No meat needed in these burgers...

If you have browsed through the main and side dish recipe section to the left, you'll see that we make our fair share of recipes involving some sort of meat-based protein. However, we do like to take breaks from it as it tends to help with the budget and challenges us to keep trying new combinations of ingredients.

Since we just used a pound of beef to make those meatballs the other night, we opted to take a typical meat-filled burger in a different direction and prepared these Veggie Burgers with Tahini Mayonnaise instead.

Rather than topping these with sauce based from ketchup or mustard, we topped these with a creamy tahini mayonnaise. Just a few simple ingredients, fresh lemon juice and tahini (sesame-seed paste), are stirred into mayonnaise to freshen up the sauce and add a nutty depth.

The firm burgers we made tonight are a combination of mashed pinto beans, tender bulgur wheat, panko breadcrumbs, mild green onions, an egg to help bind, coarsely grated carrots, additional tahini to tie in with the sauce and a dash of cayenne for a devilish fire. This mixture is fairly wet, but still held together well - use wet hands when you are forming them to quell any issues of sticking. Cooking these in just a couple tablespoons worth of canola oil will allow the patties to achieve a rich golden crust - they are thoroughly cooked when they are firm to the touch. So the flavor can shine in these moist burgers, we opted to serve them inside thin toasted English muffins with some crisp romaine lettuce leaves and the tangy sauce rather than a thick, bread-y bun.

Recipes
Veggie Burgers with Tahini Mayonnaise