Amazing Halloumi Tapioca Vegetarian Burgers!

Guys! GUYS!! I am so excited! I've found a delicious vegetarian burger patty or chip idea to share it with you today too. It's a halloumi and tapioca patty that is flavoursome and crispy and is a cinch to make. And yes this is a pushy recipe if you are looking for a vegetarian patty or burger!

I first tried this ideas at some cafes and we loved them. They were deep fried until crispy but you know how I am with deep fried food. I have no problem eating it but don't make me deep fry at home.

This is based on a Brazilian recipe and it is really easy although it does take a bit of waiting time but I promise that it is worth it. You cook the tapioca with halloumi and milk for a few minutes (5 minutes, max) and then cool it where it sets like jelly (jello) and becomes easy to cut into rounds or sliced into "fries". You can then brush these with oil and bake them so that they are crisp. They won't be quite as crunchy as the deep fried version but that's the trade off. It's still lovely and crispy on the outside and the halloumi cheese suits these perfectly.

I made these for a recent viewing party at Nina and Garth's house. We scheduled the party for the debut night of season 2 of Stranger Things, a show that Nina and I both loved.

We had the best intentions of starting watching at 5pm and watching the whole season. Except I was running late by 30 minutes and I needed to take some pics of Nina. In between this Marley and Mochi were not "feeling" each other. Marley wanted desperately to chase and play with Mochi whereas Mochi wanted desperately to get away from Marley. To add to that, Nina had just had a confrontation with one of her neighbours about Marley and she was close to tears. It was chaos and then Mr NQN arrived to play with them both giving us a bit of a breather.

It was close to 8pm by the time that we all sat down to eat and watch Stranger Things. I had intended to make something from the show to eat but the food they ate in the show wasn't very inspiring. I remember Eleven eating a burger once so a burger it was. Nina won't stop asking me to make these vegetarian burgers for her she loved them so much. Randomly, she will send me a burger emoji and a plea for these. I keep trying to tell her how easy they are to make.

We all loved the burgers, everyone was calm and we got to watch Stranger Things uninterrupted! Have you watched it yet? I loved the second season as much as the first. maybe even more. Without going into too may spoilers I loved the unexpected dynamic between Steve and Dustin as well as Lucas's little sister Erica. This time Eleven has hair and Dustin has teeth too! And does Will have the sweetest face or what? And he can really act!

The only part I didn't get? The new character Billy and his eyeliner and mullet (although his seduction scene with Mrs Wheeler was amazingly hilarious). But his mullet? In most cases they really nailed what was hot in the 80's but mullets? Who liked those? Oh hang on, there was Billy Ray Cyrus right...

So tell me Dear Reader, do your nights always go as planned? And are you into Stranger Things? What were your thoughts? And your thoughts on mullets?

Halloumi Tapioca Vegetarian Burgers

Makes 4 burger patties

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes plus a few hours setting time

Cooking time: 20 minutes

For patties:

• 200g/7ozs. halloumi, finely grated
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup tapioca pearls
• Salt and pepper
• Smoked paprika

For burgers

• 4 buns (I used charcoal buns)
• 2 avocadoes
• 4 tablespoons chive cream cheese
• Mayonnaise (I used a jalapeno mayonnaise)
• Soft butter lettuce leaves
• Thin slices red onion
• Chilli ketchup sauce

Step 1 - First make the patties. Place the milk in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Add tapioca pearls, halloumi, salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Stir until thickened. Place in a greased pan, I used a 20cm round pan or you can also use a square pan for less wastage. Smooth over, cool at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Step 2 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Cut into squares or rounds and brush with a teaspoon of oil per patty. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crispy on both sides.

Step 3 - Spread the cream cheese on the base of the burger buns. Place soft lettuce on top. Add the patties, mayonnaise, chilli tomato sauce and red onion. Then cut each avocado in half, remove the seed and skin and fan out on the patty (half an avocado per burger).