Tofu Burgers

Place tofu in a microwave safe strainer with a bowl underneath and microwave uncovered for 3 minutes. Or wrap in several layers of paper towel and microwave on a plate. Allow tofu to drain in a strainer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Take the onion and chop it finely. If the onion pieces are too large, the tofu burgers will not hold together well.

Wash the carrot (and peel if desired, I just leave the peel on for this one) and grate it on a cheese grater. I use the large holes on my cheese grater because we love veggies in this house. If your crew is not crazy about veggies, grate the carrot smaller.

In a frying pan with the oil, place onions, carrots and ground meat and stir fry until veggies are tender. Place this meat mixture in a strainer over a bowl to drain the oil and cool for a moment.

In a bowl, place tofu, meat mixture, egg and panko. With your hands, mix and squish and stir until all ingredients are well combined and no large chunks of tofu are left (see the related blog post for pictures).

Brush the oil that drained from the meat mixture onto the surface of a non-stick frying pan. Form the tofu mixture into burgers and place in a frying pan over medium/low heat. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure the bottom is not burning. After five minutes the bottom should be brown and if you touch the burger with your spatula, it should be starting to get a little firmer. If there is not much color and the burger still seems too soft to flip, increase flame a little, cover and cook for a few more moments. Flip burgers, cover and cook again for about 5 more minutes.

Serve with your favorite topping. Suggestions: catsup, soy sauce, a mixture of catsup and Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, ponzu, etc. To make the topping pictured above, see the related blog post.