Hearty, smokey, and 100% plant-based, these almond carrot burgers are probably the best ones I ever made. All thanks to a new discovery of an all-natural food enhancer called liquid smoke.

If you love your veggie burgers then you probably have tried to cook them on a bbq grill to get that lovely smokey flavor only to be disappointed to see them falling apart on the grill. Been there many times... and had to conclude veggie burgers don't do well on BBQs. So these days I stick to roasted eggplant and other veggies that do well on a grill.

Though these burgers weren't cooked on a fire, they had the lovely, woody, smoked flavor of BBQ burgers.

What is this liquid smoke you may ask? Well, fire produces smoke, which is basically steam and other vapors containing some solids. This vapor or smoke is captured in cooled tubing and condenses into a liquid which is then filtered to remove any soot or ash. that's how liquid smoke is born.

SMOKEY MINI ALMOND CARROT BURGERS WITH AVOCADO AIOLI 🍔

INGREDIENTS

Whole wheat mini burger buns of your choice
Sliced tomato
Sliced onion
Sliced cucumber
Lettuce

FYI: Since we own a bakery my friend and baker made these especially for us. One is a dark whole grain bread with added sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The other one is a rye burger with sunflower seeds inside and sesame on top.

For the smokey almond carrot burger

½ cup raw almonds, blended until a grain-like texture
1.5 cup carrots
¾ cup cooked chickpeas
½ cup onion
1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste (1:1 mixture)
½ chia egg (½ tbsp chia seeds mix with 1.5 tbsp water)
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, I used black and white
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp cumin seeds
Juice of ½ a small lime
1 tsp liquid smoke
Sea salt to taste

For the avocado aioli

1 avocado
1 head garlic, roasted
2 tbsp plant-based yogurt of your choice (optional)
½ lime juice
½ cup fresh basil
½ parsley
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven. Roast carrots (for the burgers) and head of garlic (for the aioli) in the oven with a little oil and black pepper. Last 10 minutes of roasting add chickpeas too.
For the burgers, heat cooking oil over medium heat and cook the onion for a few minutes. Add garlic-ginger paste, mustard seeds, cumin, and chili powder. Cook until fragrant and season with sea salt to taste. Remove from heat and add chia egg, liquid smoke, roasted carrots, chickpeas, lime juice, and almonds
Freeze for 15 minutes to set.
Meanwhile, roasted garlic and all other aioli ingredients in a blender and process until smooth texture. Set aside.
Heat coconut oil in a pan and fry burgher until golden on both sides.
Assemble burger to your liking.