The post that started it all - Sprouted Lentil Burgers

In an attempt to be virtuous, I am removing my last frozen sprouted lentil burger from my freezer today. I will eat it for dinner while my children dine on left over pizza (don't judge me - I was sick and single parenting last night, so pizza was the best I could do). As I now have 5 official followers (**yippee**) I thought I would post this to the blog. I first posted this on FB a few months back. It was such a hit that the blog ensued. If you haven't seen this yet, enjoy. If you have, enjoy again.

Sprouted Lentil Burgers (Makes 4)

½ C dried lentils sprouted 3-4 days (this amount should fill at least ¾ full a large mason jar)
1 large bell pepper (I used yellow)
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil, divided
2 T butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ C bread crumbs, divided *
1 t tarragon leaves
½ t oregano leaves
Pinch hot pepper flakes
1 T parsley flakes
S and P to taste

Sprout lentils 3 – 4 days or until sprouts are 2 – 3 times the length of the bean. If you need instructions on sprouting, here is a good youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1V4vtV8Yo&feature=related (BTW, you don’t need a sprouting lid for your mason jar. I just cover mine with an old piece of nylon stocking (clean, of course!) or a thin dish towel). Add sprouted, cleaned lentils to a food processor and pulse until lentils are ground, about the size of corn meal. Set aside in a large bowl.

In the food processor, add the bell pepper, onion and garlic cloves. Pulse until the same size as the lentils. Add 1 T olive oil into a frying pan. Fry pepper, onion and garlic mix over med-high heat until soft and golden brown (about 8 minutes).

Meanwhile, prepare bread crumb mix with ¾ C bread crumbs, parsley flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and put into pie pan or other shallow bowl as this is the breading for your burgers.

Add pepper mix to the bowl of ground lentils. Add the following ingredients to the bowl: butter, egg (I used egg whites, but a regular egg would do fine), ½ C bread crumbs, tarragon, oregano, hot pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Mix well. Divide mixture into 4 and gently shape into ball-sized patties. If the mixture is too wet to hold its shape, try squeezing a little bit of the liquid out of the patty before you form it. Dredge patties well in bread crumb mixture and set on a plate. Chill in refrigerator (or freezer) until set, at least one hour.

When ready to cook, add 1T olive oil to pan and heat to med-high. Fry patties until golden brown on heated through, approximately 6 – 8 minutes. Serve on sprouted grain toast with shredded carrot, lettuce and lime-mayo sauce.

(NOTE that these freeze well, but must be thawed completely before cooking)

Lime Mayo Sauce

4 T mayo
1 t lime juice
S & P to taste

Mix well in small bowl. Serve over sprouted lentil burgers.