veganmofo - restaurant + guacamole bacon burger

Following right on the heels of yesterday's best sandwich post, comes this burger from Red Robin, yet another sandwich. At our house, mofo tends to be a family affair, and one of my daughters suggested we try making Red Robin's Guacamole Bacon Burger for the "restaurant recreation" prompt.

I agreed, but I didn't think it would be that great because, after all, it is just a burger with some toppings, bacon and guacamole. It's not like we've never put guacamole on a burger!

In addition, well, bacon. While I'm all for vegan bacon on many dishes, such as BLT, Mushroom Carbonara, Club Sandwiches, etc., I do get just a tad tired of people putting bacon on EVERYTHING.

Enough already!

...and here's the but: this burger is so freaking good! The combo of the guac, with all the toppings and the crispy, salty vegan bacon is amazing!

I used the bacon from Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N) because it is crisp and salty and just so good. You could also use the mushroom bacon from my earlier post of Stuffed Cabbage-style Bowl. Of course, whatever is your favorite bacon would be equally good on this burger.

The guacamole in the recipe is our own that we make all the time, minus the tomato. Since the burger has tomatoes on it already, I felt omitting it this time would be wise.

And if you are new to this site, you would not know that for my first three mofos, Restaurant Recreations was my theme for the entire month.

Let's take a little trip down memory lane. The links are to my previous mofo posts with the recipes.


California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Pizza:

Chicago Diner's Radical Reuben:

Chili's Cajun Steak:

Pat's Cheese Steak:

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Cakes:

Thanks for coming along! If you want to see the rest of the recreations, search the label #veganmofo below.

Public Service Announcement:

If you haven't enter the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

Finally, today's creation is Red Robin's Guacamole Bacon Burger:

Guacamole Bacon Burger
Makes 6 burgers

Burgers:
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 cup frozen corn kernels, frozen
1/2 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cups vital wheat gluten (Stirred before measuring)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Assembly:
4 burger buns, toasted
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese or slices of vegan cheese
Vegan mayo
Red onion slices
Tomato slices
Shredded lettuce
Vegan Bacon
Guacamole, recipe below

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the corn, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt and black pepper, to taste and stir and cook until the corn is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, stir and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly.
2. Add the cooled mixture to a food processor and pulse just to break up the beans, about 6 (1-second) pulses. Transfer to a bowl and add the gluten flour, lime juice, tamari, chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Knead until the mixture forms gluten threads. Form the mixture into 4 burgers.
3. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with oil and arrange the patties evenly. Bake for 30 minutes-flipping after 15 minutes.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the burger patties and cook for 2 minutes. Flip, add 2 tablespoon cheese to each burger, add 1/4 cup water to the skillet, cover the skillet and cook until the cheese melts.
5 Assemble the burgers by spreading mayo on the bottom buns, add a few onion rings, top with the burger, add a few tomato slices, add bacon, add shredded lettuce, add a good amount of guacamole and add the top bun. Serve.

Guacamole
5 medium ripe Hass avocado, mashed 
3/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 to 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and black pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a mediuml bowl using a spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, black pepper and lime juice.



 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - sandwich + schlotzky's benedict

Day 5 #vgnmf15 challenge is: The Best Sandwich. Ever.

Now THAT is a tall order! After all, there is a bunch of wonderful stuff in Tamasin Noyes' cookbook Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day, there's a bunch of awesome sandwiches in my book, Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N), including a Banh Mi Burger, BBQ Bean Burger, Mushroom Po' Boys (just remembered how awesome those are!), Portobello Fajitas, California Club, GYROS! Forgot about those, too, until now! So many darned great sandwiches out there! ugh! How will I choose?

Naturally, the best way to choose is to pick one that is brand new!

Therefore, for my best sandwich ever, I present to you a Schlotzky's-style Benedict.

I recreated the bread from the restaurant, threw a Benedict tofu and Hollandaise sauce on it, added the requisite "Schlotzky's toppings:" lettuce, tomato, onion, black olives and vegan cheese.

The Schlotzky's bread is a white sourdough loaf, but I don't have the patience to make a good starter - which this would need - and I wanted to make this using whole wheat flour , instead of  with all-purpose flour.

I used apple cider vinegar to lend the "sourdough" flavor, and added vital wheat gluten (stuff you make seitan with) to help lift the dough. I learned that from one of my most awesome testers during testing for Vegan Bowls.

And now I offer you.....

The whole wheat bread you see is more difficult to make than one would think, especially if you want it to be light and airy. I was very happy with the result, which I have actually been working on for quite a while.

There you have it. The Best Sandwich. Ever. {at least for this day}

Whole Grain English Muffin-type Bread
Makes 4 individual loaves

1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain soymilk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (stir before measuring)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Oil spray

1. Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and set aside for 5 minutes,
2. Combine the milk and the vinegar in a separate bowl and set aside for 5 minutes,
3. Combine the baking soda and water in a separate container and set aside until needed.
4. Combine the flour, gluten and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Add the yeast mixture, the milk mixture and the baking soda mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour mixture and knead on medium for 5 minutes. Cover with a wrap and set the dough aside to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
6. Form the dough into 4 round loaves and set them on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover and rise for 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Add the risen loaves, reduce the heat to 375 and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, set on cooling racks and cool.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

Schlotzky's-style Benedict
Makes 4 sandwiches

1 tablespoon vegan butter or olive oil
16 slices vegan cold cut slice, tempeh bacon or other vegan slices
10 ounces firm tofu, pressed, cut into 8 slices
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon black salt (kala namak)

Dijon Hollandaise:
½ cup vegan mayo
6 tablespoons plain, unsweetened vegan milk
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon turmeric
Few pinches cayenne
Sea salt 

4 Schlotzky’s whole wheat bread
Sliced vegan cheese (optional)
Slices of tomato
Shredded lettuce
Sliced black olives
Sliced red onion

1. Heat the butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the cold cuts until lightly golden, cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the tofu slices and cook until golden on both sides. Add the water, yeast, turmeric, and black salt to the skillet. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook the tofu for about 10 minutes. Drain the tofu before using. Season with more black salt.
2. Combine the mayo, milk, lemon juice, mustard, turmeric and cayenne in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix well and cook in 30-second increments until hot. Season with salt and set aside.
3. Cut the bread in half lengthwise and toast until crisp. Add optional cheese to the bottom bread slices mid-way through the toast. Layer, tomato, lettuce, olives, onions, cold cuts, tofu and sauce on each bottom halves. Top with the top buns. pass a toothpick through each side of the sandwiches and cut in half. Serve.

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.