Lentil ‘n’ Quinoa burgers with saucy Peppercorns

 

Lentil and Quinoa burgers with saucy peppercorns sauce and our small Parisian kitchen in the background, where the flow happens 🙂

Hello everyone, I want to start by saying thank you so much to all those who are following my blog, or have left a comment, or have just come to have a peak and say hello. It makes me feel all mushy and happy inside to be sharing my heart with you all. Merci beaucoup!

As promised, here is the recipe and pictures of the dinner I cooked up this weekend when my Southampton friends came to visit.  It’s light, very nutritious and has slight crunch on the bite. These are Quinoa burgers made with lentils and served with a spicy sauce of whole peppercorns and coconut cream. You can have it as a light dinner if your dessert is going to be on the heavy side or with some salad on the side to complement. It is delish either way. It is well worth all the chopping and comes out looking like a classy little lady. I hope you enjoy eating it as we all did.

To make the burgers, you’ll need:

• 120g of red Lentils
• 120 g quinoa
• 1 leek (finely chopped)
• 2 medium carrots (finely grated)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)

For the sauce you’ll need:

• 1 Tbsp margarine ( if you want to use butter here, thats totally fine too)
• 2 Tbsp whole peppercorns
• 1 onion (cut in thin slices)
• 200 ml coconut cream plus ½ cube of veggie stock added to it.
• Salt to your liking

For the buns:

• 20 medium sized white mushrooms (stalk removed)

Chopped leeks

Grated carrot

cooked lentil, quinoa, leeks and carrot in a bowl

Moulded “burgers” ready for the oven

To begin:

• Rinse the lentils in cold water and cook in 1 and ½ cup of hot water until all the liquid is absorbed and you are left with a mushy looking paste in your saucepan.
• Boil the Quinoa in 3 cups of hot water for 10 mins. Drain and leave in the colander to continue draining to remove as much water as possible from it.
• In a frying pan add a splash of olive oil together with the leek and garlic and cook until soft.
• Add the carrots and cook for another minute exactly and remove from the heat.
• In a bowl, combine your mushy lentils, quinoa, leek, garlic and carrot mixture using a spatula or by hand.
• Add salt to taste and mould into 10 small patties.
• Place in a non-stick baking tray and bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven for about 30 mins in total until they become crisp to the touch (flip the burgers to cook 15 mins on each side)

As the burgers are in the oven, you can proceed to make you saucy sauce:

• Melt the margarine in saucepan and add the onions and peppercorns, letting them cook together until the onion becomes soft.
• Stir in the coconut cream with the stock and cook until the sauce is reduced and becomes thicker.
• Salt to taste and done!

For the mushroom buns:

• Cook the mushrooms in a frying pan on high heat (no oil needed) for a minute on each side. Remove, pat dry and they are ready.
• Assemble and enjoy.

 

Assembled burgers

 

….with saucy peppercorns in coconut cream

how it was served on the dinner plate