Lunchbox Series – Veggie Burger

I’ve tried almost all the frozen vegetable burgers available in grocery stores here..Morningstar Farms, Boca, Amy’s, but none come close to the “veggie patty” burger that I was used to growing up.  I’ve also realized that one reason why most hamburger eaters think that veggie burgers are “gross” is probably cos they are. They are often dry, hard as a rock, with processed fake meats holding them together. Most of the brands I mentioned above were staple when I was in school here, only because I didn’t have the time to look for anything different or make one from scratch and were my only go-by for a meatless option, hard to find in most college town fast food joints.

Veggie burgers are a pretty common feature in the Indian fast food restaurant menus and one of my favorite food growing up, so it was no wonder that I was looking for a similar texture and taste in the frozen section. Amy’s California burger came close to the taste …at least it didnt have the heavy soy taste that the others did. But it didn’t pass the lunchbox test. The dryness came back once the burger cooled. I tried making my own, and that worked, but again, making a whole batch of them to use in lunches was a lot of work, so the quest for that perfect frozen burger was still on. And then I found one in Costco. It was recommended to me by a friend when we had a veggie barbecue party at home, and was such a hit, that it’s been staple in my refrigerator ever since. Carrots, bell peppers, potatoes and other veggies make up this burger, and it’s best served grilled. Manufactured by Don Lee Farms, they have a range of meat and meat free products. The best part is, that it doesn’t dry out, probably because it’s thinner, uses vegetables as the biding agent, and doesn’t have the fake meat.

Nikhil, my 7 year old food critic loved it too, so it made it’s way into his laptop lunch, of course! Grilled veggie patty, served on a wheat kaiser roll, with organic hummus,  lettuce, swiss cheese , onion and tomato make this a very wholesome lunchbox staple. Add a banana, some salad greens and yoghurt and you have a nutritous and wholesome lunch.