This week, I've carried on playing around with options for the barbecue, experimenting with making vegan burgers. The best technique I've found, taken from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Barbecues and Grills, is to use cooked rice, pureed in a food processor, as the basis of the burger. This gives it some structure and sticks everything together.

It helps that the gooey rice is kind of fun to play with.

Using that rice and a coating of breadcrumbs you can combine all sorts of ingredients for a wide range of tasty burgers. My favourites so far are:

Spicy bean burgers:

Ingredients:

• 1 can of kidney beans
• three spring onions
• 2 tablespoons of pureed cooked rice
• a handful of breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika or ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives

Method:

1. Drain the beans, put them in a mixing bowl and break them up a little with a fork.
2. Finely chop the spring onions and chives.
3. Combine all the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs, and mix until you have an even texture.
4. Split the mixture into four balls. Flatten them and coat with breadcrumbs.
5. Cook on a barbecue or under the grill for 20-30 minutes, until nicely brown.

Mushroom and hazelnut burgers:

Ingredients:

• 2 big handfuls of mushrooms, finely chopped
• a handful of chopped hazelnuts
• 2 tablespoons of pureed cooked rice
• a tablespoon of fresh taragon, finely chopped
• a handful of breadcrumbs
• a tablespoon of olive oil

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the mushrooms until tender.
2. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan over a medium heat until starting to brown.
3. Combine all the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs, and mix until you have an even texture.
4. Split the mixture into four balls. Flatten them and coat with breadcrumbs.
5. Cook on a barbecue or under the grill for 20-30 minutes, until nicely brown.