http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/dining/the-ultimate-veggie-burger.html 2014-10-26 15:07:58 The Ultimate Veggie Burger It’s difficult to make a veggie burger with great flavor and a firm, succulent texture. This is how you do it. === I am not a vegetarian, but that hasn’t stopped me from embracing the veggie burger. Not to the exclusion of beef burgers, mind you, but to savor in its own right. I turn to veggie burgers when I crave the hamburger experience (soft bun, chewy protein, lots of spicy condiments) but would, at that moment, rather consume vegetables than meat. Making a pretty good veggie burger is easy. Making a great one is a lot harder. The downfall of many a recipe is the mush factor. Most of the elements that often go into a homemade veggie burger (vegetables, beans and tofu) are high in moisture, which can lead to a soggy patty that’s unpleasant to eat and nearly impossible to flip on the grill without it falling apart. Getting a veggie burger with great flavor and the right texture is challenging. (So much so that To develop my version, I cooked my way through more than a dozen recipes I found online and in Lukas Volger’s authoritative cookbook In his I like how tempeh and ground nuts added a nubby meat-like texture to other burger recipes I tried, and the way mushrooms and cheese added a savory umami character. Grated roasted beets gave the burger a slightly pink color that resembled beef, so I added that, too. Finally, pimentón lent spicy, smoky notes. To my taste, I had arrived at the ultimate veggie burger. This recipe has a long list of ingredients and several steps to complete. But the ingredients are easy to find and the steps are simple. And you can make a double batch and freeze the extra mix. The next time the veggie burger craving hits, you’ll be ready. Recipe: