With the warmer spring weather we were having until the snow on Monday (Ugh!) I had been wanting springy food, fresh veggies, salads and food that can be grilled! I love having BBQs outside and fires at night once the warm weather comes.  This week in time with the spring equinox and summer on the way we have a delicious burger recipe. I used a store bought burger but you could make your own or use any store bought vegan burger patty that is your favorite. This recipe is all about the toppings and they are SO good! Lets get into the recipe.

Beet Relish

Ingredients

• 1 medium purple beet diced
• 1/2 medium red onion diced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl or jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Smoky Cheeze Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 medium head of cauliflower (about 1/2 a cup)
• 1/4 medium onion
• Clove of garlic

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt (if you don’t have this feel free to sub a little more liquid smoke and just use some regular sea salt.
• 1 tablespoon tapioca powder (this really helps to thicken the sauce and give it a cheesy consistency)

Instructions

1. Place the first three ingredients in a pot of boiling salted water and let them boil until the cauliflower is tender. About 10 minutes
2. While the cauliflower, onion and garlic are boiling the rest of the ingredients can go into the blender
3. Once the cauliflower is tender place the boiled veggies into the blender with the rest of the ingredients, along with a 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid
4. Blend until super smooth then place back into the same pan the veggies cooked in just rinse it out quickly
5. Place the pan on the stove on medium low heat and using a rubber spatula stir until the sauce is thick and gooey about 10- 15 minutes while its cooking start on the mushrooms

Garlicky Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 Large clove of garlic minced
• 6 medium mushrooms, cut in half then sliced (or buy the presliced ones to make it even easier)
• 1/2 tablespoon EVOO
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a skillet (I love my cast iron skillet) over medium heat add mushrooms and stir until most of their water is released, about 10- 15 minutes
2. Once the mushrooms are ready I usually just move them to the sides of the skillet and add a little more oil to the center to cook the burger patties of my choice. In these photos I used Field Roast hand formed patties and cooked them according to the package instructions

Assembly

I used ciabatta bread as the bun which I really liked. If you don’t have ciabatta you could use any bun of your choice.

Add a generous tablespoon of the relish to the bottom of the bun, then add the burger patty, mushrooms, top with cheeze sauce. I added a little more beet relish to the top and it was just the right amout for me! Add as much as you like.

Devour. I served these burgers with crispy homemade oven baked onion rings. Recipe to come soon, stay tuned!

Hope you enjoy these burgers, let me know what you think!

XO

Kristen