This first appeared in the June 2011 City Natural Therapies e-newsletter. If you’d like to receive a healthy recipe every month plus a bunch of wellbeing tips click the free newsletter sign up box.

A bit like the originator of this recipe, tofu gets an unnecessarily bad rap these days. Though I must admit Dr Gillian McKeith is not my cup of tea, these burgers adapted from her You are What You Eat Cookbook really are worth a go.

Smoked tofu burgers

1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic
2/3–1 cup of your favourite nuts and/or seeds (e.g. almond, sunflower)
1 carrot, grated
1 can organic kidney beans, well rinsed (or chickpeas, brown rice etc)
200 gm smoked tofu, roughly cubed
1 large handful, parsley
1 tsp tamari (or soy sauce or sea salt)
2-3 tsp roasted sesame oil (optional)

Heat the oven to 200c.

In a food processor chop the onion, garlic and nuts. Add the grated carrot and give it another pulse or two. Then toss in the beans. Process just enough to break them down a bit without turning them into mush. Finally add the tofu, parsley and tamari. Whiz until the ingredients have blended but are still a bit chunky.

Season further if required and stir in the sesame oil. The mixture should hold together well, so you can form balls easily.

Cover a tray with baking paper. Form your burgers (or balls if you’d prefer little bite sized cocktail numbers). This quantity makes about 11 medium sized burgers but its up to you what size and thickness you make. Cook at 200c for about 20 minutes until the burgers turn a nut brown colour.

Serve with a dollop of hummus or spicy tomato sauce, salad or vegetables. Leftovers taste good in a wrap or salad sandwich.

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