By Any Other Name: Lentil Barley Burgers

Is this really a burger? It isn’t made of animal protein. Should it be called a bean and grain patty? Or an oversized croquette? Does it have to hopelessly pretend to be beef or chicken, like the “meatless burgers” in the supermarket freezers, to earn the name of burger? After I made these Lentil Barley Burgers, I surreptitiously checked out those massed-produced posers. Luckily, I was armed with my Master’s degree in chemical engineering, or I may have been terrified. Does being filled with wheat and soybean derivatives pounded into submission along with some yeast extract and a handful of unpronouncables qualify something as a burger? In some of these cases, I’m not sure it qualifies it as food.

I actually quite like veggie burgers, including some of those boxed up in the supermarket, which is why I’ve been questing after good recipes for homemade meatless patties for years. I’m looking for a firm disk that might be easily served as a sandwich, like a meat burger, but that has plenty of flavor, a pleasant texture, positive nutritional value, and, what the heck, a high WFQ* as well. All too often, however, I’ve ended up with sloppy bean pastes that fell apart in frying pans.

At least by the time I tried these burgers, I had learned to take a cue from the Beet and Carrot Burger recipe and bake the patties rather than frying them. This worked well when I made Black Bean and Corn Croquettes, as did pureeing some of the grains and beans, then pulsing in the rest to make a coarse mixture. Ta da! The same method worked well in these Lentil Barley Burgers, too!

These patties may seem a bit ethnically challenged with their French green lentils, barley and southwestern seasoning, but they’re good that way. I’m betting some other spice combinations would work as well, and I think you could use another variety of lentil, although the cooking time of the lentils and the texture of the burgers may vary. Whatever I might do to vary these, they’re still going to be made with whole food ingredients and won’t need to pretend to be anything they aren’t. Even if you don’t want to call them real burgers, you at least have to admit that they’re real food.

Lentil Barley Burgers
Based on a recipe in Cooking Light magazine

½ cup uncooked pearled barley
water for cooking barley
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
½ cup uncooked lentils (I used French green lentils)
1 dried bay leaf
1 ½ cups water
1/3 cup grated carrot
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup breadcrumbs, preferably whole wheat
¼ cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
2 eggs


1. To cook the barley, place it in a medium saucepan and cover with water by a few inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat and boil gently about 20 minutes, or until the barley is tender. Drain and set aside.

2. To cook the lentils, heat the canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add the lentils and stir until coated with the oil. Add the 1 ½ cups water. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low or low and boil gently 30 to 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and the water is mostly absorbed. The cooking time may vary depending on the type of lentil you use.

3. Remove the lentils from the heat and remove the bay leaf. Stir in the grated carrot, tomato paste, salt, cumin, coriander, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. When the lentil mixture has cooled enough to handle, place half of it into the bowl of a food processor. Add the breadcrumbs, cilantro, eggs and ¼ cup of the cooked barley. Process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally if necessary.

5. Add the remaining lentil mixture and remaining barley. Pulse until just combined. The mixture should be homogeneous, but some whole lentils and barley should still be visible. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill at least 1 hour.



6. Preheat oven to 425 F. Oil a baking sheet or line it with a silicone baking mat. (I would also lightly oil the baking mat, since these stuck a little when I baked them.) When the mixture has chilled, divide it into 6 equal patties (about a heaping 1/3 cup each). Place the patties on the baking sheet and bake at 425 F for 25 minutes. Serve with salsa and sour cream, or other accompaniments alone or as a sandwich on a bun.

Makes 6 servings.

Patties can be frozen and reheated another day. Simply place the cooked burgers in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and freeze for a few hours, or until frozen solid. Remove them from the pans and wrap them in a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container, separated by wax paper. Defrost or reheat in the microwave.

*WFQ: Whole Food Quotient

Other recipes like this one: Black Bean and Corn Croquettes, Beet and Carrot Burgers

One year ago: Penne with Chicken Sausage, Olives and Walnut Sauce

The Beet Goes On

I hate beets. In my baby book, my mother translated my unspoken sentiments into, “Baby food beets are blah!” She seemed to have blamed the baby food, since beets are popular in my family, and I was doomed to be misunderstood forever. I tried beets again as a young adult, but they hadn’t improved in flavor as I grew up, and decided I’d be better off seeing other vegetables.

Then, in 2007, I made a commitment to more local and sustainable eating, and subscribed to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program (this one). If the contents of the CSA boxes are any indication, beets grow well in southeastern Minnesota. There were lots of them. I was being invaded from all sides.

I couldn’t discard the evidence of my aversion, however, without wasting good food. Beets are nutritious and they look kind of pretty with their odd, bright colors found nowhere else in nature or, in the case of the Chioggia beets, stripes like peppermint candy. (If only they tasted so good!) They seemed to last forever in the refrigerator (perhaps even multiply!), and I couldn’t just say, “Aw, the beets went off. Too bad!” The guilt was getting me down. The beet would go on, and I was going to have to learn to eat it, hopefully without just holding my nose and swallowing it whole.

As in many things, my husband, Harry, was the inspiration in working through this conundrum. Yes, he really likes beets (weirdo!), but it was his intense aversion to coconut that gave me my first clues in this case. He hates the stuff. Won’t touch it. Fears it even. But he will eat Thai-style curries with coconut milk sauces. He calls it “safety coconut.” That was exactly what I needed: recipes for safety beets.

So I strapped on an apron, turned on the film noir voiceover in my head and set out to unearth safety beet recipes. First, I just tried hiding them in dishes with other root vegetables. I roasted them in pans with butternut squash, carrots, rutabagas and potatoes. Okay. I still knew they were there, and I still knew they were beets, but they were under control. Safe enough. I then sliced them very thin and hid a layer of them in Potatoes Anna, a dish of thinly sliced potatoes and butter usually baked in a cast iron pan until golden brown. Again, pretty good and pretty safe. This was working and I was getting bolder.

Finally, I hit the jackpot with a recipe for veggie burgers featuring grated beets and carrots. This one was delicious! It hardly tasted like beets at all! It’s a bit time consuming and a lot messy to make, but it makes a lot of burgers and they freeze well. I now make these a few times a year and freeze them (right next to the pesto), and enjoy, that’s right, actually enjoy them in the months that follow. In fact, I don’t even mind admitting that this is now one of my favorite dishes. These beets are truly safe. Snug as a bug in a rug.

I won’t say that I have achieved a full appreciation for the humble beet, and I’m certainly not convinced that recipes that feature beets as a main flavor component are “safe” enough for me yet. I do have a few more safety recipes up my beet-stained sleeve, however, and though it will go on and on, the beet will not defeat me.


Beet and Carrot Burgers
adapted from Farmer John’s Cookbook

1 cup finely chopped walnuts
½ cup sunflower seeds
2 cups peeled, grated beets
2 cups grated carrots
½ cup grated onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cooked rice, preferably brown rice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup flour
2 Tbs soy sauce or tamari
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all of the ingredients in a very large bowl. Mix until completely combined.

2. Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions. Form each portion into a patty and place on baking pans that have been well-greased or lined with a silicone baking mat. (This will be quite messy, but hang in there!)

3. Bake the patties at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until they are well set and beginning to brown on the edges.

4. Serve immediately on a hamburger bun or in a pita (or on a plate), or cool on pans and freeze.

To freeze the burgers, place them in a single layer on a plate or pan on wax paper or parchment paper. Freeze until firm. Remove from the pan and store flat in a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container, separating layers with wax paper or parchment paper.