Quinoa Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

These were fun.  I saw a beautiful picture and recipe of a quinoa burger in another place I like to share recipes.

Love That Quinoa Burger from a blog called Eating Well... Living Thin~er

I gave it a try, but veganized the recipe.  They're lovely burgers, very flavorful, and easy to make.  I had some butternut squash left to use from the live nachos, so I sliced it up and put it on the grill next to the burgers. I heard the flour is very important to keep them together as patties.  I used some Cassava flour, mostly because I have some.  It not only made for gluten free burgers, I thought the cassava flour would be more moist than wheat flour and form a nice patty.

Quinoa Burgers ~ Vegan Style

2 cups cooked quinoa
3/4 cup Daiya cheddar cheese
1/2 cup firm tofu, crumbled
1 medium zucchini, grated and squeezed a bit to get most the liquid out, about 1 cup
     grated carrot is nice instead of zucchini also
3 teaspoons Enr-G egg replacer, whisked with 4 1/2 tablespoons filtered water
3 tablespoons all purpose flour, I used Cassava flour
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon ground stevia leaves, agave or other sweetener will work well too, this is optional
1 tablespoon tamari
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, I used ground garlic scapes I dried last summer

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, Daiya cheese, tofu, zucchini or carrots, egg replacer, flour, green onions, sweetener, if using, pepper, cumin, sea salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a grill or large frying pan and a couple teaspoons of olive oil over a medium heat.  Mixture will be slightly sticky.  I used a three ounce scoop and dropped the mixture onto the hot pan and lightly flattened to about 1/2 inch thick.  After they seared just a minute or two, I turned the pan down to medium low and let them cook slowly about eight minutes each side.

I served them with some vegan tzatziki sauce, grilled butternut squash, and a cucumber, red onion, and bell pepper salad.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup unsweetened vegan yogurt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons fresh chopped mint
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup peeled, grated cucumber, patted dry

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Seitan Gyros - I Can't Believe it's Vegan

I am so excited to share this dish.  It's a vegan Gyros pita made with an herbed seitan.  I found the recipe in the VegNews Magazine. There's a whole section of Greek vegan recipes this time including:  Spanikopita, Baklava, and this Gyros complete with a tzatziki sauce. These recipes are by Catherine Dorrell, The Messy Vegetarian Cook. I haven't made seitan from scratch in a long time.  Thought I'd give it a try.  My son, Marty used to work at a Gyros at the mall, maybe I could entice him to have dinner with us. He does have a hard time in a kitchen usually full of food finding something he thinks he'd like.

Fake meats aren't something I eat a lot of.  I did experiment more with them when I was transitioning from meat.  At the first VegFest I attended, I watched a demonstration in preparing vegan sausage, seitan, by the founder of Field Roast.  It was a good demo and I immediately went home and cooked up a good batch.  I used fresh herbs and dried cranberries and nuts, I think.  It was tasty, but it wasn't something I was really excited about.  I wasn't thrilled about the texture, it was a lot of work.  I boiled it in the crock-pot I think for a long time. I also didn't think too much gluten in our diets is a good idea. After all, Seiten isn't for the gluten intolerant.  It's largely Vital Wheat Gluten, so should probably only be eaten occasionally, in my opinion.

It started with a recipe I saw for Herbed Feta.  It looked interesting, easy, and I had some extra firm tofu in the fridge and dried herbs in the pantry.  I'd love to have another vegan cheese recipe in my kitchen.

Herbed Feta

1 16-ounce package extra-firm tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
2 cups filtered water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano

In a large saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.  Set aside to cool and then refrigerate overnight.  Drain and use in place of feta.

The longer they sit in the brine, the tastier they become. 

While I was reading the feta recipe I noticed the whole page was about the Gyro sandwich.  I did have some vital gluten around looking for a home.  I had some left over from a recent project and was wondering what to do with it.  I'll give seitan another try, it's been awhile.  I am sooo glad I did!  This turned out very flavorful and tender.  It wasn't too difficult either.  The ingredients are mixed together, dry and wet.  Then it's kneaded for 30 seconds, rolled in foil, steamed 45 minutes, then the whole roll is popped in the oven for 30 minutes.  I was very surprised at the color and texture when it opened the roll.  When it went it in, it looked kind of like bread dough.  It came out looking like a nice sausage.  I'm amazed.
 

For the Seitan:

1¼ Vital Wheat Gluten
1/3 cup soy flour
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme
¼ teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon allspice
¼ cup red wine
1/3 cup vegetable stock
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced

In a large bowl, stir together wheat gluten, soy flour, oregano, salt, thyme, cumin, pepper, and allspice.  In a blender, blend wine, vegetable stock, olive oil, onion, and garlic until smooth.  Combine liquid and dry ingredients and knead into dough for about 30 seconds, forming into a 6-inch-long roll.  Wrap the dough in foil and twist ends to seal closed.

In a steamer, steam dough for 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350º, then bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before unwrapping and cutting into paper-thin slices.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup unsweetened vegan yogurt
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons fresh chopped mint
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup peeled, grated cucumber, patted dry

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Slice Pitas in half, sprinkle some fresh lemon juice over the seitan slices, add fresh onion, tomato, lettuce, or your favorite greens.