The perfect vegan burger for the grill

This recipe is for a delicious veggie burger that is wholesome, vegan, healthy, and something even meat eaters will enjoy because of how "meaty" it tastes. The best part about it is they actually stays together when you go to grill vs. many other veggie burgers that crumble or fall apart. We evenly purchased a brand new George Foreman grill from an animal rescue fundraiser through the Thrifty Critter.. an amazing organization by the way... shopping and getting great deals plus donating to the animals, who can beat that?! Any way, having a convenient electric grill motivated me to find some good recipes to cook on it and these burgers were perfect! Give this a go- whether you have a grill, or prefer to cook on a skillet or in a frying pan, they will come out perfect every time :) Thank you Minimalist Baker for this great recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked rice
1 cup raw walnuts
½ tbsp grape seed or avocado oil (plus more for cooking with)
½ onion finely chopped
1 tbsp each chili powder, cumin powder, and smoked paprika
½ tsp each sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp coconut/brown/muscovado sugar
1 ½ cups (or 1 can) of cooked black beans, rinsed and dried
⅓ cup bread crumbs (I make my own by slightly toasting and ripping up sprouted whole grain bread)
3-4 tbsp vegan BBQ sauce

Instructions:

Cook rice, and put aside to cool.

Heat skillet and cook walnuts for about 5-7 minutes, stirring and flipping until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Cook onion on skillet with oil and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until translucent and set aside.

Blend walnuts, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar and blend well until a fine meal is achieved.

Add everything else to food processor and blend until dough-like (I also snuck some greens in here to make my burgers a little healthier). If too dry add more BBQ sauce and if too wet add more bread crumbs. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Divide mixture into 5 large patties or 10 small ones, about ¾ inches thick each. Heat your grill or skillet and when ready, cook each "patty" for a few minutes on each side until browned. They won't hold their shape as well as meat burgers but still well enough. Make the patties bit thicker if they seem to fall apart on you, or adjust ingredients to make them more wet or dry.

Once done and cooled, serve on a bun or leafy greens with toppings of your choice! Treat as a normal burger. Enjoy!