lentil burgers

Katy and I made lentil burgers for dinner last night!
Here is the recipe:

1 16-ounce bag of lentils
1 big onion
1 tomato
3 eggs
bread crumbs
spices
olive oil
wine (to drink while you are cooking)

Follow the directions on the bag to cook the lentils (ours said to "simmer" until they were ready.  They rattled around in the bubbling water for a while, it was nice).  Meanwhile, in a large bowl start mixing up a small mountain of bread crumbs (maybe a cup, but you'll add more later) with any spices you like... we put salt, pepper, garlic powder, "Turkish seasoning", chili powder, coriander...  Dice up the onion and tomato and add them to the bowl, too.  Beat up the eggs in a small bowl and keep those to one side for now.

When the lentils are soft enough, drain the water from them and add them to the bowl of bread crumbs, spices, onion and tomato.  Start mashing it all around with two wooden spoons (helps if you have a friend).  You need to let it cool down a bit before adding the eggs, otherwise the steaming hot lentils will cook them immediately.  If the lentil mixture is cool enough that you can poke your finger into it and hold it in there for at least 5 seconds, then it's okay to add the eggs.  Add a little bit of olive oil too.  Mash everything together (still with the spoons or with your hands if you're in the mood for getting messy).  If the mixture seems too soft, add some more bread crumbs.  If you're not a weenie about eating raw eggs, taste it to see if it needs any more salt/spices.

When you've got a good lentil mush, form patties and fry them in a pan of olive oil!  We got about 12 burgers out of this recipe.  Try them on whole wheat English muffins with cheddar or swiss, spinach leaves, and vidalia onion dressing... Enjoy!