When I stumbled upon Lukas Volger’s Veggie Burger Madness blog, I knew I had met a kindred spirit.
Lukas has been making and eating veggie burgers since he was a teenager, and he’s turned this passion and experience into a wonderful recipe book called Veggie Burgers Every Which Way
What I love about Lukas’s approach is that his recipes don’t try to imitate meat, but instead, accentuate the veggies with which the burgers are made. His book comes with over thirty recipes
I spoke with Lukas last month about vegan burgers, the elusive eggless binder, topping ideas and my own quest for the ultimate veggie burger. Lukas was kind enough to share some fantastic tips on making ace veggie burgers, plus a recipe for Mushroom Barley Burgers that are out of this world.
Visit my Ultimate Veggie Burgers Blog for my full review of Lukas’s Mushroom Barley Burgers plus Lukas’ Top 3 Tips from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way.
Mushroom & Barley Burgers
Reprinted with permission from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way
Ingredients
- 1 small potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 portabella mushroom
- 12 crimini mushrooms
- 10 shitake mushrooms
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup cooked barley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Method
- Steam or boil the potato until tender. Mash with a fork.
- Trim off the stem of the portabella mushroom and scoop out the gills. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Thinly slice the crimini and shitake mushrooms
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Heat 1 Tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Cook the portabello mushrooms and dried thyme for 6 to 8 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to soften and sweat. Add the crimini and shitake. Cook for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have sweat off their moisture and it has dried up in the pan. Deglaze with the vinegar, scraping off browned bits with a wooden spoon.
- Transfer mushrooms to a food processor and coarsely grind. (Alternatively, chop the mushrooms finely by hand.) Combine the mushroom mixture with the potato, barley, salt, pepper, and mushroom mixture in a mixing bowl. Shape into 6 patties.
- In an oven-safe skillet or nonstick frying pan heat oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the burgers and brown each side, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Move the pan to the preheated oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until firm and cooked through.
Awesome, I just bought the same book a few weeks back and I've been planning on making one of the burgers for Vegan MoFo. The ones you made look really great!
This veggie burger looks amazing! I'm going to have to try a version of it out soon.
What an awesome idea for a veggie book! This recipe sounds fantastic. Also, is it bad I'm licking the space on my monitor where the picture is?
No worries about licking the monitor, but I do recommend making the burgers and licking those instead. 😉
That burger looks awesome!
Your review of this recipe compliments all of the good things that I have already heard about Lukas' book. Without even having the table of contents in front of me, I can safely say that this is the first burger that I would try. Mushrooms and barley are meant for each other, and for me. I was very skeptical that potato would suffice as the only binder, but my doubts have diminished after reading your full review.
I wanted to point out that I noticed in the instructions it says to shape into 6 patties, then at the end it notes that this makes 4 burgers.
Very eager to try these!
Sounds like a perfect burger! I love how high you've piled it. Look at all those veggies!
I've been wanting to eat some veggie burgers recently but just have not got round to putting that thought into action. You have provided me with some inspiration. I will check out Lukas blog . A site that is calling to me, esp as the burgers do not imitate meat and make the most of veg.
The mushroom burgers look good, i am intrigued with them being made with barley though as it is not an ingredient I warm to.
Made these last weekend — yum yum yum!
I got really hungry all of a sudden. Is it the same thing with everyone or is it just me??
Love this post. Love how you try to show the nutritional facts.
Gonna have to try this one for myself really soon
This is not a bad idea at all. It is the first time I actually encounter this kind of recipe in hamburger. I think I’m gonna have to try this really soon.