For my vegan chef culinary program at Natural Kitchen Cooking School we get a bag of goodies every weekend that we have classes. In our most recent goodie bag, we received a copy of Nava Atlas’ latest book, Wild About Greens. I was overjoyed! I heard about this book, which focuses on how to use greens in a variety of recipes. Chapters focus on basic preparation for leafy greens, greens with beans, grains, pasta and other veggies, salads, dressings, dips, soups & stews, and green juices and smoothies.

As part of my homework, I’m required to make a recipe out of this cookbook. Not a problem at all. The only difficult decision was which recipe to choose.

Being a huge fan of the beans and greens combination, I decided to try this white bean & greens burger. The recipe calls for cannellini or great northern beans. The only white beans I had on hand were navy beans, which made a fine substitution. For the greens, I used kale and served the burgers on whole wheat english muffins. The burgers tasted fine without a bun as well. To take the flavor up a notch, I slathered some Chipotle Vegenaise and threw a few dill pickle slices on top. Divine!

A good burger is always best accompanied by some delicious fries. Using some potatoes we received in our CSA share, I sliced them up, tossed them in a bowl with olive oil and Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub and baked them at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes (flipping once).

This was a fun and healthier way to enjoy a burger and fries. The consistency of the burger was soft, but the flavor and texture were appetizing. My husband went back for seconds and took the rest to work with him for lunch the next two days. If you are a lover of greens or just want to figure out more creative ways to incorporate them into your daily meals, I highly recommend Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas.

Overall, we’d rate this meal 4 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale.