These Sunflower Seed Burgers make a great mid-week meal. I usually serve them with roasted vegetable chips and a crisp salad, but steamed vegetables can work just as well. You may like to add a tomato sauce by stirring some passata into a finely chopped onion, fried over a low heat with some extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of dried basil. Serve this on the side or in a small ramekin dish for each person.
Alternatively the veggie burgers can be added to a salad lunch-box or paired with crudités for a nutritious children’s packed-lunch. You don’t have to use the burger shape either, mould the mixture around skewers for delicious kebabs, or make into walnut-size pieces for an alternative to meat-balls. With quality free-range and grass-fed meat being so expensive, having some vegetarian options in your recipe collection can help the food budget reach the end of the week!
This recipe is simple enough for children to help, and an added bonus is that you can successfully freeze the burgers, either before they are cooked or after cooking, so they can easily be made in advance. Experiment with the vegetables you add to the recipe. I used carrot, courgette and onion, but you can also use finely chopped red pepper, finely chopped cooked vegetables, or even add in some cooked whole grain, such as buckwheat or quinoa. Add plenty of herbs and mild spices according to taste. I generally use an Italian herb mix, but you can replace this with some cumin, coriander, a little ginger and plenty of garlic! Have fun and make the recipe work for your taste buds!
Combine the sunflower seeds, and grated vegetables and garlic. Add chives and mustard powder. Stir in the egg to bind.
Form mixture into ‘burger’ shapes and roll in sesame or flax seeds. Place on an oiled baking tray and drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil.
Place in the oven and bake at 150 for 40 minutes until golden. Alternatively mould mixture around skewers to make see kebabs. Cook as for burgers.
