Now these burgers are not about the patty, since the “patty” is actually just a slice of fried tofu, and I guess that in the US these might most likely be called sandwiches instead of burgers. But the main thing that’s going on here is the beet-sauerkraut relish, with its sweet-tangy taste that goes so very well with the rye bread, and its beety texture that is quite lovely with the fried tofu – especially when everything is drenched in creamy tahini sauce. Simple, quick, and tasty, just the way we prefer our dinners to be right now.

This recipe makes enough for 4 burgers, with some extra beet relish and tahini sauce left over. The relish is mighty tasty as a side dish as well, and we often serve this sauce with cooked grains like quinoa or barley. We also filled our burgers with pea sprouts and sliced yellow bell pepper, and enjoyed them with a side of carrot sticks.

The Tofu:

• 300 grams tofu
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• canola oil for frying
• black pepper to taste

Heikki first cut the tofu in 4 slices, pressed them for a bit with some cheesecloth, and then fried them in canola oil until slightly brown on both sides. Then he drizzled the liquid smoke and the soy sauce in the pan and turned the slices over a few times to make sure they got an even coating, and crackled plenty of black pepper over the tofu when it was ready.

The Beet Relish:

• 2 large beets, julienned (or even grated)
• 1 and 1/2 dl sauerkraut (about 100 grams)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• (a sqeeze of lemon juice)

I heated the oil in a frying pan and fried the onion until slightly browned. Then I added the beets and the sauerkraut in the pan, and fried for about 5 minutes, until the beet started to soften. Now I added the salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice, covered the pan, and let it stew until everything else was ready to serve (it took about 10 minutes).

Tahini Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1 dl nutritional yeast
• 3/4 dl water
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Heikki just dumped all the ingredients in our mini food processor and mixed until thoroughly combined and creamy. The thickness of this sauce can be easily adjusted by cutting the amount of water – this makes quite a runny sauce.

To assemble, we buttered out two toasted rye bread slices with a bit of vegan margarine, slathered the bread slices with tahini sauce, then added a pile of the beet relish on the bottom slice. That got drizzled with some more sauce, then covered by a slice of tofu and a bunch of veggies, and another drizzle of the sauce.

This is what we used:

• Bunch of fresh chard (enough to cover two baking sheets)
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Japanese seven spice (shichimi togarashi)
• olive oil for spraying

First we set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then we prepared the chard: washed the leaves, removed the stems, and cut the remaining parts into bite-size pieces. Now we crumpled a baking parchment, spread it on the baking sheet, and sprayed some olive oil on it. Then we covered the baking sheet with the chard pieces, taking care that individual pieces didn’t overlap, and sprayed them with some olive oil. We ground the nutritional yeast, salt and seven spice in a mortar, and sprinkled half of the spice mix on the chard bits. We made two sheetfuls of chips, so the rest of the spice mix was for the second batch.

Now we baked the chard for 7 minutes. They burn really easy, so we started watching them after 5 minutes or so. When they were dry and crunchy, we took them out of the oven. They are best eaten right out of the oven, since they lose their crispness fairly quickly. We devoured two sheetfuls of them in no time – their airy texture and spicy taste is quite addicting!

The amount of chili can of course be scaled up or down, to suit everyone’s tastes. The seasoning recipe makes just about enough to season 1 dl of unpopped corn kernels, or less if we want a more intense flavor.

Basic Pop Corn:

• 3/4 to 1 dl pop corn kernels
• 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons canola oil

We heat the oil in a cooking pot on high heat and add one corn kernel to see if it’s hot enough – when the kernel pops, it’s time to add the rest. Then we cover the pot, shake it a little, and let the kernels pop. When the popping slows down, we remove the pot from heat, pour the pop corn in a serving bowl, and toss in the seasoning.

The Seasoning:

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango powder, also known as amchur)
• 1/3 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 1/3 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

We just stir all the ingredients together with a fork – the amchoor powder tends to get a bit lumpy, so it’s important to be thorough with this.

We’ve used these bacon bits as a yummy pizza toping and in two kinds of pasta sauce – the other was just a tomato sauce with chick peas, and here’s the carbonara sauce we whipped up the other night.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 dl soy flakes
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons brown syrup
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• canola oil for frying

I first mixed the soy sauce, vinegar, syrup and liquid smoke together. Then I placed the soy flakes and the seasoning in a bowl and stirred until the flakes had absorbed all the liquid.

Now I heated our cast iron skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, and then fried the soy bits until nice and brown all over, with a few blackened spots here and there. For crispy results, I’ve used more oil, and for a chewier and less greasy result just a thin layer is enough.

I drained the bacon on kitchen towels and then it was ready to be used – in pasta, on sandwiches, as a pizza topping, or in salads. Yum.

