Red Bean Almond Burgers

Many people want to find a way to make a veggie burger they actually enjoy eating. Trying to make palatable veggie patties can be challenging as generally speaking, these are lacking in flavor and the texture leaves much to be desired.

It's all well and good to want to eat wholesome food, but when trying to switch to "meatless," it is an uphill battle to create a burger that is truly satisfying.

I've been experimenting with different combinations to try to come up with a "hamburger" patty that makes the grade.

This recipe uses red beans, oat flour, whole wheat flour, ground almonds, barbecue sauce and other seasonings to create a delicious burger. When you look at the ingredients, you will see how truly healthful and cholesterol-lowering this mixture truly is.

If possible, try to use organic whole wheat flour, oats, beans and virgin olive oil as you assemble these meatless burgers.

• When I grind my almonds, I like to loosely grind, so that there are little chunks of almonds, which adds a pleasing texture to these patties.

• Add lots of olive oil. This helps to make everything crispy as it cooks

• Check flavor of raw mixture and continue to add seasonings and/or barbecue sauce until the mixture has a delicious, flavorful, smokey taste.

• The more seasonings, you add, the more flavorful these burgers become. A general rule of thumb, when using non-meat ingredients, is to use more seasonings, so the the vegetable mixture takes on those flavors. Fortunately, you can do this with herbs, over having to use lots of table salt.

I like to use about half of this mixture for "hamburger" for spaghetti sauce. I crumble it in a pan and fry in olive oil with chopped onions until the small pieces are browned and crispy, then I add this mixture to my sauce and top noodles with it

Mixing in barbecue sauce really gives these burgers a wonderful taste.

Rosemary, crushed garlic, and poultry seasoning add so much flavor, too.

Mix mixture with a wooden spoon and then work with hands until you have a ball. Mixture should stick together. If necessary, add more oat flour or whole wheat flour until you have non-crumbly patties. Pull off palm-sized chunks and shape these into rounds and then flatten, prior to frying.

Add olive oil to fry pan and brown patties on low heat until thoroughly browned and crispy. Use a liberal amount of olive oil for frying, so burgers have a satisfying crunch.

The great thing about all of this is that you do not have to worry about fat and calories.

• Beans help to rid the body of cholesterol

• Oats are considered a cholesterol-lowering food.

• Whole grains help to cleanse the digestive tract

• Garlic and onions have anti-cancer components

• Almonds are a good source of calcium

• Olive oil helps to raise good HDL

Once your patties are cooked, you're ready to make delicious-tasting veggie burgers. Simply add toppings of your choice to Kaiser or hamburger buns.

• Fried onions
• Fried mushrooms
• Lettuce
• Sliced tomato
• Sliced cucumbers
• Alfalfa sprouts, if you have them on hand
• Sliced dill pickles
• Vegan cheese or regular cheese (optional)
• Any spreads of your choosing, such as mustard, Thousand Islands, Mayo, Ketchup, etc.

Hands, down, when you eat veggie burgers made from these ingredients, you are protecting your heart and arteries, protecting your digestive system and building stronger bones. It's a wonderful feeling to eat a burger and not have to worry about fat and calories. Really, why wouldn't you eat something this good for you?