Lentil–Walnut Burgers with Cheesy Sauce Recipe

The AHA! Team — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 05:32:38 +0000

Recipe via Nutrition Facts – Lentil–Walnut Burgers with Cheesy Sauce Recipe Recipe by: Dr. Michael Greger & Robin Robertson from The How Not to Age Cookbook Lentils and walnuts make hearty and delicious burgers, and the Cheesy Sauce is perfection. Here’s a tip for you: Be sure your cooked lentils are not wet. You can blot them dry or place them in a skillet over medium heat, tossing to get out any moisture. Alternatively, you can spread them on a baking sheet and bake them for a few minutes at 350°F (175°C) to dry them out. COURSE: Main Course DIFFICULTY: Moderate SERVINGS: 6 Ingredients BURGERS ▢ ⅓ cup chopped walnuts ▢ ⅓ cup chopped red onion ▢ 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds ▢ 2 tablespoons warm water (mix with flaxseed) ▢ 1 tablespoon white miso paste ▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder ▢ ¼ teaspoon paprika ▢ ¼ teaspoon sodium-free salt substitute (optional) ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground pippali or black pepper ▢ 1 tablespoon Roasted Garlic (optional) ▢ 1½ cups cooked (not wet) brown lentils ▢ ½ cup rolled oats, or more as needed FOR SERVING ▢ Whole-grain burger buns or tortillas (optional) ▢ Optional toppings: lettuce leaves, sliced tomato, sliced red onion ▢ Cheesy Sauce Instructions FOR THE BURGERS: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet. Set aside. In a food processor, combine the walnuts, red onion, flaxseed mixture, parsley, miso paste, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, sodium-free salt substitute (if using), and pippali. Pulse to combine, leaving some texture. Add the Roasted Garlic (if using), lentils, and oats. Pulse to mix together while leaving some texture. Pinch off a bit of the mixture and press it in your hand to make sure it holds together. If it’s too wet, add more oats; if it’s too dry, add some water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste to adjust the seasonings, it needed. Shape the lentil mixture tightly into six burgers about ½-inch (1-cm) thick. Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, turning once, about 8 minutes per side. TO SERVE: When the burgers are ready to serve, arrange them on a plate or on buns or tortillas (if using) along with any toppings you choose. Top with the Cheesy Sauce. Notes VARIATION: For Southwest Black Bean Burgers: Substitute black beans for the lentils, pepitas for the walnuts, and fresh cilantro for the parsley. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of chili powder, ¼ cup (30g) of minced red bell pepper, and 2 tablespoons of chopped green onion, then proceed with the recipe. To read the original article click here.

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Studying Finds: Most Plant-Based Restaurant Meals are Unhealthy

The AHA! Team — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 05:10:19 +0000

