices and/or essential oils in the crust is a nice touch as they will shine through the crust more easily than the ganache itself. Chocolate is a hard flavour to be paired against as it’s so strong. The crust is a great way to add flavour without having to add too much.

Try changing the setting agent in the crust from coconut oil to cacao butter, or even cacao paste. The cacao products will create a firmer crust and will also mean they stay more firm at room temperature than coconut oil will. The flavour of cacao butter is a lot more mellow than coconut, which a lot of people don’t care for.

Activate the nuts – it makes all the difference. If you can’t do this yourself, then buy them activated. They’re more easily digestible this way and a lot lighter in texture too.

Customising the ganache

Change the nut butter you use in the ganache and match it to the crust. Try to go outside your comfort zone here and use a nut or seed that you don’t normally use, but that you enjoy eating. Like sesame / tahini. It goes so well with chocolate, but it’s massively underrated.

Trade out the water for any other liquid, such as fruit juice, fruit puree, alcohol or nut milks. If you’re using alcohol, maybe do 25% and then 75% of another liquid, like water or fruit juice.

Have fun creating your own recipe!