12 Days of Cooking: Day 5 - Tofu Burgers

Now I know that not everyone that reads this blog is a vegetarian, and that's fine. I'm a vegetarian for my own reasons - reasons that I will not push on anyone, nor will I judge anyone for not being a vegetarian. Just wanted to say that first off, because I know a lot of vegetarians who are judgmental and pushy about their beliefs, which I feel makes people dislike vegetarians.

That being said....I do realize that not everyone will enjoy this recipe! It was, however, very good. I left out the mushrooms, as I think mushrooms are totally disgusting, but they probably would have been good for holding the burger patty together a little better.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
7 oz Swiss brown mushrooms, finely chopped
11 oz hard tofu
2 large garlic cloves
3 tbsp chopped basil
2 c breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 1/2 c extra bread crumbs and extra olive oil for shallow-frying

Heat oil in frying pan and cook onions over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes (or not. because they're gross.). Cool slightly. Blend 9 oz of the tofu with the garlic and basil in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the onion mixture, breadcrumbs, egg, vinegar and sweet chilli sauce. Grate the remaining tofu and fold through the mixture, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Divide the mixture into 6 parts and form into patties, pressing together well. Coat them in the extra breadcrumbs. Heat 1 cm of oil in a deep frying pan and cook the patties in two batches for 4-5 minutes each side, or until golden. Turn carefully to prevent them from breaking up. Drain on crumpled paper towels and season with salt. Serve on bread rolls (toasted!) and with any extra toppings you'd like (we used a salad mixture, tomatoes, and a little cheese).

This was a great, pretty simple and quick meal - and it was good for leftovers the next day! We had sweet potato fries with ours, and molasses cookies for dessert - it was a great meal!

Last night we helped my parents set up their Christmas tree - it was really nice, since our apartment is way too small to fit a tree.