Green Chile Cheese Eggplant Burgers

with dill pesto aioli. The green chile and cheese are tucked INSIDE this tasty veggie burger to infuse that marvelous New Mexico hatch green chile cheeseburger flavor into every . single . bite.

If you’ve ever been to New Mexico, you’ve probably noticed that green chile cheeseburgers are quite the thing there. Even McDonald’s has green chile cheeseburgers in New Mexico. I have very fond memories of savoring many a good green chile cheeseburger there (luckily, most of them were at much better restaurants). The Owl Cafe had the best green chile cheeseburgers, as I recall.

I’m really not a big veggie burger eater, but I do love a good burger from time to time, and although plants have always been a huge part of my diet, I’ve been getting more and more into plant-based meals. I have made some good veggie burgers before, usually involving some sort of bean.

Now beans are good, don’t get me wrong, but when I stumbled across the idea of an eggplant burger, it struck me that eggplant is the absolute perfect substitute to step in for meat. Eggplant has a nice meaty texture to start with and a nice buttery mild flavor, so blending roasted eggplant up with some other tasty ingredients seemed to me like it would work marvelously. Especially when she described the burger like this:

“This one is definitely the best burger recipe I’ve ever eaten so far. I’ve never been a huge fan of meat burgers, but the truth is I’ve also not been super satisfied with the variety of lentil/ bean veggie burger options that are out there. This mouthwatering eggplant burger, however, is on a whole new level and fascinates everyone who eats it (even my hamburger-loving boyfriend)! Prepare some napkins – it’s gonna be messy!”

With all the talk of Impossible burgers sweeping the nation and gaining in popularity, I seriously wanted to know what an eggplant burger would taste like. I’ve tried an Impossible burger recipe and frankly, was not all that impressed. In fact, I was so not impressed that I decided not to even record or photograph the recipe. Eggplant burgers have GOT to be better than that!

And luckily, it’s harvest season so I’m swimming in eggplant and looking for ideas what to DO with it all.

The eggplant burger recipe I was working from had a cup of breadcrumbs in it. Because I’m trying to ensure I get enough fiber in my diet, I wondered if I could substitute oat bran … would that work? Would the oat bran be tender enough? How would it affect the flavor? Oats are yummy, but are they yummy in burgers? My curious brain wanted to know. So I tried it.

And with one taste of my green chile eggplant burger, I had my answer: why yes, oat bran works beautifully. It soaks up the extra juices and gives the burger shape and substance (and fiber!) … I love that oat bran is SO wonderfully versatile. You can eat it as a hot cereal, substitute oat bran for flour in baked recipes and put it in smoothies and now I know that yes, oat bran goes great in burgers too.

By the way, you might have noticed that my green chile cheeseburgers are red. The first time I made these burgers, I used green chile. And I’d photographed it and was all ready to go to blog it and discovered that I had accidentally deleted the photos. Grrrrr! I never do that! But there I was with no photo for the recipe … so I had to make them again. The second time I made my burgers, the “green” chile I was using had ripened and turned red. I supposed I could have called it a red chile cheeseburger, but no, what I really want to share with you is the plant-based burger equivalent of the magnificent green chile cheeseburger you might enjoy in New Mexico. So the name stays, my friends, even though my burgers are red.

Can you make these burgers vegan? I’ve not tried substituting the egg with a flax or chia egg or using vegan cheese either, but I think it should work. If you try it, please comment and let me know how it turned out.

What to do if you have no dill pesto (or fresh dill) available to make the aioli? You might try this green chile aioli recipe to give your burger an extra green chile kick. Harissa aioli or Sriracha Ranch or Avocado Ranch would be marvelous too. Or you can go old school and just use ketchup and mustard.

Green Chile Cheese Eggplant Burgers

• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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For roasting the eggplant:

• 8 – 10 oz. eggplant, peeled & cut into chunks
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

For the burgers:

• 1/3 cup chopped green chile (fresh, frozen or canned)
• 1/4 of an onion
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1/2 teaspoon salt-free seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese (or vegan shreds)
• For frying the burgers: 1 Tablespoon avocado oil

For the dill pesto aioli:

• 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt
• 1/4 cup avocado oil mayonnaise (or other light mayo)
• 1 teaspoon sunflower dill pesto (recipe here)
• 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard.

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Instructions

1. Toss the eggplant with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and the garlic, then roast the eggplant on a baking sheet at 400 F. for 15 – 20 minutes or until tender. Put the chunks into a mini food processor and pulse until cut into small bits. (Or use a knife to chop into tiny bits.)
2. Combine eggplant with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Form into 4 – 6 patties.
3. Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Cook eggplant burgers until crispy and browned on each side.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the aioli in a small bowl.
5. Serve on toasted brioche buns with lettuce, fresh garden tomato slices, red onion slices (if desired), avocado or guacamole and a drizzle of dill pesto aioli.

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Notes

The burger mixture can be premade and frozen, then thawed, shaped and fried whenever you want a good veggie burger.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2019, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 burger
• Calories: 232
• Fat: 15 g

Nutrition Analysis per burger: the dill pesto aioli and other toppings are not included in this analysis.