Then, a few weeks ago, I had an idea, and this week the weather was so nice that I felt like burgers, even if I had no grill.

The idea was gluten: if you’ve ever made seitan from scratch, you know how gluten flour sticks to itself and stretches when you mix it with water.  It’s hard to shape into burgers, and wouldn’t make a very satisfying one on its own, but I thought it could be just the binder that I was looking for in my black bean quinoa burgers.

And it worked, sort of; I followed the method from the originals, and at the end, slowly worked in gluten flour until the batter got a little solidity to it.  It held together on a frying pan (the grill would be the next test), got a nice charred coating on the outside, and tasted good.  But, it was still mushy.  The next attempt might need a lot more gluten, using it as a major ingredient rather than just a binder.  But these burgers, according to Nathan, “push the little button in my head that says burger.”

And they were great with blue cheese.

So this isn’t yet the ultimate veggie burger – but I think it’s the next incarnation beyond my previous attempts.

(Apologies for the lack of pictures – I actually took some, but my camera cable got packed away somewhere, so they are stuck in my camera.  I will share next time!)

Results: not promising.

My method was to crumble the tofu very small, and mix with veggies, herbs, and some flax to hold it together.  The trick with the flax is to simmer it in a little water until it turns sticky; it makes a good egg substitute in baking, but apparently less so with tofu patties.  The patties just didn’t hold together.  I think the only way to make them stick would have been to add lots of rice or some other grain, and use a softer tofu.  Using eggs instead of flax might have worked as well – I suspect the flax works better with grains.  Though the “burgers” I made were too crumbly, I think that making them softer and wetter would make them more inclined to fall apart on a grill, though it might help in a frying pan, which is what I used.  Most of all, they were lacking the heft and substance that I look for in a cow-free burger.  I don’t think tofu is the main ingredient that I’m looking for.

Anyhow, we had tofu scramble on hamburger buns, and some braised beets that convinced me once and for all that I just don’t like beets.  I was pleased with how they came out – braised in a mixture of stock, balsalmic vinegar, and white wine, with rosemary, they were some of the tastiest I’ve had.  And I still didn’t like them – the beet undertones in the flavor just didn’t sit right with me.  I’ve been trying to work myself up to liking them, recently, with no great results.  So, I’m going to take a vacation from beets, and just settle for the fact that they’re not for me.

Next steps in the veggie burger challenge: I’m going to go back to the legumes-and-quinoa theme that I tried at first, and see where that takes me.  I have some ideas for improving on my last attempt.  I will report back with my findings.

His burger concept is based in ground seitan, with a myriad of ingredients to give flavor and texture, some of which I wouldn’t have thought of (raisins? peanut butter? surprising, but they work).  He also used egg as a binder this time, but we’re both hoping to arrive at something vegan in the end.  His burgers were very tasty, even meaty, yet still a little too moist and crumbly.  Definitely looking in the right direction.  I’m looking forward to the next iteration.

Moistness continues to be an issue for both of us.  We discussed a few possibilities for sucking out extra moisture (but not too much!), such as adding mushrooms or other absorbent foods.  I think this idea has some promise.  I’ve also half-decided that our big old grill (one of the boxy kind you usually find at campsites) has bars that are too big and too widely spaced.  I’m thinking of getting something with finer spaces to set on top, so the burgers stick less.  The moistness might be less of an issue if they don’t stick as they cook.

It’s not surprising to find that others have tried this challenge before me: the folks at Chow say they’ve made the Ultimate Veggie Burger.  Their recipe looks tasty (I haven’t tried it yet), but isn’t quite what I want.  For one thing, they use egg, which I’d like to avoid.  It is also a very complex recipe: it has half again as many ingredients as my first attempt, and takes over an hour to make, assuming you have cooked lentils and rice on hand.  Many of the ingredients, such as beets and fresh parsley, require planning to buy ahead of time, since they aren’t usually kitchen staples.  I’m also not excited about their use of zucchini, but that’s just because I don’t like them.  Most of all, I’d like something that can be thrown together in half an hour with ingredients on hand; we’ll see if it can happen!

I do like how they started with a desired ingredients list, and refined from there.  So, here’s my list of ingredients that might find their way into a good burger (but not all in the same burger):

• Tofu or black beans as a base
• mushrooms (fresh and/or dried)
• quinoa
• greens (probably spinach, finely chopped or pureed)
• banana?  (this is a theory only, but I’m curious)
• walnuts
• garlic
• onion
• herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, tarragon, cilantro
• salt and pepper
• maple syrup
• flax seeds (in place of egg)

I’ll be trying another round this week, based on this list; stay tuned!

Last but not least, here’s my spur-of-the-moment potato salad recipe from last night.  Note that I cooked the potatoes ahead of time, in the slow cooker, one night when it was very hot out, and then kept them in the fridge until I was ready to use them.  This plan worked well; cooking time is usually a limiting factor in using potatoes.

Potato Salad

• Boil potatoes until tender, then chill.  Chop into bite-sized pieces.  Stir in some chopped onion.
• Combine equal parts sour cream and mayonaise, about half a cup of each.  (I used creme fraiche, because I had it, and vegan mayo)
• Add a good spoonful of crushed garlic (the more, the better), a little salt, lots of dried dill, some good mustard, and fresh chives.  Adjust seasonings to taste.
• Pour dressing over potatoes and stir well.

Thus, I propose the Great Veggie Burger Challenge.  Every week (or so), I’ll make veggie burgers from scratch, seeking the Perfect Veggie Burger.  I’ll try different ingredients, different flavors, and different methods in the search, looking for that just-right combination.  Feel free to share your own recipes, too, or comment with your ideas; I suspect there are many satisfying variations.

A good veggie burger need not taste like a hamburger.  In fact, it’s better if it doesn’t — I was never crazy about hamburgers.  But it needs to be burger-like in the important ways.  To my mind, the criteria for a great burger are that it should be:

• substantial: hefty enough to make a good meal
• solid; holding together on its own
• moist; not dry or tough inside (but well-done on the outside)
• flavorful; we’ll be missing the meat juices, so give our taste buds something to be excited about!
• healthy (at least, relatively so); this has always been one advantage of veggie burgers over the originals
• easy; obviously making veggie burgers will take more work than shaping ground beef into patties, but it should still be simple enough for a casual meal

Bonus points if the burger is vegan.  This is an extra credit category just because eggs are so often used as binders in these sorts of things.

These burgers were a satisfying first attempt, but they need some work.  The flavor was very good: full of garlic and onion and herbs, and the quinoa gave it a hearty taste.  And they were healthy, full of protein and vegetables.  They took a little longer to prepare than I would like, but the big problem was the texture.  They were wet and doughy, and our little grill didn’t get hot enough to cook them properly.  They kept sticking to the grill, and never really turned into burgers, just patties of mush.  The mush looked weird enough that I’m not posting photos this time.  (I will in the future, I promise.)  But, it was tasty!

The problem, I think, was using flour as a binder.  The combination of flour and quinoa made them more like sticky biscuits than burgers.  Next time, I think I’ll investigate eggs (despite my fear that the result will be too wet) or flax.  I might also try using more beans compared to the quinoa, so the quinoa is more of a binder than the substance of the thing.

• First, I combined some dry quinoa, a can of black beans, vegetable stock, and salt/pepper in a pot and cooked until both the beans and the quinoa were slightly over-done.  My theory was that this sticky, starchy product would hold together better than other bean burgers I’ve had.  I was sort of right, and sort of wrong.  They held together, but stayed mushy.
• While the quinoa cooked, I sauted some very finely-chopped vidalia onion and a few cloves of garlic in olive oil.  When they were nice and soft, I added some finely-chopped mushroom, frozen spinach and dried oregano.  I continued to saute until everything was soft; my goal was to have the ingredients meld together, rather than have the separate components stand out.
• I combined the quinoa-mixture with the veggies, adjusted the seasoning, and added some maple syrup.  This sounds weird, but just a little sweetness was absolutely key to the flavor.
• Finally, I added flour until the big, wet, sticky mess was thick enough to hold together on a grill.  The consistency was close to biscuit dough.  And they did hold together, and didn’t fall through the grate, but they were soft enough that they were hard to work with.
• Served them on kaiser buns with cheddar cheese.  Ate them at a picnic table outside my apartment and watched the fireflies come out.  Yes, summer is here!