Place water in a large, wide-bottom saucepan. Begin heating over high heat. Add millet, cover, and bring to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring once after 20 minutes. (I set a timer for this.)
When millet is done cooking, all the water should be absorbed.
Meanwhile, dice onions very, very small. (You should have approximately 2 cups of diced onion.) Sauté in a medium (7- to 8-inch) pan over medium-low to medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes until onions are translucent and very nicely browned.
While onions are sauteing, place pumpkin seeds in food processor fitted with the “S” blade and process until coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl.
Place olives in food processor and finely chop. Add to ground pumpkin seeds.
Peel carrot and beets, cut into large pieces, and place in food processor. Add chopped kale. Process until vegetables are about the size of a grain of rice. Scrape down sides of food processor once or twice during processing to ensure vegetables get chopped evenly.
You should have approximately 1 3/4 to 2 cups of chopped vegetables.
When onions are brown, add chopped vegetables to onions, turn heat to medium, and continue sauteing for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir salt and herbs into vegetables. Add ground pumpkin seeds, olives, tomato paste, and tahini, and mix well.
Stir vegetable mixture into millet.
While mixture is still hot, form into large (approx. 4-inch) patties using 2/3 to 3/4 cup mixture at a time. Do not allow mixture to cool too much or the burgers will be difficult to shape nicely.
Bake at 350°F for 45 to 55 minutes. (If you would like your burgers to be more moist, cover lightly during last 10 minutes of baking.)
Serve warm on buns with your favorite burger toppings. (These burgers taste best hot. The texture changes when they are cold. Reheat leftovers before serving.)
Notes
Cooking your millet according to this recipe ensures that your burgers will turn out right. However, if you want to use leftover millet, be sure to reheat it before using or your burgers won’t hold together.Make Ahead Tip:These burgers freezer very well. To reheat, place thawed or partial thawed beet burgers in a casserole dish (lightly covered w/ foil) and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes