do you ever get sidetracked?

Have you ever sat down with the intention of doing something, then been sidetracked?  I have.  Today I logged on to research some Victorian literature.

I thought I'd "just take a quick look" at my e-mails, then hopped across here, then to visit VeganDad, read some of his recipes, felt peckish, so decided to experiment with some burgers.

I looked through the cupboards, and assembled the following:

• 1 cup firm silken tofu
• 1 cup red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 small green chillies
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon harissa paprika
•  1 teaspoon dried oregano
•  black pepper

Blitz everything together. Splodge Spoon out into a hottish frying pan, with 2 inches of oil lightly oiled. The mixture is slack, so 4 is probably all you'll get in the pan.  Turn down heat to medium, cook til deep brown and the top is starting to look a little less soggy set. Turn over and cook on reverse until cooked through. They will still be squidgy delightfully soft in the middle.

They are a weird shade of pink, but that's the red kidney beans for you.  They turn a lovely golden brown as they cook, as you can see through the steam! 

The mixture that was left in the jug, I thickened with a tablespoon of coarse oatmeal to give a thicker mix.  This allowed for a deeper burger.

You could substitute any other tinned pulses of your choice, you might then want to swap your herbs around to find a blend that you enjoy.

Whilst the first batch was cooking, I quickly washed some lettuce and tomatoes, and grabbed some rye bread.

Although not exactly hungry, I gobbled down forced myself to assemble a mock BLT and eat it because I am a pig, purely in the interest of this blog.  It both looked and tasted very, very good - in my humble, totally unbiased opinion.

This last photo shows the first batch, above, and the second, thickened batch, below.  I've cut them so you can see the inner.

A couple of hours later, I had a cold one wrapped in a lettuce leaf.  Delicious, and considerably firmer, so would be good for packed lunches:)