I recently went with my niece and nephew to a Duluth, Minnesota restaurant called Grandma's, where I had one of the best veggie burgers I have ever tasted. Ever in search of burger options, I resolved to try and reconstruct this one for myself. I make no claims to know how Grandma's restaurant created the burger, but I love wild rice and am willing to experiment. Try it and feel free to make comments!
Cook a cupful or so of wild rice until all of the grains are curled - about 1 1/2 hours. This will make the rice just slightly sticky. (Wild rice requires lots of water - at least 4 cups for 1 cup of rice.) Cool it slightly.
Sauté a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, a few chopped mushrooms, and some minced onion in a generous amount of olive oil.
To form the patties, use about 2 cups of cooked rice,
3 eggs,
1/2 cups of bread crumbs (or coconut flour to go gluten free)
sautéed mushroom mix,
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry
1 heaping tablespoon parsley
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Pour some coconut oil on a baking sheet and form patties, leaving an inch or more of space between each patty. About 6 of these will fit on a sheet. Bake on one side for about 20 minutes. When they are firm enough, flip them with a spatula and bake for 10 - 15 minutes on the other side.
Remove the sheets from the oven, and let the patties cool. Eat them in a burger bun with all of your favorite condiments. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator or the freezer.
SOUTHWEST VERSION: The second time I made these, I used Anaheim chilies instead of mushrooms and a little Creole seasoning instead of curry. Even the non-vegetarians in my family thought these were delicious.
I believe that imagination is stronger
than knowledge and dreams are more powerful than facts.
Robert Fulghum
