Mix cooked lentils, oats and tomato paste until well blended. Add the chopped onions and stir together. Stir in the seasonings. In a small cup mix the flaxseed in 6 tablespoons of hot water. Stir together until the mixture begins to gel. This flaxseed mixture is often called a “flax-egg” in plant-based cooking. 1 tablespoon in 2 tablespoons of hot water is equivalent to an egg for binding ingredients together. After the flax-egg gels, mix it into the bean mixture. Add the ground nuts and bread crumbs and mix thoroughly until the burger mix holds well together. I like to let the mix sit for 5-10 minutes for the liquids to be well absorbed.

Form into burgers and fry on a nonstick griddle or skillet. They will brown up very nicely and quickly—just several minutes on each side. Arrange the finished burgers on a plate. Serve them as an entrée burger with a low-fat hummus or tomato sauce. Or you can serve them on a bun with lettuce, onion and tomato. They would be delicious in a pita bread sandwich as well.