Veggie Burger Atelier

Burgers are one of my all-time favorite foods, falling somewhere after pizza and maybe before tacos. And while I'm totally in love with the available plant-based burgers on the market (I'm looking at you Impossible and Beyond Meat), I also appreciate a nice, handcrafted burger. Those tend to be healthier anyway!

The Veggie Burger Atelier by Nina Olsson is filled with recipes for homemade burgers inspired by cuisines from around the world.

They're organized by global regions, so you can choose whether you want to make a Northern European-style burger, like the Dutch Seaport Burger (a cauliflower-based patty with fresh herbs and brown rice) or an Asian-inspired BBQ Eggplant Noodle Burger (an eggplant-portabella patty topped with noodle slaw).

I chose a burger from the Asia chapter — the Tempeh Burger.

This is a tempeh patty (a simple slab of tempeh marinated and fried in a skillet) topped with wasabi-mayo, carrot miso cream, avocado, and sweet potato crisps. All the components come together to create a flavor explosion that's heavy on ginger and sesame.

The marinade has sesame oil, and the carrot miso cream has fresh ginger. I also loved the crunchy sweet potato crisps, which you're supposed to bake in the oven but I made in the air fryer. I used white sweet potatoes for this, so that's what those little white-ish chips atop the burger patty are.

Other must-trys on my list include are the Nicoise Burger (the patty is made from beets and it's served on French bread), the falafel (because why not?), the Pulled Jackfruit Sliders (from the American chapter, of course), and the Sushi Burger (the bun is made from pressed-together rice!).

Nina also includes recipes for condiments and sides, like her Dutch Fritje Oorlog (fries!) with Curry Ketchup. My partner's family is Dutch, and he grew up eating fries and curry ketchup, so we'll have to make those together!

And there are even dessert burgers, like her Sweet Date and Raspberry Treat (a date and nut cookie "bun" with a raspberry cream).