The Last Supper

Last night we had our final meal in our month-long vegan experiment. June 30th: aka the birthday of my dear sister, Jacqueline (right with her delicious birthday cocktail courtesy of Brandt's bartending expertise), and the last day on the vegan diet. She was kind enough to relinquish any birthday meat sandwiches to join our last hoorah. The Birthday Girl requested her favorite vegan meal of June, Mushroom Walnut Burgers, which I had made for my family for Father's Day dinner a few weeks ago. These are a satisfying dish for meat and non-meat eaters alike, have a lot of flavor, and like so many of our favorite recipes that came from this month, use the beloved Cuisinart Food Processor. Last night, I served the burgers (recipe at the end of this post) with roasted red potatoes and an herb salad with pine nuts, cucumbers and balsamic dijon vinaigrette. A delicious end to the vegan month of June.

Then, at midnight, Brandt dove into his Halvah that I had purchased him earlier in the day in preparation for a ravenous start to meat-eating. It's his favorite candy and made him quite happy...

...but not nearly as happy as the 12:30am July 1st Bacon, Egg and Cheese.


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Mushroom Walnut Burgers

1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 to 2 cups bread crumbs (I used panko, but any would do)
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 Tbs fresh
1/2 teaspoon dried sage or 1 Tbs fresh
salt and ground pepper, to taste

In a food processor, mince mushrooms and parsley. Remove and set aside.

In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook onions and garlic for 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to a large-size bowl, and combine with minced mushrooms and parsley, bread crumbs, tahini, Worcestershire sauce, walnuts, soy sauce, oregano, sage, salt, and pepper.

Place mixture in refrigerator for one hour (THIS STEP IS KEY FOR GETTING PATTIES THAT WILL STICK TOGETHER LIKE A BURGER--I MADE MINE IN THE MORNING AND REFRIGERATED ALL DAY FOR BEST RESULTS).

Create patties using your hands--mixture will be soft but should still be able to form patties; add additional bread crumbs or tahini if necessary. In a sauté pan, warm remaining olive oil, and fry patties over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crispy. Be careful to keep patties intact.

Serve on whole grain buns with caramelized onions, tomato slices and arugula.