Green Burgers: Creative Vegetarian Recipes for Burgers and Sides

You don't have to be a vegetarian to love this cookbook---the author isn't and nor are we, but I love the recipes I've made from here as much as "real" burgers.We are avid cooks and eaters and I think this book is one of the best cookbook releases in the past few years. Why? 1) the recipes are well-tested and ridiculously delicious 2) it's got inspiring and creative flavor combos that can inspire you in all your cooking 3) the recipes are fairly flexible/adaptable if you need to adjust or are feeling too lazy to make one of the add-ons 4) it'll make you crave really healthy things to eat simply because these burgers are so delicious.Our fave recipe from here so far is Lentil & Charcoal-Roasted Carrot Burgers with Roasted Kale & Banana Guacamole. I could eat this weekly.Also wonderful:Mushroom and Quinoa Burger with Sauerkraut, Garlic Mayo & Pickled Mustard SeedsChickpea & Grilled Pepper Burger with Dill-Dunked Cucumber SaladBeetroot Burger with Pea HummousRoasted Celery Root Burger with Herb Cream & Chanterelles

I gifted this book to my husband who was going to try cooking burgers.. I am so glad I did. He loves cooking from this. Recepies taste great and we love this book.

This has some very different ways to make some great sandwiches and meals! This book is very different. It contains some great ideas to enjoy some very healthy food. Instead of trying to imitate hamburgers it comes up with original ideas to put between two buns. It even pairs buns with the burgers. I have not regretted purchasing this cookbook.

Great recipes! This is not a book about making things that taste like meat - these burgers are called burgers because of their shape and how they are plated. It’s been fun!

I was tired of the same old food, I wanted something different and this was just what I was looking for. Love the recipes.

Easy to follow directions and good photos.

My husband made one of the recipes and it required just about every pan in the house, and the end result was not good at all. There are so many better cookbooks out there. Save your money on this one.

