I’ve been experimenting with living a (mostly) vegan diet since mid-January and I’m planning on continuing for another few weeks.  This is not something I thought I would ever do. I’m not a huge meat eater, but I do consume (in moderate portions) organic, happily raised poultry and meats. I also take issue with many vegetarian diets that are initiated because they are “healthier” but contain a lot of dairy and processed soy making them less healthy than a well-rounded omnivorous diet in my books – meatless hot dog, anyone?

I have been following recipes out of Brendan Brazier’s book called The Thrive Diet. Mr. Brazier is a professional Ironman triathlete and the creator of Vega products. His book is brilliant. It contains a lot of great information about why we should be leading a vegan lifestyle and even though I’m not entirely convinced that this is the way to go, I’m going to add many of these new recipes into my rotation. The focus of this diet is on whole foods- vegetables and fruit, legumes (beans, lentils, peas), pseudograins (amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, wild rice), and high quality fats from nuts and oils like coconut, olive, and flaxseed – all foods that improve the health of your heart.

It is now a pretty well-known fact that decreasing the consumption of saturated fat found in meat and high fat dairy products helps to lower the risk of heart disease.  Perhaps you are not interested in going vegan, but having some meatless meals in your repertoire is important. I have adapted one of Brendan’s nut burger recipes and have to say, it’s pretty tasty. The combination of nuts, seeds, and garlic make this burger a healthy heart favourite.  Do your health a favour and give it a try!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup raw almonds
• ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
• ½ cup ground flax seed
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ cup fresh parsley
• Dash of sea salt and pepper

Instructions: Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until combined. The mixture will ball up when it’s ready. If you don’t have a food processor, you can blend the ingredients in batches in a Magic Bullet. Divide mixture into 4 balls and flatten to make patties. The burgers can be eaten raw or cooked in a little bit of coconut oil in a frying pan. Serve one per person with a salad and a side of quinoa. Enjoy!