Vegan Sesame Bugers and Ginger Carrot Salad

I've never really liked frozen veggie burgers. I think they're bland and "off" tasting and I'm never really satisfied with them a few hours after eating. The veg patties we serve at work are extra bad, bordering on inedible, so I got to thinking about trying my hand at veggie burgers from scratch.

These burger patties are mainly TVP (which is a first for me) flavored with sesame oil and sesame seeds for a nice nuttiness. The burgers themselves are vegan but I can totally imagine eating them with bacon and swiss cheese. They came out a bit gooey as well .. perhaps more flour would help? The recipe, found in Lucas's copy of The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook (snort) is as follows:

2 cups TVP
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 small onion, chopped finely
3/4 t. fresh garlic, chopped finely
1/2 t. black pepper
3/4 t. salt
1 T. tamari
2 T. ketchup
1/4 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
3/4 t. oregano
1/2 cup flour

Rehydrate your TVP in boiling water for 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients in with the TVP and form your patties. Pan fry in oil until browned on both sides. Simple! I eyeballed all of the spices, adding extra cumin and salt, and also added 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and a palm-full of sesame seeds. I'm planning on serving them with arugula, alfalfa sprouts, avocado and a sriracha-peanut sauce. I'll omit the sesame flavor next time .. maybe I'll try some liquid smoke or BBQ sauce too.

The carrot salad was even easier! I grated five or six carrots in the food processor and mixed with a handful of raisins, then added lemon juice, brown sugar, mirin and ground ginger to taste. It is a little less tart than I expected .. more like a japanese-style sweet pickled condiment. Roasted potatoes will appear on the side to counter the sweetness of the carrots.