Hey there!

I am a new Vegan (Day 12), so I need to get used to answering people’s questions/comments like “How can you not eat meat? I cannot.”, “Make sure you get enough protein”, “What can you eat?”, “Oh, you can just eat a little meat…once in a while.” I actually do not miss eating meat at all and love the challenge of making every meal as exciting, healthy and appetizing as possible. My mornings now start with a soy milk smoothie with kale, spinach, blueberries (and other fruit when available), coconut oil, hemp and chia seeds. Sometimes just for fun, I will add a teaspoon of cocoa powder to the mix. Yum!

This recipe is just a teaser from the plant-based cookbook that I am collaborating on with my daughter, Kelly (who I would say has basically been vegan for the past two years). Aiming to publish our plant-based cookbook mid to late 2019…hope you will all pick up a copy when it’s out!

All the recipes in our plant-based cookbook are super easy and fast to prepare and you can easily swap ingredients for anything that you have handy in your kitchen on any given day.  To save time and make life easier, there are some staples (such as lentils and frozen corn) that I would suggest that you stock regularly in your kitchen.

Makes 2 burgers

Prep time: about 15-20 minutes 

Cook time for mushroom caps and rice: about 20 minutes each

Ingredients

• 4 portobello mushroom caps with stems removed
• 1 cup of Arborio rice (or any type of stickier rice that you like) 
• 1/4 cup of uncooked green lentils 
• 1 tablespoon of chili spice and 1 tablespoon of black pepper (to sprinkle evenly on mushroom caps)
• 4 tablespoons of cooked corn (frozen is handy, but you can use fresh corn kernels)
• 6 lettuce leaves (or you can use a couple handfuls of mixed salad leaves for each burger)
• Red onions, finely sliced, to garnish (can use a sharp knife or mandolin to slice onions)
• Sweet chili sauce (use your favourite store bought sauce for convenience, or you can make your own -recipe will be included in our cookbook)

Step 1

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Celsius. If you have a small countertop oven, I would suggest that you use it.
• Cut off the stem on your mushrooms and gently wash.  Pat dry with a paper towel.
• Put 4 mushrooms (top of mushroom facing upwards) on a metal tray or oven-safe plate.
• Sprinkle chili and black pepper evenly on the mushrooms.
• Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. 
• When cooked, remove from oven and let sit.  

Step 2

After you put the mushrooms in the oven, wash the rice. Then add lentils.  Lentils like to float so add them last (directly into the uncooked rice).  Cook rice in accordance with the instructions on the packaging.  After rice (with lentils) is cooked, open the lid and let cool.

Step 3

Remove one mushroom cap from the oven and arrange on a plate.  Add lettuce on top.  Using a flat bottom small bowl, press the cooked rice with lentils into it.  This will make the ‘rice patty’. Then directly on top of the lettuce, flip the bowl upside down (and shake gently if needed to remove the rice). 

Step 4

Add 2 tablespoons of corn kernels on top of the rice.

Step 5

Add amount of desired onions on top.

Step 6

Add sweet thai chili sauce on top.

Step 7

Put second mushroom cap on top. And Tah Dah – your burger is ready!

Step 8

Repeat for second burger

Step 9 

Enjoy!

Sides

Burger goes great with a side of soup or homemade baked fries.