You should never sit idly by waiting for frozen edamame to thaw. It’d be silly to waste your time like that. Here’s a better idea: find a grocery store about 4 miles away and walk there. Your edamame will be good and moist by the time you get home. You will also have a wound that resembles rug burn deeply imbedded in your hip from your reusable grocery bag (come on, people now, people now, people now, come on got to use reusable grocery bags, people now) sitting against your jutty hip. The entire walk. The entire 8ish mile walk. Why in the hell did you walk 8ish miles for a grocery store?

Edamame and Black Lentil Veggie Burgers is why!

Ok I could have found these ingredients closer to my apartment but I really wanted to try out this awesome looking natural foods store that is not in my neighborhood (coincidentally, 4ish miles away from my neighborhood) and it did not disappoint. I mean, I got a Spicy Vegetarian Tuna Wrap for lunch there. That’s 36g of non-meat, non-fish, non-chicken protein. That’s…fucking incredible. Oh and it tasted really good too. And I ate it while I continued walking. For forever.

Back to the veggie burgers!

I don’t know why edamame isn’t used in more veggie burger recipes. It packs more protein for less carbs than other beans and it’s not bad at holding all the stuff together. I’m glad I used equal parts edamame and lentils, however, because what in the hell is a veggie burger without some sort of bean? Nothing. It is a nothing.

This is a something!

The dry ingredients are healthy-ed up for your pleasure. The brown rice breadcrumbs, ground flaxseed, and nutritional yeast let you sneak some more protein in to balance out the carbs a little. To put it in perspective, the typical Vegetarian Times veggie burger recipe runs you about 40g of carbs. And these Edamame and Black Lentil Burgers have good amount of fiber so if you do that net-carb crap, you’re net-carb welcome.

Oh and I baked these because “baked” is a buzzword that means healthy or something. Also, I didn’t feel like having to clean a skillet today. Also, I’m still afraid of my smoke detector going off. Also, I got to sit around in my underwear while they baked instead of stand around in my underwear while they fried. I WALKED A MILLION MILES TODAY.

These patties are pretty yummy – way moister than store bought veggie burgers, and just a little moister than a restaurant veggie burger. You can always add more panko and/or regular breadcrumbs than I did (remember, I fear that four letter “c” word. No. Not that one. Carb. Let’s be ladies, you c words.) if you like but it’s definitely not necessary. Feel free to season however you like! And you will like.

Edamame and Black Lentil Veggie Burgers

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks



For 6 large burgers, you’ll need

1.5 cups of black lentils, drained

1.5 cups of edamame, out of the shell

2 large eggs (make it vegan by replacing all eggs/egg whites with 12 tbls flaxseed meal + 4 tbls water)

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

4 tbsp nutritional yeast

4 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup brown rice bread crumbs (I found this once for another recipe and it’s been living in my cupboard ever since. It even made the move from DC to NY. Feel free to use other bread crumbs but these are nutritionally kinda rad.)

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

Come on people let’s make veggie burgers, people now

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Puree the following in your handy dandy food processor: edamame, black lentils, eggs, egg whites, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Don’t over-process it, the small chunks of edamame and lentils are a good thing. Transfer the soupy mixture to a large bowl. Put the flaxseed, breadcrumbs, panko, and nutritional yeast in the bowl and mix it all around until it’s all combined and you have that song stuck in your head. (GOTCHA.) The mixture is still going to be pretty sticky but that’s cool. Form them into 6 giant patties or 12 small patties on your prepared baking sheet.

Toss your veggie burgers in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out, cool, devour. Repeat.

Unrelated (sort of): How do people live without garbage disposals? I swear, this is the most challenging inconvenience I’ve had to deal with since moving to Brooklyn. And I have had a whooole lot of inconveniences. Any tips? Do I need to buy a potbelly pig or something? Help?