Lentil Burgers with Ketchup

So, yes, once in a while my kids do taste ketchup. To give them that opportunity, Susannah and I made a bunch of lentil burgers for last night's dinner. Here's how:

1 medium onion chopped very small (almost minced)

1 red pepper same way 2 cups dried red lentils, cooked 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked 1/2 cup brown lentils, cooked

1 tbs olive oil

Cook the peppers and onions in the olive oil until they are soft. Because red lentils are the easiest texture to work with, these burgers do not need any adhesive ingredient. (We had leftover brown rice and brown lentils which we used to add texture but we made some patties out of only the red lentils.) Put all of the ingredients in a bowl, gently mix with your hands. Form into patties (or get your kids to do it!). Bake for 20 minutes.

We served these with organic ketchup, mustard and relish, a trio not used often in this vegetarian household. I made one beautiful plate with the condiments on the side and Susannah immediately insisted I "plate" hers a fancy way too which I did, so she could enjoy even more ketchup...the burgers were also a hit with the big kids who each ate two but luckily this time we saved the display plus one extra for the dad.

We started withan appetizer of the pictured frosty grapes and raw plate of cucumber, pepper and sorrel.