Roasted carrot and tofu burgers with sliced tomatoes and avocado just might be your answer for a better veggie burger. They’re so colorful with chopped parsley and toasted sesame seeds contributing to the orange of the main ingredient. Many people are open to trying a veggie burger and are disappointed when they try them. Either the patty tries too hard to mimic meat or it’s just a flavorless blob on a bun. That’s not the case with these guys! Say goodbye to boring veggie burgers!
The Modern Cook’s Year serves up delicious plant forward recipes
The recipe is just one of over 250 from Anna Jones’s The Modern Cook’s Year. The cookbook is organized seasonally and the carrot burgers are found in Summer.
This is a lovely book, filled with gorgeous photos, mouthwatering recipes and “flavor maps”, designed to help the home cook create from whatever ingredients are available to them at the moment. You might recognize Anna from YouTube. Or you may have caught her column on The Guardian’s website. Anna’s vegetarian recipes are easily accessible to the home cook.
The book is divided into six seasons, with more emphasis placed on the beginning of the growing season (Start of the Year, Herald of Spring, First Warm Days) when all sorts of veggies are available all at once. Then the emphasis shifts to Summer, Fall and Winter with lots of gorgeous storage veggies like squashes and cabbages. I saw many recipes I would love to try as the year marches on. The vast majority of recipes are vegetarian (eggs and cheese are used frequently) with vegan options. Most people will be satisfied with the recipes as written but for those who want more it’s a simple matter of cooking a piece of meat to serve “on the side”.
Even carnivores will love roasted carrot and tofu burgers
You won’t have to worry about pleasing the carnivores around the table when you serve roasted carrot and tofu burgers. They are complete by themselves with great color and texture plus a little crunch from the sesame seeds.
These veggie burgers call for smoked tofu which I wasn’t able to find. I made up for the lack by adding more smoky paprika and cumin to the mix. Anna Jones used rye bread crumbs, which sounds delicious to be honest, but I used the plain bread crumbs we had on hand. Nobody complained, trust me.
This is a recipe with lots of possibilities. If you have time you can roast the carrots in the oven or on the grill before forming the patties. If you’re a meal planner you could roast a couple pounds of carrots reserving 2 – 3 cups to make the burgers later in the week. They’re robust enough they can be prepared in a double batch and frozen. That way they’ll be ready on those evenings when the last thing anyone wants to do is prepare a meal from scratch.
Tips for preparing carrot burgers
In my opinion, whole carrots are the best choice. Wouldn’t it be fun to make these with purple or yellow carrots? That’s not to say frozen and/or canned carrots won’t work, you’ll just have to adjust the steps in the recipe to accommodate the change in ingredient. Canned carrots need to be drained and of course frozen carrots should be defrosted and cooked. As long as you end up with about 2 cups of mashed carrot, you’ll be fine. You can add the seasoning to the carrots while mashing them.
I haven’t tried, but it seems to me the tofu base can be used with a variety of vegetables. Root vegetables are the obvious choice (beets or parsnips were the first to come to mind) but also mushrooms, broccoli and cabbage, either alone or in a blend. Those are posts for another day.
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into thick coins
- 1 teaspoon smoky paprika (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin (or to taste)
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- 6 ounces firm tofu (the recipe calls for 200 grams, which is 7 ounces and a little more than half the standard package)
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs (more or less)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves and tender stems
- zest of a lemon
- juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or same amount dairy free Parm)
- 1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds (I bought a 1 1/2 ounce bag and used them all)
To serve
- buns toasted (I used brioche buns)
- sliced tomato
- sliced avocado
- mayonnaise or creamy horseradish
Instructions
Roast the carrots
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Toss the carrots with some olive oil and season with smoky paprika, ground cumin, salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking tray and cover with foil. Roast for 20 - 30 minutes or until the carrots are fork tender. Remove the foil and roast for another 10 minutes or so to allow the carrots to take on some color. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Then mash with a standard masher or a food processor. You should have around 2 cups of mashed carrot.
Toast the sesame seeds
- Use a dry skillet to toast the seeds over low to medium heat until golden brown. Keep them moving in the skillet to prevent over browning. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.
Prepare the tofu base
- Drain the tofu (no need to press) and crumble it into a large bowl. Add the parsley, lemon zest, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and sesame seeds.
Make the burgers
- Mix the mashed carrot and the juice of half a lemon into the tofu base and combine until fairly homogeneous. It's easiest to use your hands. Form into 4 to 6 patties according to the number and size of your buns. Transfer the burgers to a plate and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or more.
- At this point the burgers can be frozen. Prep a baking tray with parchment paper and arrange the individual patties on the tray so they're not touching. Place the tray into the freezer for three hours or so, then transfer the burgers to a zip top bag for storage until needed. Let thaw for an hour or so before cooking.
- When ready to cook add a little oil to the bottom of a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Transfer the individual patties and let cook undisturbed for three or four minutes per side. If they don't want to release when you try to turn them, reduce the heat a little bit and let them cook for another minute or so. Turn and cook the other side until golden brown.
- To serve, toast the buns, spread with mayo and add the patty, arranging sliced avocado and tomato on top.
These aren’t the only patties in the book. There’s also:
- beet and mustard seed fritters with cardamom yogurt
- pea and charred scallion fritters with mint yogurt (this one practically screams SPRING)
- carrot and chickpea fritters with chermoula, a North African condiment
- winter root and seaweed fritters, which caught my son’s attention
This short list is a good representation of the flavors and influences in The Modern Cook’s Year. The same applies to the breakfasts, soups, snacks, main dishes and desserts in the book. If you are an adventurous cook, you’ll love it.
I made up a batch of the carrot and tofu burgers today. I am really disappointed because they didn’t hold together during frying. I went by the recipe exactly.
I’m sorry you had difficulty Patricia and hope you are willing to try again. In my experience veggie burgers fall apart when frying because either the mix was too wet or the heat was too high.
Adding more bread crumbs or flour and letting the patties set in the fridge for a longer period of time may help. Making sure to drain the tofu well and pressing it will also get rid of some of the excess moisture.
Cooking on medium high heat will increase the cooking time and help dry out the burgers a little more, plus put a crust on the bottom which will aid in turning. If they’re browning too quickly, reduce the heat and leave them alone until they release from the pan without having to fight them.
I’ve found I have to make adjustments every time I make a veggie burger. Sometimes the mix is too wet, or I’m cooking with a different pan, or on someone else’s stove. The more you do it the better you’ll be able to “read” the cooking environment and get a good result. Good luck!