~Flexitarianism~

Flex-a-who? Flexitarianism: being a part time Vegitarian. We made a decision to try to go meatless one night a week about 2 years ago. We haven't been successful in doing it consistently but we do it at least twice a month. The benefits of doing it are 1. Our health: science backs up that diets with less meat are associated with a reduced risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. 2. The cost...meat can be a pricey part of your food budget. 3. To introduce our whole family into the idea that a meal does not have to be meat + 2 veggies.
One thing about it is that it you can't just replace meat with crap food...the point would be to eat healthier options. So I've been on the watch for recipes that sound like something we would eat. Since I do burger night one night a week I've been on the lookout for a good veggie burger for quite some time now. Well I found one. It came from the January issue of Today's Parent and the minute I saw it I knew I wanted to try it! Its called the 5 Veggie Burger. We had it last night and WOW was it ever good. Randy went back for seconds even! The only one that didn't really care for it was Ethan and I think he was having an off night because it has all his favorite things in it. It was so good that I made extras and froze them...hope they freeze well!
They were a bit finicky to make since you had to grate all the veggies but once that step is done its minutes to the table! They are not GF/CF however you could easily adapt the recipe to make them so. I thought that since we enjoyed them so much that I would share the recipe here! So here it is:
5 Veggie Burger
1 large sweet potato (make sure you get SWEET potato, not a yam)
2 tsp butter
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic (next time I am adding more)
2 cups frozen green peas, cooked and drained
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (1 small)
1 1/4 cups grated carrots (2 medium)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 to 2 cups, dry, whole grain bread crumbs
2 tbsp. olive oil
Peel sweet potato, halve and cook in boling water until just tender, but still firm, about 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes, then grate. You will need 1 1/2 cups.
In a small skillet, warm the butter over low heat. Add the green onions and garlic, and cook till tender, about 2 mins.
Ina large bowl, mash peas. Add the green onion mixture, grated sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, eggs, salt and 1 cup of the bread crumbs. Combine well (your hands may be the best tools here!). Add more bread crumbs if the mixture is too wet.
Shape mixture into patties and lightly coat with remaining bread crumbs. You can make large 3 1/2 inch patties for adults and/or 2 inch patties for children.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the patties and cook till lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes each side. Serve on whole grain buns with preferred toppings.
Makes 8 3 1/2 in patties or 24 2 in patties.
Adult burger: 209 calories, 7g protein, 7g fat, 30g carbs, 6g dietary fibre,75mg calcium,2mg iron, 56 mcg folate.
Child Burger: 70 calories, 2g protein, 2 g fat,10g carbs, 2g dietary fibre, 25mcg calcium, 1mg iron, 19mcg folate.
Recipe credits: Todays Parent magazine, pg 57 January 2012 edition. Sweet Potato Chronicles.

Here is a pic of ours that I made last night...it doesn't do them justice! They really were very, very good. I did make the recipe exactly to the letter so the next time I will make some changes. Mainly just more garlic and add some pepper. I had mine on a whole wheat bun with a bit of mayo, lettuce and tomato, Randy added BBQ sauce to his but had the same. On the second batch I made I let them cook a bit longer and brown a bit more..they looked even better. The real trick is the sweet potato, you need to make sure you get sweet potato and not just a yam. Anyhow must run, hope you all give it a shot...let me know if you like it!
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