Beet, Rice & Goat Cheese Burgers

A few weeks ago, Z and I picked up our first CSA box of the summer.

Look at all that loot!

Both of us have always supported and been passionate about local food, but we had never participated in a CSA before. With that being said, we were just a wee bit excited for this box of fresh, local produce. 

We had heard some complaints about CSAs from people who have participated in them before, saying they could never use up all the produce they received in one week; almost everything ended up spoiling before they could eat it. Being vegetarians - who also love to get creative in the kitchen - the price and weekly pick-up of these fresh goodies are perfect for us and our lifestyle. Since the CSA started, our weekly grocery bill has almost been cut in half. 

We received a few beets in our first pick-up, which I boiled when they were nearing their last day (to help them last longer), and when Z found out he got a big promotion at work, I immediately scoured the internet for delicious beet recipes. One of the first hits was this recipe for Beet, Rice and Goat Cheese burgers.

Beet, Rice & Goat Cheese Burgers Yields: 5 large burgers (or, 6 medium-sized burgers) 

Adapted from nytimes.com 
-2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
-1 cup finely diced or grated boiled beets
-2 tbsp. dried parsley
-1 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1 egg
-2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (plus extra for serving)
-Salt and black pepper
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the rice, beets and parsley in a large bowl.
2.) Purée the beans with the lemon juice and egg in a food processor. Scrape into the bowl with the rice and beets. Add the goat cheese, salt and pepper, and mix the ingredients together.
3.) Moisten your hands and form 5 large patties (or, 6 medium-sized patties). 4. Working in batches, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil at a time in a heavy ovenproof skillet and brown the patties on one side for 2 minutes. Turn over onto the other side and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with or without buns, tomato slices, and extra crumbled goat cheese.

Personally, I love beets and goat cheese, so this recipe was right up my alley. I know Z is a fan of both those things, too, which is why I went with this recipe to help celebrate his exciting news. On the side, I served a lightly dressed arugula salad as well as some Alexia Parmesan Lemon Waffle Fries (more to come on those in a future post). 

We definitely didn’t need buns for these filling burgers, but the fresh tomato slices and additional goat cheese on top helped to round out the burger's fresh flavors.

Have you ever joined a CSA, or would you like to? Why or why not?

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