One of the Recipes for Grandma Bonnie's Veggie Burgers

During Grandma Bonnie Peters' lifetime, the recipe for her Veggie Burgers was an official trade secret. I don't know whether she wrote it down or memorized it. I know that the Veggie Burgers that were sold in stores were made in industrial quantities and shipped out frozen. So this is not the recipe for the popular sage-flavored version some readers may remember eating. The proportions for a family meal's worth of any recipe are different from the proportions for the industrial version. 

Actually, because it was fresh baked, this version tasted better. Actually, finding the recipe brought back long-buried memories of the fun we used to have, cooking with vegetables, before 2009 when most commercially grown vegetables started to have glyphosate sprayed right on the part people ate. Will we ever be able to trust and enjoy vegetables in that way again? 

These Veggie Burgers were developed specifically for use with a low-protein diet. For me, the key to enjoying them is to recognize that they're "burgers" in name only, or resemble hamburgers only in their size and the ways you could heat up pre-frozen ones. They are a vegetable loaf designed for patients eating a low-protein, low-fat diet. The onion and potato give them a savory flavor people on such diets tend to miss, but in protein and calories they're closer to the bun than to the hamburger. If a low-fat, low-protein diet has not been recommended for you, as it was for the patients who inspired GBP to market Veggie Burgers, you can eat these "burgers" with a bean soup or even a meat stew.

Anyway, this was something close to the recipe for Grandma Bonnie's Allergy-Ease Veggie Burgers, in a size you can easily make at home. Some recipes for veggie burgers can be quite elaborate. GBP had worked out a few recipes that were as easy for her to throw together as a vegetable stir-fry or a pan of cornbread.

Ingredients for Family-Size Batch of Sage Veggie Burgers

1 can green beans (a pint-sized can)

2 cups your own vegetable stock

1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons molasses

1/4 cup of a safe soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos

 

1/4 cup dried onion flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons sage

1 cup rice flour

1-2 cups Betty Crocker Potato Buds (potato flakes) as necessary to make a dough

Salt

Method for Family-Size Batch of Sage Veggie Burgers

Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Grind the sunflower seed kernels and finely chop the green beans. This is most easily done in the blender or food processor. Drain the beans, saving their liquid to add to your vegetable stock pot or jar, and put them in the blender container.

2. Measure in two cups of vegetable stock. GBP used whatever vegetable cooking and canning liquids she had. Supermarkets sell vegetable stock, but I don't think GBP ever used it. It tends to contain added salt and monosodium glutamate and may contain glyphosate residues. Carrots and celery are key ingredients of traditional vegetable stock; they also soak up glyphosate like sponges. 

3. Blend these ingredients almost completely smooth. Then combine with the others in the blender or in a mixing bowl. Use enough potato flakes to make a wet but cohesive dough. Taste, and add up to a teaspoon of salt as needed. GBP said salt probably wouldn't be needed if you used soy sauce.

4. Shape patties. You will have six burger-sized patties, which will fit nicely on a baking sheet you can oil or line with your Silpat baking sheet liner. 

5. Bake 20 minutes, then turn the pan and check for browning and doneness. They will need to bake 5 or 10 minutes more.

6. Although people who eat wheat could eat these burgers in buns, the burgers are breadlike and make a very bready sandwich. GBP served them with a hot soup, vegetable, or bread and a cold lettuce-tomato-cucumber salad. 

Is It Safe to Make These Veggie Burgers Yet?

The commercial conglomerates refuse to tell you whether commercially sold vegetables, even the ones misleadingly labelled "organic," have been sprayed with glyphosate or something else that may cause symptoms. You have to be vigilant. Know your reactions and, if you have a reaction to vegetables, don't use that kind again. 

However, people have been complaining about and not using glyphosate-sprayed veg for several years now, and most companies have taken heed. My experience has been that green beans are usually fit to eat these days. Potatoes are riskier, but often safe. Rice and spices are usually safe to eat. If you have good sources of unsprayed vegetables, it's safe to enjoy these Veggie Burgers. Soy sauce is the ingredient in this recipe that is most likely to be contaminated. If you can't find glyphosate-free soy sauce, substitute a a little more vegetable broth and use the full teaspoon of salt.

And if GBP had not clung to the idea that "vegetables are so good for us, we should keep on eating them even if they're poisoned," she might have lived longer. So be careful about using vegetables. I love vegetables and recommend eating them when you can, but stop using them if you find that they contain glyphosate or other poisons.