Crazy for Carrot Burgers

Veggie burgers have never been something I gravitated towards. What with all the oats and beans and the other stuff they usually put in them, they taste like anything but veggies and everything like mush. So that’ s been another one of those things I ‘ve been on a constant quest for. Except I kind of gave up at some point. It lost its allure and just didn’t seem all that important. Until I came up with these carrot burgers. Mind you: my only motivation was to make something that would work well with Melissa’s yellow tomato ketchup. And then that reminded me that I thought a carrot something-or-other would also be great with the Dates and Ume Vinegar Sauce that Merit made awhile back. I was just having a carrot moment, I guess.

A lot of what we do here, recipe-wise comes from some weird “why can’t we?…” or “what-if?” notion. “Why can’t we do a pseudo bacon wrapped date?” “What if we used mushrooms to make a raw sausage?” “What if we made a burger with carrots… and no flax?” We get so jazzed up, you’d think we were racing the clock for some miracle cure-all. Who knows, maybe we are!

So I experimented – as we do – with carrot burgers. And I kept it really veggie. Really simple. No oats or any of that stuff. Call me a purist.

Melissa’s allergic to celery so for her I made them with more scallions. But I made mine with celery. Melissa is always lecturing me on why nothing needs celery, how she never makes anything with celery and how nobody misses the celery at all. But I’m going to tell you: if you aren’t allergic, these carrot burgers taste best with celery. I, myself, am a die-hard celery fan! And I would miss the celery.

Anyway, in the final analysis, they tasted fantastic with the ketchup and even better when paired with the Brussel Sprout Slaw and the ketchup! Oh, and pickles too – we can’t forget the pickles! What a great little meal. The nice thing about these is they keep for a few days in the fridge. Today I crumbled them onto pineapple jicama rice and drizzled some of that Dates and Ume Vinegar Sauce on top and boy, was that good too! These carrot burgers can go a long way in making some memorable meals. And now that I think about it: besides being great for your eyes, skin, hair and heart, carrots are actually considered to have anti-oxidants that fight cancer. So I guess we really are onto something after all…

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Crazy For Carrot Burgers

2 cups finely ground sunflower seeds

4 cups coarsely chopped carrots

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped roughly

2 scallions, chopped

1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixture is combined but not too smooth. There should still be some texture to the mix.

Shape the mixture into 8 patties about 1/2 inch thick. Place the burgers on Teflex lined dehydrator racks and dehydrate for 4 hours at 115 degrees Fahrenheit.. Carefully turn racks over (onto another Teflex lined dehydrator sheet) and peel away the Teflex gently from the burgers. Put the new tray into the dehydrator for another 4 hours.

Serve with Ume Vinegar Sauce or Yellow Tomato Ketchup.

Burgers will keep up to a week in the fridge.