Baked Beet and Carrot Burgers with Brown Rice, Sunflower Seeds and Cheddar Cheese

From “Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables.”

½ cup sesame seeds

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 cups peeled, grated beets (2 medium beets)

2 cups grated carrots (about 4 carrots)

½ cup minced onion

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup vegetable oil*

½ cup finely chopped parsley

3 tablespoons flour*

2 tablespoons tamari

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Place a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and stir them until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl.

Return the skillet to the heat and add the sunflower seeds. Stir them until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer them to the dish with the sesame seeds.

Combine the beets, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. Stir in the sunflower and sesame seeds, eggs, rice, cheese, oil, flour, parsley, tamari and garlic (your hands work best here). Add cayenne and mix until thoroughly combined.

Using your hands, shape the mixture into 12 patties and arrange them in rows on the baking sheet.

Bake the patties until brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Unless they are very large and thick, it should not be necessary to turn them. Serve alone or on buns.

*I used half the amount of oil and more flour than the recipe called for. Bread crumbs could also be added to help bind the patties. And a word of warning: mixing and shaping the patties by hand will cause you to look like you killed someone when you are through. Luckily, beet juice comes off skin easily.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount