In the kitchen at Fernwood | Fernwood Nursery & Gardens

These are our favorite veggie burgers. Believe it or not, everyone in our household loves them. The thing about veggie burgers, is that right off the bat, you shouldn’t compare them to the standard meat burger. A big juicy cheeseburger with all the fixings will probably trump a veggie burger anyday. They’re two different beasts altogether, as my friend Elmin would say when comparing two very different things. So let veggie burgers stand on their own and let them be what they are……some assembly of beans, rice, or oats, with all kinds of other things mixed in. A yummy concoction that shouldn’t have to sidle up to anything else and be compared. I’ll tell you what we put in ours. Personally, I think it’s the ample amount of freshly chopped cilantro, garlic, and walnuts that tip them over to being our favorite veggie burger….. along with the lime dressing we drizzle over them just before we eat them. Also, these freeze really well, and they’re flat enough to fit in our bulging freezer. That’s a plus.

fresh cilantro from our gardens

Veggie Burgers

2 cups of cooked pinto beans
2 cups of cooked coarse bulgar
1 onion sauted
2 TBLS. tamari
mix all these together while still warm.
In a food processor pulse :
3/4 cups walnuts
3-4 large heads of garlic
1 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
1/2 chopped onion
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Once I have pulsed these ingredients, I add the bean/bulgar mixture and pulse again. Then form patties and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Chill or freeze. I sometimes dredge them in a bit of flour if they are ever on the wet side.
For the Lime Mayonnaise:
1/2 tsp. grated lime zest
1 tep. lime juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
stir these ingredients together.
When cooking these patties, brush them with a bit of olive oil and cook on a medium heat, turning at least once.
With homemade rolls and topped with some lettuce and a slice of tomato, they’re pretty delicious. Enjoy!

We were glad to hear the rain last night. Of course, we knew it was coming and spent a bit of the afternoon getting some things into the vegetable gardens that we knew the rain would help. Onions, potatoes, beans, more spinach and greens, the rest of the broccoli and cabbage. Noah, along with his friend Brandon, planted the hoop house with tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. This morning we woke to continued rain and this allowed us some indoor time. No sense rushing out ( whew!). So what do we do when we’re limited to what we can accomplish outdoors? There are always plant labels to print. We catch up on email correspondence. We work in the greenhouse. We make food…….hoping to stock the fridge with good meals for the week, when the rain isn’t blessing the plants with a good watering and us with a break from the action outdoors. Chicken from the freezer is cooked. Fresh greens are brought in. Beans are soaked. The food we grow continuing to sustain us throughout the year.