LBD Burger- vegan,wheat free

Everyone needs a good veggie burger recipe!

"Not another veggie burger!" I hear you cry- Erm, yes it is, but don't click off here yet because this one's really different. Savoury but neutral and able to hold its shape even when oven- cooked, it's the lbd of veggie burgers; you can take it anywhere. It can be dressed up or down according to the occasion and everyone should have it in their culinary wardrobe. If you only have one type of veggie burger in your repertoire then make it this one. But don't be deceived by this burger's apparent simplicity- it's actually packed full of super-nutritious ingredients. We decided to make a burger with the complete spectrum of amino acids, so we included grains (brown rice), seeds (chia and hemp, which contain the full range anyway), nuts (walnuts) and pulses (red kidney beans). Plus there's some veggies in there as well. This recipe made us 11 burgers, so although it takes a little longer to make the mix than with our usual recipe, you can freeze some- once you've shaped them- for another day. So read on, and meet our new best burger friend...

1 cup (250ml) brown rice (dry weight)
100g walnuts, ground
50g hemp seeds, shells and all, ground
50g chia seeds, ground
150g cooked red kidney beans
275g grated veggies (we used peppers and pumpkin, but sweet potato or courgette would also work well)
2 tabs tomato puree
2 tabs soy sauce (use tamari if you want to make this recipe gluten free)
1 tab paprika
1 tab dried mixed herbs
1 1/2 tsps seasalt
1/2 tsp black pepper

• Cook the rice in twice the amount of water, until it is very soft and all the water is absorbed. (Tip: use a pressure cooker to speed things up.)
• While the rice is cooking, you can grind the nuts and seeds and grate the veggies.
• Mash or process the red kidney beans until smooth.
• Add the cooked rice to the veggies, nuts and seeds and mix well. Add half of this mixture to the beans and process until smooth.
• Mix the processed mixture back in with the whole rice mixture and add the tomato puree, soy sauce, paprika, herbs, salt and pepper. You might need to use your hands for this to make sure it all blends in evenly.
• Shape and bake on an oiled tray at 200C. The bottom cooks as well as the top so no need to flip.
• Serve however you like; with veg, gravy and potatoes, in a bun with relish,' slaw and salad etc. Miso and hing might also be tasty additions/ variations to the burger mix.