Meatless Monday with Vegan Red Lentil Burgers with Kale Pesto

Welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for another Meatless Monday vegan recipe share. Miratel took the Meatless Monday pledge to support reducing meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve the health of our planet. We consider our support of this great movement part of our CSR business strategies as it spreads awareness of the impact of our food choices on our environment.

It might seem daunting to make a meat-free meal but that is where our weekly recipe share can help. Every Monday we feature a new vegan recipe to help take the guesswork out of what to make for dinner. Today’s recipe of Red Lentil Burgers with Kale Pesto is both vegan and gluten-free plus it combines the nutritional powerhouses: kale and chia seeds. Oh and did I mention it is also delicious? What more could you ask for? This recipe comes courtesy of our favourite vegan/planet information source, One Green Planet.

Red Lentil burgers

• 2 cups of dry red lentils (cooked in 4 cups of water with bay leaves and dashi seaweed to reduce gas)
• 1 cup of raw almonds, pulsed into a rough meal
• 1/2 cup of raw sunflower seeds
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2 small potatoes, shredded
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp agave nectar

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the chia seeds with 1/4 cup of water. Set aside so the mixture can gel.
3. Wash and cook your lentils. Set aside and let them drain and cool as much as possible.
4. Cook the carrot and the potatoes with the spices in olive oil just until they soften. About 5 minutes. Do not overcook.
5. Combine the drained lentils, almond meal, chia gel, soy sauce, and agave nectar in a food processor and mix until a uniform but slightly chunky mass is formed.
6. Combine the lentil mixture, sunflower seeds, and the cooked vegetables in a bowl. If the mixture is too wet, add more almond meal. If the mixture is too dry add some water. Do not make it too dry or the burgers will fall apart in the oven.
7. Measure out about 1/4 cup of the mixture and shape into patties. Bake the patties for about 20 minutes on each side or until each side is crispy.

Kale Pesto

• 3-4 cups of washed, chopped kale
• 4 tbsp of agave nectar
• 1 tbsp dry basil (that’s all I had, but to make it extra delicious use 1/4 cup of fresh basil)
• 1 tsp of dry oregano
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup of water

1.  Mix all the ingredients except for water in a food processor. Blend until a paste texture is achieved.
2. If the mixture is too dry, gradually add water, 1 tbsp at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including PCI compliant inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.