PSA: pack your leftover rice when you go out to eat!!!🍚Why?! Because there are endless possibilities for what you can create with it AND it helps saves the Earth, one rice carton at a time.

If you know me or are just meeting me, then you’ll quickly come to realize that I absolutely ABHOR food wastage. We waste nearly 30-40% of food supply in the US alone. JUST THINK ABOUT THAT. That is horrible! So if we have a strong culture of eating out (which we do in the US and especially in NYC), then the LEAST we can do is save the food that we don’t finish at restaurants.

Enter: rice. Rice is automatically served at many Asian, Latin, Mexican and Indian restaurants with entrees, but it hardly gets eaten. So many carb haters out there, jeez! Instead of wasting something that a rice farmer tended to for hours upon hours (not to mention the amount of water it takes to grow rice), let’s pack that and make it into something fun!

Next enter: Cheese Stuffed Leftover Rice Veggie Burgers. 100% vegan, protein & nutrient packed and SUPER filling! This recipe has a few parts to it, but I promise you it is worth it. Plus you can freeze these and save them for later! I should also mention that these are absolutely delicious bun-less – I served these to my family with some extra melted vegan cheese, tomes of my aioli, sweet cherry tomatoes and cucumbers and they loved it! But who am I kidding, I’m a gal with some buns who needs those buns 😉.

Garlic Coriander Aioli:

• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream – I used Follow Your Heart
• handful fresh coriander – washed, dried, include stems
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2-3 green chilies
• Salt & Pepper

Burgers:

• 1 cup leftover rice – I used white, but any rice will work!
• 1 can pinto beans – drained & washed
• 1 medium yellow onion sautéed with 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp each coriander seeds & cumin seeds
• 3 dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp dried fenugreek
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup plain unsalted breadcrumbs – I used homemade
• Salt & Pepper
• Vegan cheese – I used Chao Original Cheese

Assembly Ingredients:

• Burger buns
• butter lettuce – I used Gotham Greens
• beefsteak tomato – sliced
• English cucumbers – shaved with a peeler
• fresh lemon wedges
• fresh coriander – roughly chopped

1. Blend together all ingredients for the aioli until smooth and delicious. Set aside.

2. Toast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and red chilies on low flame in a pan for about 2 minutes until fragrant and slightly more brown in color. Keep on eye on this – it can burn quickly! Immediately remove and place in a mortar and pestle. Grind down until it’s all relatively fine with some remaining texture. Set aside.

3. Place the beans in a large bowl and mash up using a potato masher. Next, add in the rice and mix well using your hands. Now add in your spices, fenugreek, flaxseeds breadcrumbs, onion mixture, fresh coriander, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until its all well incorporated. Set aside.

4. Prepare a bowl of lukewarm water and have that at your burger making station. Next, cut your cheese up into small 1/2 inch cubes. Now moisten your palms with the water and pick up a scoop of the burger mix and mold into a burger shape. Create a well into the center and add in your cheese cube. Mold around the cheese and add some more burger mix if necessary. Continue to make at least 4-5 burgers.

5. Heat a non-stick over medium flame. Grease it up. Add in your burger and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Cover with a lid for the last minute to cook. Toast your buns too – no one want a raw ass bun!

6. Spread on a generous amount of aioli on your bottom bun, then add your burger, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, squeeze some lemon juice, add some fresh coriander and close it up! Voila! Leftover rice transformed!