Hello Lovelies, I would love to invite ALL of you to join my burger party!! Of course it‘s a barbecue, you have not expected anything else, right? I have to admit that hubby was mostly responsible for everything that needed to be grilled in the past. I always created the side dishes. But this summer everything has changed thanks to a lovely cooperation with Weber Grill Schweiz and their amazing Genesis® II E-310 GBS – Gasgrill. Ever since I received the grill I love to make all kind of vegan dishes and there is no end in sight for this newly found passion of mine. I love all the extras you can get for the Genesis Grill. I already got myself the Wok, pizza stone and the griddle, and you can already find some cool recipes on my Instagram here and here.
Back then I was really happy to surprise my readers with an amazing giveaway as well – you can find more details below!
But back to the burger party for now: I created 3 different vegan burger patties and would also like to present to you some unusual burger bun ideas. We love to be creative when it comes to burgers and of course each family member has their own preference and favorite.
The first burger is a tofu-mushroom patty and it’s really delicious with its smoky and flavorful taste. One of my girls even asked: “mom, is that meat?!” “No darling, don’t worry, it’s not and you really don’t need it if you can have this burger!”
Here is the recipe:
TOFU-MUSHROOM BURGER for 6 pieces
**Ingredients: ** 1 red onion 2 Tbsp olive oil 200 gr (7 oz) tofu (smoked) 250 gr (9 oz) mushrooms 80 gr (3/4 cup) breadcrumbs 2 tsp mustard 1 tsp smoked paprika powder 1 tsp salt pepper 2 tsp BBQ sauce (make sure its vegan or make your own)
Method:
- Finely chop the onion
- Clean the mushrooms and chop them or add to a food processor and pulse them (be careful not to puree them)
- Heat a pan with olive oil
- Add the onion and sauté them, add the mushrooms and sauté for 5-7 minutes
- Scramble the tofu into a bowl with a fork or with your hands
- Add the mushroom onion mixture to the mushrooms as well as all the other ingredients and mix until combined (best if you use your hands)
- Form patties and cool them in the fridge for 1-2 hours (this helps to keep their form on the grill, but you could also grill them directly)
- Heat the barbecue and grill the burger in the Weber griddle in some oil for 5 minutes on each side
- Add vegan cheese and grill until it’s melted (optional)
Due to the addition of the BBQ sauce and the smoked paprika the burgers will get a very good taste and also the consistency is just perfect. You can build your burger or cheeseburger with your favorite ingredients. We had it with a classical bun (homemade), some ketchup, grilled zucchini, grilled yellow pepper, salad, tomato and some micro greens – yummy, so good!
But since I promised you some unusual bun ideas as well, be prepared for the first one: an Avocado! If you follow me for some time now, you may notice this is not the first time I’m making an avocado burger! Just cut a small avocado in half and use it as bun replacement, it’s not only low carb but also so pleasing to look at. We added the tofu-mushroom patty, hummus, grilled pepper, salad and red cabbage. And it’s best to use a baby avocado, otherwise it will be hard to eat!
The second burger I served is completely different, made with kidney beans and vegan feta. I have to say, this was my favorite taste-wise.
Here is the recipe:
FETA-BEAN BURGER for 6 pieces
Ingredients: 1 small jar/can kidney beans (230 gr or 8 oz) 1 garlic clove 1 spring onion 40 gr (1/3 cup) breadcrumbs fresh herbs (basil and thyme) 1 Tbsp soy flour 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp salt pepper 100 gr (3.5 oz.) vegan feta (e.g. from Violife or Taifun-Tofu)
Method:
- Drain the kidney beans
- Cut the garlic and onion in pieces
- Add all ingredients except the feta to a food processor and mix until well combined
- Crumble the feta with your hands and add to the mixture
- Form patties and cool them in the fridge for 1-2 hours (this helps to keep their form on the grill, but you could also grill them directly)
- Heat the barbecue and grill the burger in the Weber griddle in some oil for 5 minutes on each side
We ate the feta-bean burger with a very special bun as well: a sweet potato one. Doesn’t it look like a real bun? I peeled a smaller sweet potato, rubbed it with some olive oil and grilled it on the upper grids of the grill for 20-25 minutes until it was soft. But it shouldn't be too soft, otherwise it will fall apart. Sprinkle it with some black sesame seeds, layer with the feta-bean patty, grilled zucchini, pepper, another layer of feta, some tomato and vegan mayonnaise. Make it a double if you like!
And last but not least the third burger. Since we have an abundance of zucchini this year in Switzerland, I really wanted to include that in one of my creations, so I made a zucchini-corn-burger. It includes corn flour and pepper as well and all these ingredients combine to a delicious flavor. Here is the recipe:
ZUCHINI-CORN-BURGER for approx. 10 pieces
Ingredients: 250 gr (9 oz) zucchini 1 jar/can corn (340 gr or 12 oz) 1 red pepper fresh herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary) 200 gr (1 ½ cup) corn flour 1 spring onion 1 Tbsp corn starch 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice 2 tsp salt 1 tsp paprika powder pepper pinch of nutmeg 2 Tbsp vegan sour cream (if the mixture is too dry)
Method:
- Finely grate the zucchini and let sit for a moment, then put into a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much water as possible
- Drain the corn
- Cut the pepper and spring onion in pieces
- Add all ingredients except the zucchini and sour cream to a food processor and mix until well combined
- Stir in the zucchini, if the mixture is to dry, add 1-2 Tbsp sour cream
- Form patties and cool them in the fridge for 1-2 hours (this helps to keep their form on the grill, but you could also grill them directly)
- Heat the barbecue and grill the burger in the Weber griddle in some oil for 5 minutes on each side
And what a surprise, we did no eat the zucchini-corn patties with a regular bun, no we used two mushrooms instead and created a mushroom burger. Remove the stem of the mushroom, brush them with some olive oil and grill them from both sides until soft and well-done. And voila – another eye-catcher and low-carb burger bun! We filled the buns with grilled zucchini, tomato, cucumber, pepper, micro-greens and some vegan mayonnaise.
So these are my 3 vegan burgers! What do you think, have you already picked a favorite: **TOFU-MUSHROOM, FETA-BEANS **or **ZUCCHINI-CORN? **Since 1st of August (Swiss National Day, for everyone who may not know) is coming up next week, this would be the perfect day to test the recipes with family and friends. I’m sure we will have them on the barbecue. And I really hope I was able to inspire you with these alternative burger bun ideas. I personally love to eat burgers, but with a traditional bun I’m full after one burger. And that be such a shame if you couldn’t try all 3 different patties. And yes, I’m fully aware, it might not be so easy to eat these burgers, but let’s keep it real, isn’t that the most fun part about eating burgers, the obligatory mess?! And if you don’t like that, just use cutlery – works fine as well :-).
We had the burgers with some corn on the cob and potato wedges. But a salad would be a lovely companion for these burgers too, like my grilled bread salad or the couscous salad with apricots. For even more ideas from the grill, try my pumpkin burger or my 3 recipes with beer, the beer cupcakes there are the perfect BBQ dessert.
GIVEAWAY
Together with Weber Grill Schweiz I was able to run a very special giveaway back then: up for grabs was 1 voucher for the Weber Grill Academy for 2 people, with classes at one of the 4 locations in Switzerland (there are also vegetarian classes with lots of vegan options). The giveaway we ran back then has long since ended. Feel free to tell me in the comments who you would like to take to a grill class!
Love, Verena
*This blogpost was created in cooperation with Weber Grill Schweiz – but reflects my own opinion and the recipes are my own.
