health

It’s that time of year again peeps, Thanksgiving! It’s crazy to think that this time, a year ago, I married my amazing husband, Vikram. The time has flown by, and in just a couple week’s were expecting our first baby – Eeeeek! It’s been a busy year to say the least.

Regardless of the fact that I got married on Thanksgiving, it’s actually always been one of my favourite times of year. I love the cool fall weather, the fall fashion, and most importantly, the food! Food around Thanksgiving is some of my favourite. I don’t know if you can tell, but i’m really food-motivated…

Pumpkin pie. Mashed potatoes. Gravy. Butternut squash. Mmmmmm.

But one of the biggest challenges I face at any family holiday or get together is what to eat. The rest of my family are meat eaters which means I can almost never eat the same food as them. And honestly, that’s totally fine by me. I personally love making my own food and bringing it with me. I’m also a little bit picky about what goes into my food, so being in control of that works really well for me.

The first Thanksgiving I was vegan, I made a full on 4 course meal for me and my husband and brought it with us to my grandmothers house. We had walnut meat balls, stuffed acorn squash with quinoa and veggies, vegan gravy, and our own vegan, gf pumpkin pie. It was magnificent. This year, however, I will be just short of 2 weeks to my due date, and in no shape to be making some elaborate meal, with tons of different moving pieces. I just want to be able to make one dish, that has all the best bits of Thanksgiving in a simple, easy to manage package. I have been brainstorming what I will be bringing for a few weeks now, and I’m so excited to share with you what I’ve come up with:

The Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Burger

Now I thought about adding a vegan, gf stuffing on top of this (which you totally could). But in an effort to keep things a little more simple, and easier to manage for my pregnant self, I figured I wouldn’t.

This recipe, is seriously amazing and includes all the best flavours of Thanksgiving in an easy to manage burger. The patty is spiced with rosemary and thyme (both super Thanksgiving-ey flavours). The cauliflower mash is so simple to make, and is as creamy and delicious as it’s high carb, high Glycemic Index counterpart, the mashed potato. And this gravy. Oh. Em. Gee. My biggest pet peeve about most vegan gravy recipes is that they call for vegetable broth. And I almost never have vegetable broth on hand. This mushroom gravy recipe my friends, calls for NO vegetable broth. Just some simple ingredients that you probably have in your house right now.

Then, there are the fried onions. In my humble opinion, the fried onions on top kinda make the burger. They are crispy, and delicious, and use only 4 ingredients.

I also had every intention of making these into little sliders and putting on a sweet potato bun (which again, you could), but after trying them bun-less I decided against it. Also, putting these between two sweet potato bun’s would make for an extremely messy burger. This delicious meal is finished off with some butternut squash fries on the side as a special fall treat! It’s so exciting to use butternut squash in new, creative ways like fries!

Who have I become that using butternut squash in new ways is legitimately exciting? I must be getting older…

So here it is: The Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Burger! If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think in the comments section below! And don’t forget to take a picture, and tag me on Instagram and Facebook!

Print Recipe

The Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Burger

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

burgers

Ingredients

Lentil Walnut Burgers

• 1/2 cup lentils (dry)
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup finely chopped wanuts
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup finely chopped kale
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp chia or flax seeds + 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts or almond flour

Cauliflower Mash

• 1 medium head of cauliflower broken into florets
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Mushroom Gravy

• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups mushrooms sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
• 1-2 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Fried Onions

• 1 medium/large onion
• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1/4 cup chickpea flour

Butternut Squash Fries

• 1 medium/small butternut squash
• 1-2 tbsp tbsp olive oil/avocado oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Cook Time 1 hour Servings burgers Ingredients Lentil Walnut Burgers 1/2 cup lentils (dry) 2 cups water 1 cup finely chopped wanuts 2 tsp olive oil 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms 3 garlic cloves minced 1 cup finely chopped kale 1/4 tsp dried rosemary 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp dried oregano 2 tbsp chia or flax seeds + 3 tbsp water 1/2 cup ground walnuts or almond flour Cauliflower Mash 1 medium head of cauliflower broken into florets 3 garlic cloves minced 1/4 cup olive oil salt & pepper to taste Mushroom Gravy 1 medium onion finely chopped 2 garlic cloves minced 2 cups mushrooms sliced 1 cup water 2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos 1-2 tbsp arrowroot starch 1 tbsp nutritional yeast Fried Onions 1 medium/large onion 1/4 cup avocado oil 1 tbsp arrowroot starch 1/4 cup chickpea flour Butternut Squash Fries 1 medium/small butternut squash 1-2 tbsp tbsp olive oil/avocado oil salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Lentil Walnut Patty

1. Place 1/2 cup of lentils in a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil on high, and let simmer uncovered on medium heat until all the water is gone, and lentils are a nice soft texture.
2. Place your finely chopped walnuts on a baking sheet, and put in the oven at 350 for about 7-10 minutes or until toasty brown. Take out and let sit.
3. Place mushrooms, and garlic in a frying pan with 1-2 tsp olive oil and saute until mushrooms are soft. Add in the spinach or kale, walnuts, and herbs. Saute for another 5-7 minutes until all the flavour have meshed together.
4. Place the saute mixture, lentils, ground walnuts (or almond flour), and chia seed/flax seed paste in a food processor with salt and pepper. Pulse on high until a thick mixture has been created. You don't want this to be too pureed, and some chunks are good! Taste, and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.
5. Form into patties, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in the oven at 350 for 10-12 minutes per side. Flip once. PRO TIP: Set these aside until you put the butternut squash fries in at the end. Their total cooking time is about the same!

Cauliflower Mash

1. Place cauliflower florets in a pot filled with water and bring to a boil. Let the cauliflower stay in the boiling water until they are tender and can be easily poked with a fork. Strain.
2. While the cauliflower is boiling, saute garlic in olive oil. The garlic is done once it is a nice, golden brown.
3. Place the cauliflower, along with the garlic and oil into a food processor with salt and pepper. Add salt sparingly to start. Process on high until the cauliflower resembles mashed potato. Taste and add salt, pepper and additional olive oil to your liking.

Mushroom Gravy

1. Saute onions, garlic, and 1/4 cup of the mushrooms in a pot over medium heat in olive oil. Once the onions are translucent, add in 1 cup of water. Let simmer.
2. Place this mixture, along with tamari, 1 tbsp arrowroot starch and nutritional yeast in a blender. Blend on high for about 30 seconds. Place back into the pot, and add the rest of the mushrooms. Let simmer on low, whisking throughout.

Fried Onions

1. Peel and cut your onion in half so that the rings of the onion are cut in half. Thinly slice the onion halves.
2. Place in a mixing bowl with oil, arrowroot starch and chickpea flour. Mix well.
3. In a frying pan, place approx 1/4 cup of avocado or coconut oil over medium/high heat. After about 5 mintues of letting it heat up, put the onions in. Continue frying until the onions have achieved a golden brown colour. Depending on the kind of pan you are using, you will want to stir them around a little!
4. Once they are done, place them on a plate with a paper towel on top to soak up some of the oil. Serve on the top of your burger!

Butternut Squash Fries

1. Peel and chop your butternut squash into french fry-esque shapes.
2. Place in a mixing bowl with oil, salt and pepper.
3. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and let bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350, flipping once. PRO TIP: If you are baking these at the same time as the burgers, place the fries on the bottom rack. This will help them crisp up more quickly.

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