By: Jennifer Provenza at Good Food From The Heart

Whole Food Plant Based, Oil Free, Sugar Free, Gluten Free

These oil free vegan burgers are the ultimate summer barbeque meal. Flavorful, filling, and gluten and soy free, these burgers will fulfill all your cravings and are nutritious too!

Burger Time, Baby!

One of our favorite summer meals (of course) are burgers! There is nothing like a delicious burger with tons of toppings, served with home fries or potato salad, some melon, maybe some corn on the cob. Mmmm… Don’t get me started. When I first stopped eating meat, I worried that it would mean leaving burgers behind. I was never a huge fan of a lot of the store bought veggie burgers. They are okay, but always seemed like a consolation prize. More recently, very authentic tasting imitation meat has entered the scene and, while those burgers are delicious, they leave a lot to be desired as far as healthiness. I have had some really delicious veggie burgers from restaurants but, unfortunately, they were usually fried and dripping in oil. No wonder they tasted so good! I had the opposite problem with a lot of veggie burger recipes I found. Over the years I have tried countless oil free burger recipes, but, sadly, they all seemed to have one thing in common. They were so bland. Some of them tasted pretty good without a bun, but once you added bread, it all tasted pretty blah. Adding condiments helped, but I felt I was basically only tasting the ketchup. So, I set out to create my own veggie burger based on ingredients I love that would be not only healthy, but flavorful. I am excited to say that I was successful in my quest.

These veggie burgers are so great because they are based on bean and sweet potato. The bean offers lots of protein, but the sweet potato makes it more filling and tasty. They also contain oats, which help hold them together and add healthy carbs which make them more filling as well. The nuts also add to the flavor and texture and provide even more protein. Finally, there are a lot of other additions that just pack in a ton of flavor. These are super umami, super flavorful, and super nourishing. They are also great to make ahead and freeze. Then you can just heat them up and have dinner on the table in a few minutes.

Ingredients

Oats: I use regular rolled oats, but feel free to use certified gluten free if necessary. Make sure not to get steel cut oats as they will not give a good texture. The oats help hold the burgers together and add some healthy carbs and heft.

Kidney Beans: I use canned kidney beans (rinse first). You can use any type of bean you want, though. Pinto would work well, as would black beans. The beans help hold the burgers together and add lots of protein.

Walnuts: Make sure to use raw, not roasted or salted. Hint: you can save money by buying walnut “pieces” which is fine since you will be blending it all up anyway. The walnuts give a great texture and flavor and add lots of protein and some healthy fat.

Roasted Red Peppers: I buy the jarred variety, but feel free to roast your own if you prefer.

Sweet Potato: Peel and cook first. Roasted potato will give a sweeter, richer flavor, but microwaved or boiled is fine too. These help bind the burgers and give a delicious flavor.

Sundried Tomatoes: These provide a delicious umami flavor. Don’t skip them! Be sure to get dried ones and not ones packed in oil.

Green Onions: These provide a great flavor. Use the green part only.

Nutritional Yeast: “Nooch” provides a great, “cheesy” flavor and lots of vitamin B.

Balsamic Vinegar: This adds a wonderful, tangy flavor. I use white balsamic.

Miso Paste: This also adds an incredibly delicious umami flavor. I prefer red miso, but you can also use white.

Tahini: The tahini adds richness and healthy fat and a great flavor.

Fresh Thyme: I used thyme because I had it on hand, but feel free to substitute another herb, such as rosemary, basil, or sage.

Dijon Mustard: The dijon adds a great tangy flavor.

Salt: I offer a recommended amount, but feel free to salt to taste.

Garlic: Fresh garlic will provide a great flavor and I much prefer it to garlic powder.

How To Make These Oil Free Vegan Burgers

These burgers could not be easier to make! Make sure to start by peeling and baking your sweet potato. (You could boil or microwave if you prefer). You could do this step up to a few days in advance. Also make sure to drain and rinse the can of beans. Then, simply put all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture holds together. It’s important to stop pulsing while you can still see visible peices of food and before it becomes just a paste. Err on the side of stopping early, as you can always pulse a few more times if necessary.

