Lentil and Brown Rice Patties
I love veggie patties of any kind. Unfortunately I don’t make them nearly as often as I like and I don’t experiment with them as much as I would like either. My mother in law is the veggie patty expert. She seriously makes the best veggie patties ever out of anything. Every time we meet up with them I secretly hope she has prepared some veggie patties for us! My patties never turn out as perfect as hers and I desperately need some extra tips from her before I start experimenting with patties again but in time I am sure I will master the patty!
These particular patties were probably the first veggie patties I have ever tried. I had them a long time ago, at some lovely family friends house for dinner. This was when I was still very ill and struggling with my appetite. I was not eating very much at the time and I had a lot of anxiety around food. I am not sure if our friends ever quite realised how difficult it was for me to be there. Food was the greatest source of my anxiety and at the same time I would force my self to eat because I was worried about offending our hosts. These lentil patties were served up along side some sweet potatoes and salad and I can not even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed them. This was a huge thing at the time because I didn’t like anything. If I ever found anything that I actually enjoyed eating I ate as much of it as I could in fear that I would never enjoy food again. And thats basically what I did, I ate the majority of the patties on the table, all while trying to hide what was going on inside. My husband who knew me and what I was going through, offered up his patties to me even though he loved them, just so I could eat and enjoy my food!
I obviously asked for the recipe, but I was only given a quick verbal list of ingredients that I had to remember. I am not sure how much these patties actually resemble the ones at the dinner table that night because I have been making my own version ever since. They taste similar and I still love them just as much! Thankfully I also love everything I eat now and my appetite and food anxiety is no longer an issue. But I think I have a special connection to these patties and a few other foods ( like raw desserts) because they helped me in my time of struggle!
These patties are a little different to most veggie patties that you would put in a burger. Our friends that served them up come from the Serbia/Croatia region. The food in that region I believe resembles Romanian food the most ( I grew up on Romanian food). Which is probably why I enjoyed them so much. I have tried these patties on a burger before and I was not a fan. They are best eaten with a side of mashed potatoes or any type of potatoes, sweet potato etc and a big salad. They are all vegan, full of nourishment and if you use gluten free bread crumbs you can easily make them gluten free as well. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
| Lentil and Brown Rice Patties | Print |
- ½ cup brown lentils
- ½ cup brown rice
- 1 small onion
- 1 zucchini
- 1 carrot
- ½ cup bread crumbs ( use gluten free if necessary) plus extra for rolling
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp of mixed Italian herbs or to taste
- sunflower oil
- Cook lentils according to package directions in water with a little dry veggie stock
- Cook brown rice according to package directions
- Finely chop your onion
- Trim and grate your carrot and zucchini
- Fry off your onion in a little sunflower oil until lightly browned then add your grated carrot and zucchini and cook for 5 - 10 minutes on medium heat until the veggies have softened. You can add a TBSP of water to help.
- In a large bowl combine your cooked brown rice, cooked lentils, cooked veggie mixture, bread crumbs and mixed seasoning.
- Season with lots of salt and pepper
- Mix well until well combined and start to form your patties. I form large balls and then flatten them slightly in between my palms. You can make them any size you want but I would keep them small to medium and the larger ones do not hold together as well.
- Coat in extra bread crumbs on each side
- Place your patties in a baking tray greased with a little sunflower oil. Brush each patty with a little sunflower oil or alternatively use an oil spray
- Bake at 200 C for about 20 - 30 minutes
- You can also fry your patties for about 30 seconds on each side in a little oil, they soak up lots more oil this way but both versions are delicious
