Meatless Mondays just got a flavour boost with the new cookbook, Everyday Flexitarian, Recipes for Vegetarians and Meat-Lovers (Whitecap $29.95) by Nettie Cronish and Pat Crocker. The concept is genius and on trend for today's dining habits: take one dish and prepare it two ways to suit most every palate at the table. Cronish focuses on the vegetarian versions while Crocker adds a protein (or protein choices) for those that want it.
The book is meant to provide choice for families. In Cronish’s own family, she is the lone vegetarian who cooks for omnivores. The ladies espouse the concept of buying good quality meat that’s organic and sustainably raised and farmed, which is why they partnered with Ontario’s own Beretta Farms in the making of this cookbook. The result is a book filled with versatile, delicious recipes from apps to desserts that are special enough to serve to guests at any dinner party.
Here’s one of the author’s spring time favourites- enjoy it your way!
Mushroom Buckwheat Burgers with Cashew Butter Recipe and Notes from Everyday Flexitarian by Nettie Cronish and Pat Crocker
Nettie Cronish writes, “Coating the kasha grain with egg and toasting it before simmering allows it to retain its distinct texture. These burgers are delicious served open-faced on dark rye bread. Toasted sesame oil is added to the burger mixture for its flavour; you can also use it in place of the olive oil to cook the onions, mushrooms, and other vegetables.”
Bacon-Wrapped Mushroom Buckwheat Burgers with Cashew Butter
For the protein version, Pat Crocker says, “Wrapping these vegetarian burgers with crisp bacon gives them an authentic diner look and taste without introducing ground meat to the recipe. Because the ingredients in the mushroom burgers are already cooked, the bacon should be cooked too. Do not preheat the pan when cooking bacon, as adding bacon to a hot grill or pan can cause the bacon to stick and curl more than necessary. Cook over medium to medium-high heat to allow the fat to melt and the meat to brown and crisp. Bacon fat will spit and burn in a pan over high heat.”
Makes: 6 burgers (3-inch/8 cm patties)
4 veggie + 2 bacon burgers (if using bacon)
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1½ cups (375 mL) kasha (buckwheat groats)
- 2 cups (500 mL) boiling water
- 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
- ? tsp (0.5 mL) freshly ground pepper
- 1½ cups (375 mL) diced sweet potatoes (½-inch/1 cm dice)
- 3 Tbsp (45 mL) olive oil, divided
- 1 cup (250 mL) diced onion
- 1 cup (250 mL) thinly sliced button mushrooms
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, shredded
- ¼ cup (60 mL) cashew butter or almond butter
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh basil or parsley
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) tamari or soy sauce
- 2 slices side bacon or turkey bacon
Method:
- Rimmed baking sheet, lightly oiled
- Lightly beat egg in a bowl. Add kasha and stir until well coated. Heat a dry, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add egg-coated kasha and toast, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the grains begin to separate, darken, and give off a toasted aroma.
- Add boiling water, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes or until ready to add to the potatoes.
- Steam sweet potatoes in a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until soft when pierced with the tip of a knife. Discard water from the pot and rinse the sweet potatoes under cool water to stop the cooking. Return potatoes to the pot and mash using a potato masher. Set aside.
- Heat 2 Tbsp (30 mL) of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Add remaining 1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil, celery, and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
- Add cooked kasha to the mashed sweet potatoes in the pot. Add sautéed vegetables, nut butter, basil, sesame oil, and tamari. When cool enough to handle, use your hands to form patties and place on prepared baking sheet. To yield 6 large patties of equal size (3-inch/8 cm patties about 1 inch/2.5 cm thick), use a 1-cup (250 mL) dry measure to lightly scoop the mixture.
- For each patty, slightly under-fill the cup (loosely packed), and then press the mixture into a solid patty and place on prepared baking sheet. (Burgers may be made ahead to this point, tightly covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before baking.)
- Preheat the oven to Broil (500°F/260°C) and move oven rack to top position.
- Arrange bacon slices on an unheated grill pan or skillet in one layer, without touching. Cook, turning once or twice, over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until bacon is browned and crisp. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain.
- Wrap 2 burgers each with one slice of cooked bacon. Brown burgers on baking sheet, under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned.
Flavour Profile
Toasting the kasha (buckwheat) brings out more of the nutty flavour of the grain. When combined with the earthiness of the mushrooms, the sweet flavour and dense texture of the sweet potatoes, the smoky-toasted nuttiness of the sesame oil, and the rich, oakbrewed salty taste of the tamari, the result is something complex, rich, and deeply satisfying.
Cynthia’ s Comments (Cynthia Beretta of Beretta Farms)
Bacon is one of my favourite meat items. It adds that extra WOW of flavour to any dish such as the one here; it’s great for breakfast; and it’s wonderful in simple pasta dishes and in vegetable dishes such as with kale. I use our Beretta Bacon a lot when I cook—bacon is simply amazing.
Toasting Kasha Instructions and Notes
Kasha (buckwheat groats) is one of the quickest-cooking whole grains—15 minutes tops versus over an hour for spelt and wheat berries. If left too long in simmering water, though, kasha will become soft and mushy. One way to keep the individual grains intact during cooking is to toast them first.
1. For each 1½ cups (375 mL) uncooked kasha, beat 1 large egg in a bowl using a fork. Add the kasha and whisk to coat each grain with egg.
2. Heat a dry, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add egg-coated kasha to the hot pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and toast, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes until the grains begin to separate, darken slightly, and give off a toasted aroma. Once the egg and grains are in the hot pan, be sure to turn the heat down to medium or low. Stir using a fork to scrape up the excess egg bits that congeal on the bottom of the pan. If you are using a heavy-bottomed pan, the heat should toast the grains in about 3 minutes.
3. The grains should not stick to the bottom of the pan if the heat is low enough. Keep stirring until the individual grains start to pop on the bottom of the pan when the fork clears a path. The grains should be lightly browned but not smoking or dark brown. Toasting kasha using this technique seals the outside of the grain and prevents it from absorbing too much liquid and becoming mushy. As a result, you will need less liquid to cook toasted kasha: 2 cups (500 mL) boiling water for every 1½ cups (375 mL) egg-toasted kasha.
Turkey Bacon
Look closely at the bacon cooking on the grill in the photo. Those white streaks aren’t fat, they’re white turkey meat, which is one of the main reasons for choosing turkey bacon over pork bacon—it’s low in saturated fat. Look for brands that are nitrate free. Cook turkey bacon as you would pork bacon: on a grill pan or in a skillet over medium-high heat, turning once or twice. You will notice that there will be no excess fat accumulating in the pan or on the grill. Turkey bacon will brown as pork bacon does, but will not shrivel or become quite as crisp as pork bacon.
Sources:
- Everyday Flexitarian, Recipes for Vegetarians and Meat-Lovers (Whitecap $29.95) by Nettie Cronish and Pat Crocker.
Mary Luz Mejia - Colombian-born and Canadian raised. After earning an honours History degree from Queen's University and a Journalism post-grad diploma ...
