Portabella Burgers w/ Balsamic Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions & Caper-Shallot Vegan Mayo

Comical, but tasty mushroom burger

As you can tell, this was a mouthful in more than one way...they're pretty funny looking, but they were tasty and gave the old jaws a good stretch in the process.

During the week, when I’m short on time, I often turn to veggie burgers for a quick-fix dinner. But lately, I’ve been growing more and more disillusioned with store-bought veggie burgers; I used to buy Garden Burger’s Vegan Veggie Medley , then I switched to Wildwood Tofu Burgers …even those have lost favor with me. Yes, I could make my own burgers, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of eating burgers for the sake of a super-quick, hassle-free meal.

Then, it struck me…mushroom burgers…why had I never thought of this before? In restaurants around here, some variation of portabella burger is ubiquitous and more often than not, the only veganizable item on the menu. So, I roasted up some mushrooms for my quick burger fix…so quick, so easy…yaay!

I also roasted some thick slices of tomato splashed with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper (substitutes for ketchup nicely), caramelized some onions, and stacked it all on a burger with some homemade vegan mayo.

After all that, it wasn’t as quick as the original intent, but it was worth it.

Here’s the mayo recipe I used:

½ cup almonds, soaked in water for several hours (6-8)
½ cup water
juice of ½ lemon
1/2 tablespoon agave
½ tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ to 2/3 cup olive oil

I mixed up everything except the oil in the food processor, then I drizzled the oil in little by little.

Note: this turned out a little too sweet for me; next time I make it, I’ll leave the agave out altogether.

After the mayo was all blended, I transferred it to a bowl and stirred in some capers and finely minced shallot.

Open wide..!