Roasted Beet Burgers from Eat Like You Give a Damn

I’m often just sent vegan cookbooks to review. But when I heard about Eat Like You Give a Damn, I got in touch with the publisher right away. I had to have a copy and mine was provided for free by The Book Publishing Company.

The authors, Michelle Scwegmann and Josh Hooten, run Herbivore Clothing. That’s a vegan store in Portland and online. I have a few of their stickers on my car, including one that reads “Only Kale Can Save Us Now”. Besides selling way too many awesome t-shirts, they have a huge vegan cookbook collection and are big supporters of vegan authors. I was delighted that they decided to write their own cookbook.

I recommend Eat Like You Give a Damn to people new to eating vegan and those who have been vegan awhile. Unlike many entry-level cookbooks, these recipes are fun, full of flavor and will impress your friends. Plus the recipes are straight forward and a great way to learn about some of the “special” vegan ingredients like vital wheat gluten, cashew cream and nutritional yeast.

Eat Like You Give a Damn and Recipe for Beet Burgers

Photo by Michelle Scwegmann and Josh Hooten

This cookbook is geared towards ethical vegans, so in the beginning there’s some information about why you want to go vegan in addition to the usual how to go vegan tips. If that’s your thing or not, you will still find dozens of delicious recipes to try.

With a few small substitutions here and there, most of the recipes would work into a plant-based diet as well. Just water saute instead of using oil to make many recipes oil-free. Most of the baked goods would do well with applesauce or pumpkin puree substitutions. I would tend towards using all whole wheat flour in the places that all purpose is called for. But I’m just like that.

Many of the recipes are already low-fat and they all contain nutritional information. I wish all beginning vegan books were this inviting with recipes that jump to life, right off the pages.

Photo by Michelle Scwegmann and Josh Hooten

These Roasted Beet Burgers from Eat Like You Give a Damn are just the thing to serve at your next bbq.

Roasted Beet Burgers

From Eat Like You Give a Damn by Michelle Schwegmann and Josh Hooten: Everything about these burgers is delicious. We’ve fine-tuned them that way through months of enjoyable recipe testing. Roasting the vegetables and tofu makes them taste incredible, and beets make the meatiest-looking veggie burger ever. There is no need to chop the vegetables uniformly or in small pieces, because you’ll be using a food processor to make the ground “meat,” so the prep work is super easy.

2 cups quartered crimini mushrooms
11 ⁄2 cups coarsely chopped beet (see tip)
1 ⁄3 cup coarsely chopped onion
4 large cloves garlic (coarsely chopped)
1 pound super-firm or extra-firm tofu (drained and pressed)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 cup cooked quinoa (farro, or)
brown rice
1 ⁄4 cup nutritional yeast Sakes
1 ⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 ⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper

PREHEAT THE OVEN to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Put the mushrooms, beet, onion, and garlic in a large bowl.
Using your hands, crumble the tofu into the bowl, making sure to break up the pieces well, and stir to combine. Add the oil, tamari, and thyme and mix well. Spread the mixture on the lined baking sheet so it covers the whole sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir and spread out the mixture again. Bake for 25 minutes longer, until the beet is tender and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Transfer to a food processor. Add the quinoa, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Pulse eight to ten times, stopping occasionally to scrape down the work bowl, until all the ingredients are well chopped and stick together. Return the mixture to the large bowl.
Form into 6 paIies, puIing each paIy on waxed paper as it’s shaped.
Mist a large skillet (cast iron if you have one) with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. When hot, cook the paIies until crispy (in batches, if necessary), about 5 minutes per side.
Tip: Use a beet about the size of a baseball. Scrub it well so you can leave the skin on.