Simple Carbonara:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 dl soy cream (or other vegan option – rice, almond, oat)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• plenty of black pepper
• 1 and 1/2 dl soy bacon bits
• chives and nutritional yeast

I heated up the oil and fried the onions until browned. Then I added the garlic, fried a minute more, and added the soy cream and heated it up. Then I removed the pan from heat, and stirred in the salt, plenty of black pepper, and the lemon juice. This makes enough sauce for a dry-ish pasta dish for 2 persons – add more cream if you like it saucier.

When the spaghetti was cooked, I stirred most of the soy bacon bits in the sauce, and then mixed the sauce with the pasta. We sprinkled our portions with nutritional yeast, chives, and more soy bacon bits.

I imagine oat flour can be bought commercially as well, but grinding rolled oats does the trick just fine. I first learned about this method from a cookbook I checked out from the library a while back, Dreena Burton’s The Everyday Vegan.

The oat cracker dough:

• 2 dl rolled oats, finely ground
• 1 and 1/4 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
• 1 dl water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and proceeded to make the crackers exactly like the last time. The only thing I had to do differently was to ground the oats, which I did in our mini food processor. I processed them until they were fine, much like whole wheat flour.

I combined water, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic, and placed the resulting wet mix in the fridge. Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and covered a baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oven was ready, I added the fridge-cold wet mix to the dry mix bowl, stirred with a fork until combined, and rolled it out on the baking parchment with the help of a little bit of extra flour. I cut the cookies with a pastry wheel and baked them for 20 minutes, until nicely browned and crispy.

After doing a lot of online research I settled on a recipe that uses a combination of white and whole wheat flour, includes nutritional yeast, and is seasoned with garlic, cayenne pepper and a little bit of mustard. I also wanted my crackers to have a light texture, so added baking soda and lemon juice – some cracker recipes don’t have any kind of leavening to my great surprise.

This recipe is very adjustable and the spices can be just about anything. I made a batch with only whole wheat, seasoned with tahini, sesame seeds, and wakame seaweed, and Heikki really liked that combo. For me, this is the recipe that works best:

Cayenne Garlic Crackers:

• 2 dl whole wheat flour
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
• 1 dl water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

First, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I combined the water, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic, and placed the resulting wet mix in the fridge to cool down. I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and covered a baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oven was ready, I added the fridge-cold wet mix to the dry mix bowl, and stirred with a fork until combined. The dough was a little sticky at this point but that’s okay, it was still easy to roll out with the help of a little bit of extra flour.

I sprinkled the parchment paper with some flour, and rolled out the dough with a rolling pin, adding a little more flour here and there when the dough started to stick. I rolled it out until it filled the whole baking sheet, trying to make it as even as possible, and then cut it with a pastry wheeler into triangles as pictured here:

This can be done with a knife as well. It’s not necessary to cut all through the dough – the crackers will bake more evenly if they stick together in the oven, and they’re easy to separate after baking.

Now, I baked my crackers for 20 minutes, until they started to brown just a little bit. These burn very quickly, so it’s best to keep an eye on them after the first 13 minutes or so. Our oven is old and tired, and for some reason it gets very hot in the central area, so the crackers in the center of the baking sheet got a little browner than the ones around the sides. If your oven bakes unevenly, it might be a good idea to turn the baking sheet around midway through baking.

The crackers don’t need to be completely crispy once taken out of the oven, they do crisp up while cooling down. I let mine cool completely on the baking sheet, and then stored them in an airtight container.

This pasta shape has many names, but I like to call it risoni, just because there’s a connection to the word rice there. This makes enough for two moderate portions or one big portion and some leftovers. The dish has a serious lack of veggies, but I did munch a few carrots to balance that up!

The Pasta:

• 1 and 1/2 dl risoni (orzo) pasta
• juice of 1 lime (about 1/4 dl)
• 1 huge garlic clove (or 3 normal), pressed
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• salt and black pepper to taste

I cooked the risoni in plenty of water for 8 minutes, then drained it, and tossed with the other ingredients in the cooking pot. While the pasta was cooking, I prepared the tofu.

The Tofu:

• 200 g firm tofu
• 1 onion, cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon agave syrup or sugar

I cut the tofu in tiny cubes without pressing it first, and heated the oil in a frying pan. I first fried the onion for a few minutes, until it started to get a little brown, and then added the tofu to the pan. I kept on frying it until most sides of the cubes had browned. Then I mixed the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, liquid smoke, and agave syrup together, and poured this mixture to the pan. I kept on frying until the liquid had evaporated, and then I was ready to plate the lunch.

Also needed:

• chopped basil leaves to garnish

I first ladled some of the risoni on my plate, then a pile of tofu over the pasta, and then sprinkled with chopped fresh basil leaves. Yum!