Spanish Rice Veggie Burgers
After a week away I am so thrilled to be back with all of these Perfectly Imperfect veggies. I caught up with Ashley yesterday while the team was packing your boxes, and watching her talk about all the local produce she was able to rescue this week was so energizing. The joy she has for this mission, and the pride she brings to your boxes each week is just awesome. I'm so glad we're all on this team together, working toward ending food waste in our area! I hope you're proud, too! I'm a sucker for summer tomatoes, and this week's box is bringing you some cute little ones, or big farm style tomatoes. Either will be perfect for this recipe! I'm excited to share my recipe for spanish rice with you, and you can eat it as is, or use it to make these veggie burgers!
You can use the tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper from your box to make the rice! I add all the ingredients to a blender with some water, cook the rice in the veggie mix, and add the cooked rice to a bowl of cilantro, diced veggies, some egg and bread crumbs.
These veggie burgers are perfect on a bun, on a salad and can be frozen for a quick reheat for a weeknight meal! I hope you love them too! Spanish Rice Veggie Burgers Serves 6
Ingredients 1 Perfectly Imperfect tomato, cut into several large chunks, or 1 cup of the smaller tomatoes. 1 Perfectly Imperfect onion, 1/2 in large chunks, 1/2 in small dice 1 Perfectly Imperfect bell pepper, 1/2 in large chunks, 1/2 in small dice
1 Tablespoon ground cumin 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 cup long grain white rice 2 cups water 2 eggs 1 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup chopped cilantro salt & peper to taste
Directions 1. In a blender, combine 2 cups of water with the large chunks of tomato, bell pepper, onion, cumin, salt & pepper. Blend on high until all ingredients are combined. 2. In a large sauce pot, add rice, blended veggie mixture and olive oil. Once everything is boiling, turn heat to low, cover with a lid, and let cook for 25 minutes. Don't stir or remove the lid, just allow the rice to do its thing. After 25 minutes, kill the heat and let sit for 5 more minutes. Fluff with a fork. 3. You can eat as is, as a side dish for your favorite tacos, or turn the rice into veggie burgers! Set aside 2 cups of the cooked spanish rice, and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. 4. In a large bowl, combine rice, the remainder of the smaller diced onion and pepper, eggs, bread crumbs, cilantro, and salt & pepper. Mixture should be moist, but not too wet. Divide into 6 portions and flatten into burger shapes with your hands. Pro-tip: spray your hands with cooking spray to keep mixture from sticking to you!
5. You can either bake these at 400 for 20 minutes, or sauté in a non stick skillet over medium heat 6 minutes per side. 6. Serve on a bed of greens with more tomato and avocado, or pile high on your favorite bun. Enjoy! As always, we love seeing your creations in the kitchen each week! Tag us on instagram, @perfectlyimperfectproduce so we can keep up with your culinary adventures! Thanks for another great week, we can't wait to hear what you think!