Next, refrigerate the mixture for about 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while the mixture is chilling. I know, it’s so tempting to skip this step, but resist the urge. I swear, almost every time I used to make a veggie burger recipe, I would skip the fridge time and my burgers would always fall apart. Try to be more patient than I am and I promise you will get good results!

Finally, form the mixture into patties. I get six patties with this recipe. Feel free to double the recipe if you need more burgers. These also freeze great, so having extra is not a bad thing!

Put some parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the patties on the parchment paper. Bake for 25 minutes, turning the burgers over halfway through the cooking time.

Serve the burgers on whole wheat or gluten free buns (or in a lettuce wrap) with lots of toppings. I like to top with tomato, red onion, lettuce, avocado, and mustard. These go great with home fries, fruit or salad. These are actually great on top of a salad too. Just crumble over the lettuce, top with veggies, and add dressing. Yum! These veggie burgers are delectable served with my Sugar Free Lemonade (Vanilla Bean and Rose Flavored). They would also be perfect with my Sugar Free Plant Based Mixed Berry Pie for dessert.

Follow me on Instagram @goodfoodfromtheheart and Pinterest at Good Food From the Heart and Facebook @GoodFoodFromTheHeart If you make this recipe, post it and be sure to tag me! Or Pin to Pinterest and make later.

By Jennifer Provenza at Good Food From The Heart

Whole food plant based, oil free, sugar free, gluten free option, soy free

This vegan mexican pizza is made of creamy refried beans, sauteed vegetables, hearty corn tortillas, and is topped with a dreamy cilantro lime crema. This oil free whole food plant based casserole makes a delicious Mexican feast and is a great freeze ahead meal.

Freeze Ahead Meals

So, I haven’t talked a lot about freeze ahead meals, but let me just say that when life gets crazy, they can be a real win! We have had a pretty lazy summer so far, but things are starting to ramp up and will only get more crazy from here. The kids are now doing gymnastics once a week, dance once a week, and swim lessons. Soon, they will start twice a week soccer. And a few weeks after that school starts, and with that, homework. Plus, as I start up teaching, I will be a lot more busy too. Whew! I’m excited for our lives to be fuller again, but also already starting to feel exhausted. I know, for our family, it can be so helpful to have a delicious home cooked meal in the freezer. Then, if I am ever having one of those nights, I can just pop it in the oven and have a nutritious dinner on the table without any work. I mean, it’s not that I don’t ever do takeout, but this is a lot cheaper and a lot healthier.

A Family Favorite

So, if you are wondering what vegan Mexican pizza is, it’s basically just a whole food plant based mexican casserole. There is a story as to why we call it Mexican Pizza. When my brother was little (probably around 3), he was obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the point that he only wanted to eat pizza. (In case you aren’t a fan, that’s all the ninja turtles ate). My mom, therefore, had to get creative as she started cutting his food into triangular pieces and calling it pizza. We had “quiche pizza,” actual pizza, and our Mexican casserole became…Mexican Pizza! The name has stuck and that’s what we still call it.

Now, the original recipe used flour tortillas and lots of cheese, but I have made some changes that make it a lot healthier. And, actually, I even like it better this way!

For some additional protein and vegetables, I have added a vegetable and bean saute. And, I’ve replaced the tortillas with corn tortillas and the cheese with a delicious cilantro lime crema made with cashews.

Finally, just because I like to make a large amount, I now cook this in a rectangular lasagna pan. But, if you want triangular pieces, feel free to use two 9 inch round pans instead.

Ingredients

Corn/Wheat Blend Tortillas: My absolute favorite tortillas to use for this recipe are corn tortillas with added wheat gluten, which makes them have more of a flour tortilla texture with a corn tortilla flavor. If you can’t find that or need to avoid gluten, feel free to use regular corn tortillas. If you wanted to, you could also use regular whole wheat tortillas, but I prefer the flavor of the corn tortillas. I like La Tortilla Factory Homemade Style.

Vegetarian Refried Beans: Make sure to get the vegetarian variety because some brands contain lard. Also, you will be adding 2 tablespoons of water just to make the beans more spreadable. No need to heat them up before using them.