When I received a copy of Martin Nordin's Green Burgers I was equal parts excited and apprehensive. Excited to try some fresh, new recipes but apprehensive that this book might deliver more of the same-old same-old veggie burger recipes. Right from the beginning he sets his book apart by calling them 'green burgers' instead of veggie burgers -- whether he meant to or not I think this is a subtle way of distancing himself from what's been done before. In his introduction, this self-proclaimed "cabbage butcher" makes a strong case for the notion that meatless burgers are more open to exploration because unlike their meaty counterpart these green ones can have patties made from anything and are completely open to interpretation. This is true -- a meat burger can really only have one type of patty whereas a veggie burger has endless choices.Which recipe really blew my mind? His Twirled Aubergine Burger w/ Homemade Tomato Ketchup and Caramelized Onion! The idea to thinly slice eggplant, brown it in a pan then fill it with tomato paste and cheese to then roll it like a cinnamon bun is genius! Baking it in a ramekin helps the patty to retain it's shape but I loved the idea that a patty doesn't necessarily need to be a conventional patty. I think this burger turns the whole concept of a burger on it's head! While it's topped with ketchup (a very traditional choice) the homemade variety from his cookbook offers a bit more of a sweetly-tangy-smoky sensibility. Topped off with some beautifully jammy caramelized onions it really is one of the best burgers I've made.Nordin's minimalist approach to cookbook writing is refreshing -- with no recipe head notes the home cook is left to explore and interpret each recipe on their own. His succinct introduction along with a short description discussing burger structure and a list of the utensils he finds most useful leads quickly into the first section on Burgers. I found that each burger recipe itself (just the patties) had fairly short ingredient lists -- 8 to 12 items. Each recipe has a photo to accompany it and the recipes are fit to one page (maybe I'm the only person out there who hates flipping pages in the middle of cooking a recipe?). The remaining sections focus on Burger Buns, Side Orders (this is where all the fries are!!!), Pickles, Condiments, and Other Accompaniments, and pantry items.So far I've only tried making three burgers out of the 31 in the book and I found a few things. Firstly, while none of the burger recipes I tried were difficult to make they could be time-consuming. If there were steps to roast an ingredient before use (i.e. sweet potatoes) or if you need to let the patties "rest" in the fridge before cooking or marinate ingredients before starting then you may need to plan ahead. But with the Black Bean Burgers I found that I could make them ahead of time and cook them at dinner when we were ready to eat. These patties kept well in the fridge so I think you could easily whip them up on a weekend and enjoy them during the week. Secondly, he doesn't explicitly talk about vegan options but you can totally omit some dairy (cheese, butter, etc) or substitute ingredients (flax eggs for actual eggs, df cheese, vegan butter, etc). In his preface he really emphasizes the fact that he hopes people adapt their plates to whatever excites them. I think his recipes are flexible enough to accommodate any dietary preference. Finally, while the majority of the ingredients are easily sourced there are a few that may not be as easy to find -- such as lingonberries or sea buckthorn berries.One of the best takeaways is the use of food rings. Helpful in shaping the patty and getting a patty size that corresponds to the bun diameter. I had never used a food ring before this and now I'm not sure how I got on without one. As you can see from the photo above by using a food ring you can really achieve a professional looking patty. A technique that I'll be adopting for cooking any green burgers I make from now on is to brown the patties in a pan first, then finish cooking them in the oven (which is what he does in his recipes). This is something I've seen on cooking programs where meat is being cooked but I never thought to apply it to plant-based cooking. The resulting patties are beautifully browned and cooked straight through.I know that one of the most daunting things to make is any type of bread. It can seem like a big deal but what I've come to discover is that all you need is time and a great recipe. When I tried a recipe from the Burger Buns section I was ecstatic over the Sweet Potato Buns I made. I followed his recipe exactly and the buns turned out perfectly. For those of you who do not weigh your ingredients I strongly urge you to. Your recipes will yield far superior results if you use a scale. While Nordin provides both ways in his book do yourselves a favour and use a scale.I was a little concerned that trying so many burger/burger-related recipes over such a short period of time would turn my family off of veggie burgers but each burger we tried was so delicious (extremely so!) and so different from each other that it didn't feel boring. Tonight I made his Quinoa and Sweet Potato Burgers w/ Horseradish Sour Cream, Shallots, and Chives and I think the best thing about this patty (aside from that killer horseradish cream) was the squeeze of lemon in the patty mix. It made the burger taste fresher. Do you ever find that veggie burgers can be a bit dense and the flavours heavy? I do sometimes but I've found that Nordin balances the ingredients so that the flavour and textures never seem heavy or over-mixed.I think what Green Burgers offers is a complete change to the veggie burger lexicon. Not only will you find new takes on classic favourites (such as the portobello burger and black bean burger) but you'll find other recipes to excite your imagination and palate -- such as Green Banana Guacamole, Kimchi w/ Rhubarb, or Oven-Baked Jerusalem Artichoke Burger.I would like to take this opportunity to thank Raincoast Books and Hardie Grant Books for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I have an out of control cookbook addiction. I love all kind of burgers, so when I saw this thought it would be a good addition to my horde. Having received the book, and cooked from it I can confirm this is the case and is currently one of my favourites.The book is beautifully presented: proper food-porn. Flicking through it gives a lot of inspiration about possible meals.The instructions are clearly laid out, and easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to source.The burgers and sides are very tasty too - I particularly enjoyed the BBQ mushroom burger. There is a really good selection of burgers, not just bean burgers (although they're here too). For the most part I think the burgers are veggie, rather than vegan (although there are some, and I suspect most vegans would be able to make a sensible substitutions).I would definitely recommend. I'm looking forward to many more tasty meals.

We have given up animal protein recently, for health reasons. I have downloaded a number of cookbooks from well known authors and less well known. This is by far the best - Martin Nordin is a revelation in creative use of ingredients and flavours. It takes veg cooking to the next level, without being "cheffy". The recipes have more elements than other book, but they are not rare ingredients, or time consuming. They just add an extra dimension of flavours and textures. If this was Restaurent cooking, then with a bit of snazzy presentation, they could easily be Michelin star standard recipes.

I had been looking at this book for a while and although i am a chef. I have struggled with the vegetarian & vegan movement, having fully embraced the fact buying frozen veggie burgers is a cope out, I have made my own but wanted to be inspired! This book has done that, amazing flavour and can’t wait to make the charcoal bun!! The black bean & peanut burger is amazing with the plantain. A must have book for next summer bbqs and to help inspire your to be more adventurous for your vegetarian friends

I am a vegan and just loved this book, and one just needs to substitute vegetarian cheese for vegan cheese, I make my own ones, so no problems for me.

Great recipes easy to follow I've been working on my own burgers for a while now and am pretty good at it 😁 This book has opened a whole new perspective for me Highly recommended