Lukas Volger - Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful & Healthy Vegan & Vegetarian Burgers—Plus Toppings, Sides, Buns & More

PRAISE FOR
VEGGIE BURGERS EVERY WHICH WAY

THIS IS A TERRIFIC BOOK! Ive never been a fan of veggie burgersneither the word veggie nor the dry little disks with their strange little flavors. But Lukas Volger has just the right idea: Make real food with real flavorand burgers that go far beyond any microwavable snack. Theres a lot to like in Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, including some very appealing sides, dressings, and, what else? Buns! Im headed to my kitchen right now.

DEBORAH MADISON , author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madisons Kitchen

LUKAS VOLGERS BURGERS are made with real foodfresh produce, whole grains and beans, fresh herbs and spicescombined with imagination and great taste. This appealing book is the best collection of vegetarian burgers Ive ever seen, a refreshing departure from the overprocessed veggie burgers of yore.

MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN , Recipes for Health, nytimes.com and author of Mediterranean Harvest

THE WORLD OF BURGERS has just grown bigger, fresher, more colorful, and deliciously diverse thanks to Lukas Volgers back-to-basics approach to the veggie burger. Summer barbecues may never look the same again!

CATHY ERWAY , author of The Art of Eating In and NotEatingOutinNY.com

VEGANS AND VEGETARIANS (and others eating meatless) often resort to cooking frozen veggie burgers out of a box [with Veggie Burgers Every Which Way], you can whip up the real deal: great-tasting colorful homemade variations with fresh produce, whole grains, beans, rice, bread crumbs, spices, and herbs. They will be as good as the ingredients that go into them Appealing topping, side, dressing and bun options are included, too.

Los Angeles Daily News

ONE OF VOLGERS BEST veggie burgers combines a variety of mushrooms and barley, combining foresty and nutty flavors youd find in a wintertime wild mushroom soup Try going back to eating one of those frozen soy burgers after that.

The Oregonian

VOLGERS EXCELLENT NEW BOOK,Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, should not be thought of as just for vegetarians it is the variety and creativity of the recipes that makes this new cookbook stand out. Recipes such as his Tuscan White Bean Burger are sure to get just about any carnivores mouth watering.

CBC News

WHO KNEW SHREDDED CARROTS or quinoa could be so deliciously molded into a pattie? And satisfy a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

THIS IS A SMALL VOLUME with a big mission: to up the flavor profile of this particular vegetarian genre.

Washington Post

LUKAS VOLGER ELEVATES the vegetarian burger to its rightful status as real food.

Montreal Gazette

VEGGIE BURGERS EVERY WHICH WAY

Fresh, Flavorful & Healthy Vegan & Vegetarian BurgersPlus Toppings, Sides, Buns & More

LUKAS VOLGER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTINA HEASTON

Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful and Healthy Vegan and Vegetarian BurgersPlus Toppings, Sides, Buns and More

Copyright Lukas Volger, 2010
Photographs copyright Christina Heaston, 2010
Additional photographs () copyright Sean Dougherty, 2010

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The Experiment, LLC
220 East 23rd Street, Suite 301
New York, NY 10010
www.theexperimentpublishing.com

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Experiment was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been capitalized.

Veggie Burgers Every Which Way includes a variety of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes. While care was taken to provide correct and helpful information, the suggestions in this book are not intended as dietary advice or as a substitute for consulting a dietician or medical professional. We strongly recommend that you check with your doctor before making changes to your diet. The author and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940036

ISBN 978-1-61519-019-5
Ebook ISBN 978-1-61519-120-8

Cover design by Susi Oberhelman
Cover photographs and author photograph by Christina Heaston
Text design by Pauline Neuwirth, Neuwirth & Associates, Inc.

Printed in China
Distributed by Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
Distributed simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen and Son Limited
5th printing May 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5

In memory of my mom, Pam Volger

= vegan= gluten-free

A VEGGIE BURGER is no mere approximation of a hamburger. Aside from their shared circular shapes, the two have very little in common. So why is it that veggie burgers are so often used as boring stand-ins for hamburgers? And why do we call them burgers in the first place? It seems that veggie burgers have been unfairly represented, and its about time to champion them as their own independent category of food.

Over the past few decades, packaged and frozen veggie burgers have developed a loyal following among vegetarians and vegans, and Im frequently baffled as to how this happened. Im a longtime veggie burger enthusiast, but Ive never been a fan of those. I dont like the rubbery texture, and I dont like all the salt and the often-cryptic ingredientscan someone tell me what modified vegetable gum is, or autolyzed yeast extract? Can I buy either of them at the grocery store? Most of all, I dont like that processed flavor, present even in the ones that claim to be made only from identifiable ingredients; I find it to be suggestive of fast-food joints and stinky microwaves. It seems that most people settle for these as a quick fix: as a snack, an easy dinner, or something to pop in the microwave on your lunch break. When I talked to vegetarians and vegans as I was working on this book, even accomplished cooks admitted that it had never occurred to them to make veggie burgers themselvesdespite eating them for years. Many, however, told me of their favorite store-bought brands and the restaurants that serve the best renditions. Now, Ive long known that veggie burgers have a central role in the diets of vegetarians and vegans (and many omnivores as well), but I didnt realize how limited our collective curiosity appears to be when it comes to this particular staple.