Mini Veggie Burgers

Mini Veggie Burgers:
(Recipe by Jennifer McCann, found on The Daily Green)

2 cups cooked drained lentils (see cooking instructions below or use canned)
½ cup dry amaranth
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup onion, finely diced (about half a medium onion)
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
¼ teaspoon celery seeds
½ cup quick or instant oats (or old-fashioned oats pulsed in a food processor)
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ cup toasted sunflower seeds
I amended the original recipe with:
black pepper to taste
~1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika
a little garlic powder

To cook the lentils, add 1 cup dry lentils to 3 cups boiling water and 3/4 tsp salt, and cook until the lentils are soft, about 25 minutes minutes. Drain, measure out 2 cups of lentils and place them in a large mixing bowl (save any extra lentils for another use).
To cook the amaranth, add the amaranth to 1 cup boiling water. Lower the heat and cook, covered, until the amaranth is cooked and all the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Add the cooked amaranth to the mixing bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, carrot and celery seeds until the carrot is soft, about 8 minutes. Add to the mixing bowl along with the oats, ketchup, nutritional yeast flakes and salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to taste. Grind the sunflower seeds into a coarse meal using a food processor. Add them to the mixing bowl and mix and mash everything together. Form mixture into 12 to 13 small patties (I ended up with 15), about 2 3/4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Moisten your fingers with a bit of water to keep the mixture from sticking as you work.
Bake for 20 minutes, until dry on the top, then flip the patties over and bake for another 10 minutes, until firm and brown. I cooked these longer as I'd made up the burger "dough" the day before and it was cold. Serve immediately or let cool and refrigerate or freeze.

The Monster and I ate 3 each topped with the bestest feta ever. Israeli sheeps milk feta packed in liquid from CM...so good! I built salads to top with the burgers instead of eating them on buns. Photo below doesn't show the burgers doused in ketchup like we ate them in real life. :-)