Beetroot, chickpea and miso burgers, by Holly White

A meatless Monday or an occasional dairy-free latte, there isn’t a rule book for going vegan - it’s your choice, writes Holly White whose debut cookery book has been a huge success.

Beetroot, chickpea and miso burgers

These hearty, filling and super tasty burgers also have the appearance of rare beef mince! You can serve them in a bun but I find that to be almost too filling, so I usually just serve them with a spoonful of garlic mayo.

Makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

200g sweet potato

Olive oil, for frying

200g beetroot, peeled and grated

1 small onion (approx 80g), finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

40g walnuts, chopped

20g jumbo oats

1 dsp spoon tamari, soy sauce or coconut aminos

3 tbsp ground flaxseeds

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp miso paste

1 tsp fine sea salt

A pinch of freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

6 burger buns, toasted (optional)

1-2 ripe avocados, peeled, stoned and sliced

1-2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

Pickles

Garlic mayonnaise

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Scrub your sweet potato clean and prick a few times with a fork so that it doesn't explode while cooking. Put on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the beetroot, onion and garlic and lightly fry for 10 minutes, until the beetroot is cooked and the onion is starting to go transparent.

4. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then mash until the chickpeas are broken up. You could also put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cooked beetroot, onion and garlic and stir to combine.

5. Cut the sweet potato along the skin and it should pop straight out. Discard the skin and stir the potato into the mixture in the bowl.

6. It's best to go in with your hands at this stage to give everything a final mix. Divide the mixture in half and form each half into three burgers to make six burgers in total. Ideally you'll put these on a plate or baking tray and leave them in the fridge for at least 1 hour or, even better, overnight to allow the burgers to firm up and the flavours to combine, but you can cook them straight away too.

7. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the burgers to the hot oil and fry for about 8 minutes on each side, until crisp and cooked through. If you're cooking them straight from the fridge allow a little more time, as they are very dense.

8. Serve with or without a toasted bun and some avocado, tomato, pickles and garlic mayonnaise.

If you're cooking these on a barbecue, put an oiled square of tin foil underneath the burgers to better support them on the grill.

MEAL PREPARATION

I don't like to cook every night so I usually pick a day of the week and batch cook some roasted veggies, rice, hummus, grilled tofu, curry paste and some energy balls and I am set for a few days and can throw a meal together in minutes.

* Recipes extracted from Vegan-ish, A Gentle Introduction To A Plant-Based Diet by Holly White, with photography by Leo Byrne, published by Gill Books at €22.99

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