Recipe: Two Women's Zucchini-Wheat Germ Burgers (using mushrooms and cheese)

TWO WOMEN'S ZUCCHINI-WHEAT GERM BURGERS

2 large eggs
3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup shredded jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
3 tablespoons minced onion
1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme leaves and crumbled dried rosemary leaves
1 1/2 cups long shreds zucchini (shred just before using)
Salt and pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons salad oil
FOR SERVING:
Toasted buns or bread
Unflavored yogurt, catsup, mustard, lettuce or alfalfa sprouts, and tomato slices

In a bowl, beat eggs to blend. Stir in wheat germ, cheese, mushrooms, onion, thyme, rosemary, and zucchini. Add salt and pepper to taste. On plastic wrap, shape zucchini mixture into 4 patties, each 3/4-inch thick.

Swirl 1 teaspoon oil in a (10- to 12-inch) nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Place patties in pan and cook until deep golden on bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn, add remaining oil if needed, and brown other side, about 4 minutes.

Serve on buns with yogurt, catsup, mustard, lettuce, and tomato.

RECIPE NOTE:
"We realized that we had a winning combination when Laurie Kirkland of Laguna Beach and Dorothy Pinson of Borrego Springs, California, who have never met, sent us nearly identical recipes for zucchini patties with wheat germ and herbs. Shred the zucchini just before using it."

Makes 4 burgers
Source: Sunset magazine, January 1994