If you are hunting down a savory and sweet homemade vegan burger free of gluten, you’re in luck! This recipe uses beautifying vegetables to energize your skin and your taste buds – a DIY veggie burger with sweet potatoes, kidney beans, quinoa, and spinach. You’re welcome!

Ingredients:
Serves 8

• 3 sweet potatoes, washed
• 1/2 cup quinoa (dry)
• 2 cups cooked kidney beans, or 1 can no salt kidney beans, drained
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp. cumin spice
• 1 tsp. oregano spice
• 1 tsp. mustard spice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 2 cups spinach, washed and chopped

Directions:

1. Bake sweet potatoes for 50 minutes at 400 degrees. Meanwhile, boil the quinoa in 1 cup filtered water until cooked and fluffy.

2. Pour half of the kidney beans into a bowl and mash until paste-like texture forms. Add remaining beans and lightly mash to combine.

3. When the sweet potatoes are cooked and soft, mash (with skins on) until mushy but not creamy. Place the mashed sweet potatoes in a large bowl.

4. Stir the olive oil, buckwheat flour, oregano, cumin and mustard spices into the mashed sweet potatoes until combined throughout. Mix in onion, garlic, quinoa, sunflower seeds, kidney beans and chopped spinach.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

6. Form mixture into about 8 balls on the parchment paper and gently flatten them into patties about 1/2 inch thick each. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.

7. Remove, flip and bake on other side for additional 20 minutes. And there you have it… DIY veggie burgers.

8. I put mine in between brown rice bread circles (aka English muffins), and topped it with roasted red peppers, avocado (obviously) and lettuce.  These served really well alongside baked brocollini with fresh ground black pepper.

You know all the ingredients – there is NO junk; there is NO high sodium that often comes with frozen patties. So try this out, foodie friends!

For more gluten-free vegan recipes, check out Sasha’s site at kalewithlove.com