Hal's Soyburgers Revisited

Just because you aren't eating meat doesn't mean you have to miss out on one of summer's great pleasures...

a great burger is the birthright of every American, and these burgers made with soybeans are the best veggie burgers I've ever had.   
I've never been a fan of any vegetarian food that pretends to be meat.  I just don't see the point.  But there's something about the combination of these patties on a soft chewy wheat bun slathered in mayo, topped with gooey melted cheese and crunchy sprouts that I can't resist.  I don't think of it as imitating meat...it's its own lovely thing.
I discovered these at college, at the restaurant where I worked.  Hal's was the local hangout for students, professors, and townies in the know.  The two ex-hippy brother's, Don and John, (there was no Hal) who owned it came up with the most delicious classic counter-culture cuisine...everything was homemade, from the bread to the yogurt to the granola.  Sprouts of all kinds came on everything.  I didn't work at the grill or wait tables, I was stationed in the kitchen making sure the vats of wholegrain pancake batter never ran dry, keeping the huge jugs of sprouting sprouts watered, and making up vast numbers of these soybean patties.  They were a customer favorite.  But in true counter-culture fashion, one day Don and John just closed up shop.  They moved on to other things, leaving behind people like me to pine endlessly for those lost meals.  

I already posted once before about these burgers, here, but my camera wasn't working and I didn't photograph them, so I'm going to revisit these yummy
burgers for your benefit.  And mine. 

I keep coming back to this recipe when I get the burger craving.  I tweaked my original recipe here.  If you want more of a punch you can serve them with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise, or any other burger topping you like.

Hal's (sort of) soy burgers

2 cups of cooked soybeans
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp ground cumin 
2 tbsp flour (whole wheat if you have it)
salt
black pepper
Serve with:
4 soft wheat buns
4 slices of Swiss cheese
sprouts
mayonnaise

Put all the ingredients in a processor and pulse just a few times until the mixture holds together when you press it together with your fingers.   If the mixture seems too wet, add a little more flour.  Don't process too much or you'll get paste; you want some texture.

Using a 1/2 cup measure, form into 4 patties, and put them between waxed paper.  Chill until you are ready to cook.

To cook the burgers, fry them over medium high heat in a pat of butter.  When one side is golden brown flip and cook the other side till golden.  Add the cheese to the burgers at the end of cooking.
Serve on the wheat buns with mayo and sprouts.