The Great Veggie Burger Cook-Off

Summer grilling is synonymous with burgers. But we all know we need to keep our meat consumption in check—for our health and the environment. Enter the veggie burger. Once relegated to the freezer section, these vegetablebased patties are now a mainstay on menus—and easy to make at home with ingredients from your local farmers market. To help you get your grill on, we asked our favorite restaurants from around the country to send us their best veggie burger recipes. Then we fired up the barbecue for our in-house taste test. The result? Four standout patties that won’t have you wondering, “Where’s the beef?”

RUEBEN’S VEGGIE BURGER
PREP: 15 min. (plus overnight chilling)
COOK: 20 min. SERVES 6
Rueben’s Burger Bistro in Boulder, Colo., makes
this Southwestern-inspired patty with roasted
red peppers, corn and cilantro as well as
quinoa, a complete protein that contains all
the essential amino acids needed by the body
to build muscles.

¼ cup quinoa
½ cup vegetable broth
2 14-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and
drained
½ white onion, diced
1∕2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
1∕3 cup cooked corn
1 canned chipotle pepper, drained and
diced
1∕4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup panko breadcrumbs, plus extra
1. Combine the quinoa and broth in a
saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat
and simmer covered until the quinoa is tender,
about 15 minutes. In a bowl, slightly mash the
black beans. Mix with remaining ingredients.
Chill the mixture overnight.
2. Shape mixture into patties. Brown and heat
in a frying pan with a little olive oil, about 3
minutes per side. Serve on a bun with your
favorite toppings and condiments.
Per serving (½ cup per patty): 183 calories,
1 g fat (.1 g saturated fat) 0 mg cholesterol, 10
g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 9 g fiber, 394.5
mg sodium