Beet Burgers

I spent my early childhood growing up in California about an hour away from the coast. I remember a large backyard with a garden, a playhouse and chickens. I don't remember a lot of details but I do recall my mother canned beets, pickled beets and they were delicious.

These days I buy my beets from the local farmers market. Normally I roast them, but after seeing this recipe from the "Green Kitchen Stories" blog I just had to try them. I added sweet and smokey paprika to the recipe but otherwise kept everything else the same. I served the beet burgers on top of mixed baby greens topped with a light sprinkle of feta cheese. Hands down these are the best veggie burgers that I have had.

Ingredients:

3 cups grated raw beetroots (about 4-5)
1.5 cups rolled oats
1 small onion
7 oz feta cheese or firm tofu
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large eggs
1 handfull of fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

To prepare:

Peel and grate beets, onion and garlic with a box grater or food processor. Place grated vegetables in large mixing bowl. Add olive oil, eggs and rolled oats and mix well. Add feta or tofu, basil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside so oats can soak up the liquid and the mixture sets. (this step will help the patties to hold together).

Form into patties. If mixture looks to wet and is hard to shape into patties add more oats to it. Fry them in olive oil or coconut oil until golden on both sides. The original recipe is served on a grilled sourdough bun. Here I served patties topped with feta cheese on a mixed bed of lettuce. Delicious!