Daily Beet Burger
Why the Daily Beet Burger Should be on Your Menu
Whether you are craving a burger or looking for a new hearty main ingredient for your recipes, the Daily Beet Burger recipe is a versatile base to create numerous meals!
Lettuce Turnip the Beets!
You can choose either golden or red beets for this recipe and feel confident because beets are highly nutritious and loaded with health-promoting properties. They can support the health of your brain, heart, and digestive system, be a great addition to a balanced diet, boost athletic performance, help alleviate inflammation, and possibly slow the growth of cancer cells.
Beets boast an impressive nutritional profile. They’re low in calories yet high in valuable vitamins and minerals. In fact, they contain a bit of almost all of the vitamins and minerals your body needs.
Beets are particularly rich in folate, a vitamin that plays a key role in growth, development, and heart health. They also contain a good amount of manganese, which is involved in bone formation, nutrient metabolism, brain function, and more. Plus, they’re high in copper, an important mineral required for energy production and the synthesis of certain neurotransmitters.
Shopping and Storage Tips
Choose beets that are small and firm with deep maroon coloring, unblemished skin, and bright green leaves with no sign of wilting. The taproot (the thin, pointy tip of the root) should still be attached. Avoid larger beets which have a hairy taproot. All those tiny roots are an indication of toughness.
To prepare beets for storage, begin by trimming off the greens about two inches above the root. If left on, the greens will continue to draw moisture out of the roots. Also, the greens will spoil much fast than the beets themselves. And if you trim the stems too close to the root, they will tend to "bleed," meaning they will leak dark purple juice, which can get messy.
Beets will dry out if they're not kept in a humid environment, which is exactly what the crisper drawer of your refrigerator is designed to create. The humidity comes from the vegetables themselves, which are constantly losing moisture through evaporation.
The Daily Beet Burger
Ingredients:
- 3 medium beets, peeled (use golden beets for a golden burger or a combo of golden and red beets for a more burger-like hue)
- 1/2 cup cooked red or black quinoa
- 1/2 cup cooked brown or red rice
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp savory (or thyme)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to Bake at 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roast the beets for 30 minutes on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Remove from oven and allow beets to cool.
- After the beets have cooled, preheat the oven to Bake at 425°F.
- Using a box grater, coarsely grate the beets into a mixing bowl.
- Add the quinoa, rice, and tamari to the beets.
- In a separate bowl, combine the garbanzo bean flour, garlic powder, dry mustard, savory (or thyme), and black pepper.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until evenly mixed.
- Form patties with your hands—about 3½ inches in diameter.
- Sear the patties on both sides in a hot nonstick pan, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. If you use a grill pan, this will be long enough to get grill stripes on each side!
- Place the seared burgers on the lined sheet pan and bake: 10 minutes for thin burgers, 20 minutes for thicker burgers, or until firm.
- Serve with your favorite burger toppings. These pair exceptionally well with Dijon mustard.
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