Mads-esque Vegan Burgers

Total Time: 28 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients

• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 large courgette, cut into nice little semi-circular bits
• 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 -5 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 100 g mushrooms, diced
• 250 g tinned lentils
• 2 cups rice, cooked beforehand (i generally use basmati rice but this is only due to the limitations of my cupboard)
• garlic, to taste
• salt
• cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Recipe

• 1 heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat.
• 2 add the red onion and red pepper and stir (i generally add a clove or two of garlic (crushed) at this point).
• 3 when the onions have softened, add the mushrooms and courgettes.
• 4 cook for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 5 add the lentils, plus water/ vegetable stock in which they were tinned.
• 6 stir mixture together and allow to cook for a further 5 minutes.
• 7 add rice, reduce the heat slightly and cook until the mixture really starts to stick together.
• 8 add salt, cayenne pepper and more garlic if necessary.
• 9 stir in the spinach leaves until they are fully wilted.
• 10 remove from heat and leave to cool for an hour or more.
• 11 when ready, squeeze the mixture into burger (ish) shapes and whack em in a frying pan.
• 12 tasty even without making them into burgers, but they tend to look a little more appetising!
• 13 serve with salad or in a bun, up to you.