Homemade Veggie Burgers

Store-bought veggie burgers can be delicious. They can also be disgusting. No matter what they taste like, everyone agrees that they are expensive. Sometimes being meatless can be tough on your wallet. If you move towards manufacturing your own food, rather than buying the boxed kind, it will save you money and you will have fun (seriously, this is fun!).

I've tweaked this recipe so many times I can hardly remember what it was like in its original form. Be that as it may, these are easy and yummy and full of nutrition. I use black beans, they're my all time favorite, but any beans are really okay here. You will need:

1 onion diced (make the pieces as small as you can)
2 cloves garlic, also diced
1 c black beans (canned or cooked)
1 carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, also shredded
1/5 package tofu, crumbled (slice about an inch off the block)
2 tbs vital wheat gluten (if you don't have gluten lying around, just use whole wheat flour)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp ketchup
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp veganaise

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Throw all of your ingredients into a medium mixing bowl.

Feel free to play with your veggie here- I've added corn, cilantro, basil, oregano, zucchini, and spinach, all with great results.

The mix should be wet, but not too wet. It actually feels a lot like hamburger (but it isn't, so it's cool). Press it into patties with your hands (kids are great for this, if you've got them) and arrange them onto a baking sheet. I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets, I find that things are less likely to stick to my baking sheet this way.

Bake them for about 20 minutes.

Allow them to cool for 5 or so minutes before removing from pan- if they're too hot, they will fall apart on your spatula. You can wrap in lettuce, tortilla, or serve on bread with whatever fixings you want. Eat up- these are yummtastic!!!!