Vegetarian cheeseburger, creamy olive sauce

Finally a veggie burger recipe that is worth trying!! I am really picky with vegetarian patties… this one is a winner in my opinion... a crispy exterior with a soft and tasty interior. The base is mushrooms and black beans. The highlight for me is the olive sauce… it really enhances the taste of the patty, a perfect marriage!!

Servings: 4 burgers

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 45 minutes

Ingredients :

• 225 g white or brown mushrooms
• 1 small onion or two shallots, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• Cinnamon tip
• Zest of a lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• Slices of provolone cheese, optional
• 4 hamburger buns, your choice, toasted
• Ketchup, to serve
• Kimchi, to serve

Sauce:

• 1 cup green olives, pitted
• ⅓ cup Greek yogurt 0 or 2%
• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Steps:

1. Add the sauce ingredients to a small food processor. Blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water. Set aside.
2. Add mushrooms and onion to a food processor. Pulse until mushrooms are reduced to small pieces.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the mushroom mixture and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. You want to extract most of the moisture from the mushrooms and cook the onions. Add the black beans, season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, add the mushroom mixture, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice. Mash all the ingredients together using a potato masher - you want the beans to be mostly pureed and evenly mixed with the mixture. Form into 4 large or 6 small patties using your hands.
5. Preheat oven to 375F. Form the patties with your hands and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes and turn them on the other side to bake an additional 12 minutes, depending on the size. For the last few minutes of cooking, add the cheese slices on top. Return to the oven and set to broil to melt the cheese.
6. Toast the burger buns in the broiler or toaster oven. Assemble the burger by adding a little sauce on the bottom bun, the veggie patty, a little ketchup, kimchi, and more sauce on the other bun. So good.