I’m not a huge fan of eating veggie burgers with buns because it’s too filling and gets soggy…gross. Most of the time I just cook up veggie burgers and eat them with a knife and fork, but it gets a little boring and it doesn’t really feel like a proper meal.

Burger bowls are a great substitute for eating a regular burger because you get tons more flavour and nutrients. You can pack it with whatever veggies you want and drizzle some vinaigrette on top. I sprinkled cheese on top of mine just because, but it’s not really a staple to the meal so this is vegan-friendly too!

The dressing I used was maple-dijon, the same one I used for the roasted pumpkin salad in October. It works well with so many different kinds of salad and you can adjust the sweetness depending on your personal taste. You can even add some hot sauce to it if you want to give it a kick. You can also garnish it with lemon for extra flavour, but the vinaigrette does not lack flavour so taste it first, then decide!

Ingredients

Makes 1 burger bowl

Burger Bowl

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 veggie burger
• 1/2 cup white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup eggplant, thinly sliced
• 1 cup arugula
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (optional)

Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 tsp. mustard
• 1/2 tsp. maple syrup

Method

Heat oil on medium-high heat. Add veggie burger and onion, occasionally stirring the onion but don’t touch the burger. Flip the burger after 3-4 minutes, and add in the peppers and eggplant slices.

Once the veggie burger looks cooked on both sides, cut it into small sqaures with your spatula (it should be soft; if it isn’t, the burger probably isn’t cooked well enough on the inside yet). Stir the veggies and burger squares and allow them to cook for another 2 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, put half of arugula in the bowl. If using mozzarella, sprinkle it on now. Remove the veggies and burger from heat and add on top of the greens; place the remaining arugula on top.

For the vinaigrette, mix together oil, vinegar, mustard and maple syrup until well blended and there are minimal oil beads visible. Drizzle overtop of the salad and serve immediately.