Kidney Beans: I like to use kidney beans or pinto beans as the additional beans in this recipe, but any kind of beans will work. Use your favorite!

Corn: I usually use frozen corn, but fresh would be great too. Avoid canned as it does not taste nearly as good.

Roasted Red Peppers: I like to use jarred roasted red peppers because they are so soft and silky, but you can definitely roast your own fresh peppers if you are less lazy than I am. Just make sure to get them really soft.

Black Olives: These add a great flavor that you won’t want to skip. I buy pre-sliced because, again, lazy.

Mild Green Chilis: I love the flavor of mild green chilis. Feel free to use spicy if you aren’t feeding kids and you like spicy food.

Cumin, Chili Powder, Shallot: They add lots of flavor so don’t skip!

Canned tomato sauce: I buy the cans labeled “tomato sauce” and they usually contain some salt and onion powder and such. If you buy tomato puree, you may want to add some salt and onion or garlic powder to taste before using.

Cashews: The cashews provide the base for the crema. If you don’t have a high speed blender, you will need to pour boiling water over them and soak them for an hour before using. (Or soak overnight in cold water). You can skip this step if you have a high speed blender.

Cilantro: This provides the main flavor for the crema. You could try substituting basil if you are not a fan, but otherwise you will love the flavor this provides!

Lime: The lime juice provides a necessary tartness and tang. Don’t skip it!

Nutritional Yeast: This adds that cheesy flavor that you want the crema to have.

Canned Mild Chilis: For this, I use two whole mild chilis from a can. (Not two cans of mild chilis). You could also do 1/4 cup of mild diced chilis from a can if you can’t find the whole ones.

Salt: You can use it to taste, but I use a teaspoon because the salt really brings out the other flavors.

Garlic: Use fresh, if possible. I buy it jarred and pre crushed. Yay for lazy!

How To Make This Vegan Mexican Pizza

There are a few steps to this recipe, but it’s quite fool proof and can definitely be made in advance. Start by making your cilantro lime crema. If you don’t have a high speed blender, pour boiling water over the cashews and soak them for an hour. You can skip this step if you do have a high speed blender.

To make the crema, combine all the crema ingredients in your blender and blend until completely smooth. Set aside.

Next, mix the refried beans with the water to make it more spreadable and set aside. (No need to heat the beans).

To make the saute, add the kidney beans, corn, roasted red pepper, black olives, mild green chilis, shallot, cumin, and chili powder to a non stick pan. Add a few tablespoons of water to keep it from sticking and cook over medium heat until the shallot is transluscent and the vegetables are warmed through. Add 1/4 cup of the crema to the mixture and stir. Remove from the heat.

Put It All Together

Now it’s time to assemble this oil free whole food plant based Mexican casserole. Yeah! Start by spreading about a half a cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of your lasagna pan. If the pan is not non stick, you may want to spray on a little non stick spray first. Next, layer tortillas over the bottom of the pan. I usually do two large tortillas side by side and then rip another tortilla into pieces to fill in the empty spots. (Round tortilla, rectangular pan problems…). Next, cover the tortillas with another half cup of sauce, half the refried beans, and half of the vegetable mixture.

Cover this layer with more tortilllas and tortilla pieces, then add another half cup of sauce and the rest of the refried beans and vegetable mixture. Finally, top with more tortillas and tortilla pieces and cover with the last half cup of tomato sauce. Bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. After you remove the vegan Mexican pizza from the oven, pour the remainder of the cilantro lime crema all over the top. Allow to cool for five minutes, then cut into pieces and serve. This makes eight servings, but prepare to eat at least two pieces because it’s hard to stop at just one! This goes great with a salad or fresh fruit. For an extra yummy treat, blend up some frozen raspberries with some kombucha (or hard kombucha) and enjoy a sweet, frozen beverage with your dinner.

This oil free whole food plant based Mexican casserole also goes perfectly with my Decadent Chocolate Raspberry Nice Cream for dessert.

Follow me on Instagram @goodfoodfromtheheart and Pinterest at Good Food From the Heart and Facebook @GoodFoodFromTheHeart If you make this recipe, post it and be sure to tag me! Or Pin to Pinterest and make later.