Vegetarian Burgers

Photo: flickr user sweetonveg

Ingredients

1 cup water

teaspoon salt

cup bulgur

2 lrgs carrots shredded

4 ounces firm tofu

1 egg white

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

3 tablespoons minced scallions

teaspoon cayenne pepper

cup plain dried bread crumbs

cup flour

2 tablespoons light ketchup (low salt/sugar)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 hamburger buns

4 Romaine lettuce leaves

4 lrgs slices tomato

or 12 slices small tomato

cup alfalfa sprouts

Preparation

In a large covered saucepan, bring the water and salt to a boil over medium heat. Add the bulghur and carrots, remove from the heat, cover and let stand until the bulghur has softened and absorbed all the liquid, about 15 minutes. Drain well.

In a large bowl, mash the tofu. Stir in the bulghur mixture, egg white, mint, scallions and cayenne, stirring well. Stir in the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of the flour, the ketchup and mustard.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Form the bulghur mixture into 4 patties about 1 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter. Dredge the patties in the remaining flour.

In a large nonstick skillet, warm the oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the patties to the skillet and saute until crusty, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a nonstick baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, or until heated through.

Serve the burgers on the hamburger buns with the lettuce, tomato and alfalfa sprouts.

NOTES : The beef hamburger is appreciated for many reasonsits nutritional attributes, however, not being among them. Vegetarian "burgers," on the other hand, rarely have the meatiness many people crave. This meat-loaf-style burger seasoned with mint and scallions manages to bridge the gap.