Paleo Burger

Are you a fan of paleo or gluten-free recipes? These currently very trendy diets are ever present in my own kitchen, partly due to my coeliac disease but also my desire to experiment. Here, I've baked some sublime paleo buns and topped them with beef patties. Have a taste!

What is the paleo diet? What does it include, what does it exclude? The paleo diet is based on what our ancestors, the hunters and gatherers of the stone age, were thought to have eaten, namely whatever they could hunt or pick: meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Of course there was no sugar, no preservatives, no artificial flavours or additives, so all these things are excluded on a paleo eating plan, as well as grains, making it the ideal diet for coeliacs.

Of course opinions on this diet vary and many advantages and disadvantages are being discussed. But the paleo diet's rejection of grains and legumes has proven useful in the battle against auto-immune and metabolic diseases like multiple sclerosis and diabetes. Of course in paleolithic times, the goal wasn't a healthy diet but rather pure survival. Plus, grains aren't unhealthy per se - they started becoming an important and nutritious staple with the advent of agriculture.

The paleo community consists of a wide variety of approaches: many followers do not strictly obey the very limited (and often uncooked) paleolithic meal range, but instead creatively invent recipes inspired by the basic principles of the diet.

Photos (c) Julia Stix for MAXIMA Gourmet Extra March 2016, Food Styling: Eva Fischer

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Paleo Burger with Beef Patties

4 Burgers

Ingredients:

Ingredients for 4 burger buns:

  • 6 TBSP coconut flour
  • 170g ground almonds
  • 170g flaxseed
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 6 large eggs
  • 160ml almond milk
  • 6 TBSP olive oil
  • 4-5 TBSP sesame seeds
  • ½ TBSP sea salt

Ingredients for the beef patties:

  • 600g ground beef
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 TBSP Dijon Senf
  • 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
  • 1 pinch chilli powder
  • 2 TBSP capers
  • 1 TBSP ground paprika
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 TBSP oil
  • salt and pepper

Ingredients for the garnish:

  • 4 red leaf lettuce salad leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • ½ red onion
  • 4 TBSP Dijon mustard

Preparation:

Preparation for the buns:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan). Grind the flaxseed to a flour in a food processor. Combine the different types of flour, baking powder and salt. There should be no lumps. Add the eggs, almond flour and olive oil and mix until you have a smooth batter. No lumps here either. Form burger buns, scatter some sesame seeds on top and lightly press them down. Let the buns sit for around 10 minutes, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden.

Preparation for the patties:

Peel the onion and garlic and finely chop along with the parsley. Cut the pepper into small cubes. Combine with the beef, mustard, capers, chilli powder, ground paprika. Knead all the ingredients together until mixed well and season with salt and pepper. Wet your hands and form small patties. Wash the salad and chop roughly. Slice the onion and tomatoes.

Fry the patties in oil on both sides, then serve between two halves of a bun topped with lettuce, onion rings and tomato slices and brushed with mustard.

gluten- and lactose-free