The other night I got the wild idea that I was going to make homemade veggie burgers. It all started because I saw an article in a friend’s feed on Facebook with several of “the best” veggie burger recipes. They had all kinds that sounded amazing. Ones with butternut squash, grains, flavors. Who knew that you could make so many variations!
An amaranth eggplant variation caught my eye, and I chose that one since… 1) I had an eggplant that I needed to use and 2) I had just a little amaranth that had been gathering dust since I made my Mayan Harvest Bake. I got to work on the eggplant and amaranth steps, but then I realized just how freaking much work it was. The recipe had you mixing and pressing out the mixture, and then you had to use a biscuit cutter to cut the patties.
Who knows me here and thinks that I’m going to do all that? Not going to happen. Soooooo, presto change-o. I ripped open the fridge, grabbed my portobello mushrooms and decided to stuff the veggie burger mixture in the mushrooms. Man does not live by stuffed mushrooms alone, so I also needed some way to make this more of an entree.
As a result, the addition of TVP or ground beef came to be. Sorry, veggie burgers, I’ll have to catch you next time… when I have time to get out the biscuit cutter.
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Eggplant and Amaranth 
- 3 cups (300g) eggplant, cut into 1/2 cubes
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup (52g) uncooked amaranth
- 1 cup (96g) textured vegetable protein (TVP) OR 16 oz lean ground beef, cooked
- 1/2 cup (50g) yellow onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp (4g) nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp liquid smoke, optional but recommended if you’re going the TVP route
- 4 large portobello mushrooms (about 1 lb total)
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray it lightly with non-stick spray. Cut your eggplant into small cubes about 1/2 inch and toss with the soy sauce. Lay in a single layer on the cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven.
While the eggplant is baking, cook the amaranth according to package directions. My directions were to add 1/2 cup of water and boil for 15 minutes. That was perfect timing to finish just as the eggplant came out of the oven.
Rehydrate the TVP with water if you’re using the vegan version. Brown your ground beef and drain the fat if you’re using the beef version. Once the eggplant, amaranth and beef or “beef” are ready, mix all of the ingredients except the mushrooms in a bowl.
Remove the stems from the mushrooms so that they are hollow shells. Place the mushrooms, rounded side down on a foil lined cookie sheet. I used the same one I used for the eggplant. Fill each mushroom with the filling and press it down lightly with your hand. It will be pretty full and mounded on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.
Makes 4 large stuffed mushrooms at approximately 189 calories each – 19g protein, 26g carbs, and 1g fat for the “beef” version.
I’ll tell ya, I had one drizzled with chili ranch dressing and it was out of this world. The next day I had another on top of a salad with teriyaki dressing. Still great. You can even check out the video here if you like.
Have you ever tried making your own veggie burgers? I need to find a version that doesn’t require this much effort. I want a “press the patties with your hands” version like normal burgers. LOL.
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