Eating a whole food plant based diet is not a sacrifice for me but I occasionally want a more familiar comfort food, like burgers or tacos. I haven’t liked the highly processed vegan meat substitutes that are available in the grocery store. My gut doesn’t love soy and many of the substitutes have soy and a lot of scary ingredients that I don’t want to eat. I love lentils and they love me so I was really happy to find a lentil meat substitute at Power Hungry to modify for my needs.

Try substituting vegan proteins on one or two days each week which will reduce your risks of heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. This lentil ground “meat” substitute is incredibly versatile and can be used in burgers, meatballs, meatloaf and tacos. I don’t taste the beets but I think they’re included to give the lentils a red hue and allow for browning because of their sugar content. You could leave them out or substitute grated carrot which also may help with browning. Overall, this is a winning recipe that is soy and it free.

See the original recipe at Power Hungry, this is a great vegan blog.

VEGAN GROUND BEEF {GRAIN-FREE, SOY-FREE, HIGH-PROTEIN}

I followed Camilla’s recipe but omitted the coconut flour and doubled the ground flax seed, because I didn’t have coconut flour and added nutritional yeast for a unami boost. This makes a big batch that can be frozen or refrigerated and used for two to three meals.

I made burgers which were delicious and browned like beef and taco “meat” with cumin, coriander, oregano and chili pepper.

I used almond cheddar cheese for our burgers and ultra thin buns. When purchasing vegan cheeses look for the shortest ingredients list with nuts and culture and not much else. I have seen vegan cheeses made with oil and no whole foods, they taste like chemicals and are highly processed. You might be better off eating real cheese instead of these “cheese non-food” products.

Freshly made ground “beef”. Crazy right?

Pan seared burgers, nicely browned.

Loaded burgers with onion, almond cheddar, tomato and avocado. Delicious comfort food.

Most vegan skeptics have never tried eating a vegan meal unless you count green salad. I am amazed by the push back we have received from friends and acquaintances because we are choosing to eat a WFPB diet. “No, there’s no gun to our heads.” “No, I don’t miss cheese and milk.” “No, I don’t miss eating meat.” ”Yes, I’m getting plenty of protein!”

And most importantly: “No, I’m not judging your plate. My plate, my business. Your plate, your business.”

How do you handle the plate critics?