Gardenburger

In June of 1998, Gardenburger was on a roll. Bolstered by booming sales of its Original Veggie Burger, the company introduced three new varieties of its popular meatless patties: Classic Greek, Fire-Roasted Vegetable, and Savory Mushroom. The first one, the Classic Greek Veggie Patty, includes calamata olives, feta cheese, and spinach to give it a distinctively Mediterranean flavor, yet with only three grams of fat per serving. 

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 patty
Total servings–8
Calories per serving–150
Fat per serving–3g

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Paul Wenner started his company in 1985 when he developed a meatless hamburger from leftovers at his vegetarian restaurant. Even though his Gardenburger was a hit, Paul was forced to close the restaurant due to dwindling sales. On the bright side, this gave Paul more free time to develop and sell his delicious puck-shaped plant patty. Today Paul's Gardenburger brand is thriving, with an estimated fifty million patties served in restaurants, cafeterias, and concession stands in 1998 alone.

To make this clone, you'll need a food processor and a hot barbecue grill. And if you're looking for an interesting way to serve it, the manufacturer suggests you slap the veggie patty onto some focaccia bread and top it off with marinara sauce, grilled squash, and a little Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 patty
Total servings–8
Calories per serving–150
Fat per serving–3g

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Chef Paul Wenner fathered a hot product when he ground up those leftover vegetables at his restaurant and formed them into the shape of a hamburger patty. When Paul got out ot the restaurant business, he peddled the meatless patties out of his van under name Wholesome and Hearty Foods. In 1992, when his company went public, the stock shop up to $30 from $3 on rumors that McDonald's was planning to sell the veggie patties under the golden arches. When those rumors proved to be false, the stock came crashing down quicker than sales figures for the McLean Deluxe. Later, the name of the company was changed to Gardenburger, and new products, such as the Savory Mushroom Veggie Patty, were developed.

For this clone, you'll need to track down three types of mushrooms: the common white button, brown or crimini, and portobello. You'll also need a food processor to mash everything up real good.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 patty
Total servings–8
Calories per serving–140
Per per serving–3g

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

In the early eighties, at his Gardenhouse restaurant, Chef Paul Wenner created a unique meatless patty to replace hamburgers. The patty, which contained mushrooms, brown rice, onions, oats, and low-fat cheeses was dubbed Gardenburger and quickly became a hit. Soon, Wenner closed his restaurant and began to concentrate on marketing his meatless, low-fat creation to a hungry, health-conscious America. Today Gardenburger patties can be found in more than 35,000 food service outlets around the world, and in more than 20,000 stores.

Now you can make a surprisingly accurate clone of the real thing with the same type of ingredients Wenner uses. Most of the ingredients can be found at your local supermarket, although you may have to go to a health food store to get bulgar wheat. And if you jog over there you can burn off the few calories you ingest from this cool kitchen clone.

Nutrition facts:
Serving size–1 patty
Total servings–6
Calories per serving–135
Fat per serving–3g

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.