Monday, September 9, 2013

Spinach Veggie Burger (Or the Most Delicious Eggs Benedict Base!)

Ingredients:
-1 Cup Spinach, rough chop
-1 Egg whipped with 1/4 C milk (start with half to two thirds of this mixture, then add more as needed, discussed later)
-1/4 C cooked quinoa (I like tri-color, it's more festive)
-1/4 C Dry Blend (I use equal parts AP Flour, corn flour, and panko.  I LOVE the corn flour in this, I highly suggest not subbing that) plus more for sprinkling (works great as a frying breading so having more on hand is not a bad thing)
-2 TB garlic cheese topper (McCormick makes one in standard groceries, I like Shipshewana that I find at festivals)
-Salt and pepper
-Optional ingredients like feta or roasted peppers to add in

This is super simple and you just want to mix it all together and form a patty.  You may need to add a little extra dry ingredients or spinach to get it to hold just right, so adjust accordingly.  I mixed mine with a spoon and was satisfied when I could scoop it in toward the center and form a mound that did not move.
Anyway, get a skillet hot and melt a TB or so of butter in it (or oil of choice). Sprinkle a little of the dry mix on top of the patty and plop that side down in the skillet.  Salt and pepper the top and add a dry sprinkle to it as well.

Cook it about 5 minutes and flip.  You may need to drizzle the top with a tiny bit of oil before you flip if you want it to brown (or add just a touch more butter, my preference).

Cook it another 4-5 minutes, smooshing it (technical term) with a spatula when you first flip it any maybe another time near the end.  I smoosh everything.

As is my mantra for all meat and faux meat cooking, you want to only flip this thing once.
 Now as to why I said only use half the egg mix and add more if you need to.  I made some baked onion rings so I had used some of the egg mix for that. It was actually one of my more brilliant schemes because I was able to use the egg mix and the dry blend for both dishes.

The onion rings sucked by the way.  Next time, they get fried.

Anyway, that is why I suggest using parts of the mixtures and adjusting as needed.  I obviously only had a part of a milky egg in mine. You could use full amounts, add more spinach, and get multiple patties out of it.

I shredded a little parmesan on mine...because I must just love washing my smallest grate shredder multiple times a day.

Now, as I said in the title, while I was eating this all I really wanted to do in life was poach an egg and make it into an eggs benedict.  It would have been freakishly fantastic.  I reserve that idea for next time.

This was hearty and tasty, and really did not seem at all like I was eating an entire cup of chopped up spinach leaves.  This all started when I noticed I was shedding even more than usual, so I googled superfoods for hair.  Spinach was on that list, and I had been wanting to make a veggie burger, and so here we are.

I served mine on Eurograin bread that I find in Meijer's bakery.  It is delicious.  A little mayo would have been superb on this, but I was trying not to kill the healthy.  You could consider a little ranch dip mix in Greek yogurt, however. A sauce of some sort is really rather needed for all sandwiches, in my opinion.

Happy crafting!

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