Priyanjana Pramanik, MSc. via News-Medical – Many “vegan” meals aren’t as healthy as you think—new research reveals that refined grains, fried foods, and saturated fats are widespread in plant-based restaurant dishes. Are your plant-based choices really good for you? A recent study In a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, researchers examined the menus of restaurants around the world to see whether plant-based offerings at both omnivore (OMNI) and vegan or vegetarian (VEG) eateries are ‘healthful’ in terms of avoiding saturated fats, refined grains, and deep-fried foods. They found that many restaurants (with OMNI establishments being more limited than VEG) did not offer patrons enough choices of plant-based main courses and that 14-27% of restaurants had no healthful plant-based offerings at all. The research team hopes that these findings, combined with the established links between poor diets, chronic illnesses, and increased mortality rates, will encourage restaurants to make nutrition details of their dishes more readily available. Background Only 2% of restaurants earned a perfect health score—meaning nearly all plant-based menus included at least one unhealthy component like refined grains, fried foods, or saturated fats. An increasing number of people in the U.S. and worldwide are choosing to increase their intake of plant-based foods, and projections suggest that the American vegan market will grow 12% annually until 2030. Dairy and meat alternatives are more accessible than ever, with more groceries and OMNI restaurants offering plant-based options; there are also more dedicated VEG eateries. Dairy and meat alternatives are more accessible than ever People who choose to limit or eliminate their intake of animal-based foods are often motivated by environmental causes, animal welfare, religious beliefs, or health concerns, though it appears that 63% of the increase in plant-based consumption is driven by OMNI consumers. An estimated less than 2% of a national survey’s respondents said that they had adopted an entirely vegan or vegetarian diet for their health. However, certain plant-based foods, including sweets, sweetened beverages, fried foods, and refined grains, can have negative health impacts, such as increasing the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, or hypertension. Researchers caution that some unhealthy plant-based foods may pose even greater health risks In fact, researchers caution that some unhealthy plant-based foods may pose even greater health risks than a standard American diet due to their high sodium content, refined grains, and excessive saturated fats. The Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommends reducing or avoiding these foods and animal-based products rich in saturated fat and cholesterol. Individuals looking to make healthier dietary decisions when eating out should be offered an adequate number of choices that are free of fried foods, saturated fats, and refined grains while also having access to nutritional information to help identify high-risk menu items. About the Study U.S. restaurants offered slightly more healthful options than international ones, but the difference was small, showing that unhealthy plant-based meals are a global issue. Over three years, the research team visited a convenience sample of 561 eateries offering vegan options in 196 cities across 37 countries and six continents. Most of these were located in the U.S. (373), followed by Australia and several European countries. The restaurants included in the study had Internet listings on commercially available proprietary resources and search engines. Their menus were also available online and explicitly listed their vegan offerings. Some, including American franchises with 20 or more locations, provided nutritional information about their dishes, following a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandate. Restaurants were classified as having a full menu if they offered at least 10 plant-based main courses. They were then scored based on the number of healthful dishes in this group, receiving one point per healthful entrée, up to a maximum of 10. Healthy dishes were those that did not contain deep-fried ingredients (such as battered or crispy items, which can be carcinogenic), saturated fats (including coconut milk, coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter), or refined grains (such as white rice, white flour, and refined pasta, which have a high glycemic index but little fiber). Findings The 561 restaurants included in the analysis consisted of 283 OMNI and 278 VEG eateries. Researchers noted that two restaurants mistakenly labeled dishes containing animal products as vegan; these were excluded. Refined grains were the biggest health concern, with 40% of OMNI and 38% of VEG meals containing ingredients like white rice, white flour buns, and refined pasta, which have been linked to increased mortality. American restaurants vs. Other countries On average, American restaurants offered 6.6 plant-based main courses while non-U.S.-based ones offered 6.2, a statistically insignificant difference. However, American restaurants offered slightly more healthy dishes than those in other countries (3.4 compared to 2.9, though this was not statistically significant). Only 33 restaurants (28 OMNI and 5 VEG, or 10% and 2%, respectively) provided full nutrition facts online, including caloric, sodium, sugar, and saturated fat content. Only 33 restaurants provided full nutrition facts online OMNI restaurants had an average of 4.5 vegan main courses on their menus, compared to 8.4 for VEG restaurants. Approximately 59% of VEG eateries and only 16% of OMNI eateries had a full vegan menu. On average, the restaurants scored 3.2 out of 10, with VEG restaurants having significantly more healthy options (4.0/10) than OMNI restaurants (2.4/10). Only 2% of eateries included in the analysis received a score of 10, indicating that the main courses analyzed had no deep-fried ingredients, saturated fats, or refined grains. Conversely, 26% of OMNI and 14% of VEG restaurants received a score of 0. Score reductions happened most often due to the presence of refined grains (40% in OMNI and 38% in VEG cases). OMNI restaurants were more likely to be penalized for saturated fat content (12%), while VEG restaurants contained fried items more frequently (28%). Conclusions The researchers found that many options labeled as ‘vegan’ contain unhealthy ingredients, with dedicated VEG restaurants offering a greater proportion of healthy options than OMNI restaurants. However, refined grains, which are linked to increased mortality and chronic disease, were the most common reason for dishes being classified as unhealthy. Notably, U.S.-based restaurants were slightly more likely to offer healthy options. The study also highlights that nutritional transparency remains a challenge. Only a small fraction of restaurants provided detailed nutritional content, with disclosure being more common in OMNI restaurants—largely due to U.S. regulations requiring franchises with 20 or more locations to share this information. Restaurants respond to the preferences of their target consumers to be financially viable; often, the things that make food taste ‘good’ are what make it unhealthy. Additionally, several challenges keep individuals from forming healthy eating habits, including traditional and cultural norms, familiarity, aversion to change, affordability, accessibility, concerns about nutritional adequacy, emotional attachment, peer pressure, social norms, poor education, time constraints, and convenience. While the study provides valuable insights, it does have limitations. The sample was a convenience sample, primarily drawn from the U.S. and Westernized countries, meaning the findings may not be generalizable to all global regions. Additionally, assessments were based on online menu descriptions, which may not fully capture all nutritional details. Cardiovascular disease continues to be a leading driver of mortality in the U.S., and poor diet leads to other chronic diseases that increase healthcare costs and lives lost while reducing personal and economic productivity. Though this study’s findings are based on a convenience sample of restaurants and a select number of menu offerings, its results highlight clear policy implications. Restaurants should be encouraged to provide nutritional information More restaurants should be encouraged to provide nutritional information about the food they serve so that patrons can make informed decisions. Though eateries are businesses and not responsible for the health of their customers, they have the ability to reduce health risks by limiting the use of refined grains, excessive sodium, saturated fats, added sugar, and fried foods in their dishes. Given the well-established links between unhealthful diets, chronic disease, and mortality, the researchers suggest that regulatory bodies such as the FDA expand nutritional disclosure requirements beyond large franchises to include a broader range of restaurants. Journal reference: Healthful vs. Unhealthful Plant-Based Restaurant Meals. Williams, K.A., Horton, A.M., Baldridge, R.D., Ikram, M. Nutrients (2025). DOI: 10.3390/nu17050742, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/5/742 To read the original article click here.

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Lentil–Walnut Burgers with Cheesy Sauce Recipe

Studying Finds: Most Plant-Based Restaurant Meals are Unhealthy