I am fully going for horror in my last post before Halloween, and I understand this might not be for everyone.

Given the culinary prowess of the titular character, I decided to pair the TV show “Hannibal” with a “bloody” beet burger that features another relevant ingredient: fava beans.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 4 burgers.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked fava beans
3 cups shredded beets
0.5 cups walnuts
5 tablespoons olive oil (separated)
0.75 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
0.5 cups gluten-free bread crumbs
2 teaspoons brown miso paste
1 tablespoon coconut aminos or vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
0.33 cups parsley
2 tablespoons dried chives
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons water
optional: vegan, gluten-free hamburger buns and the toppings of your choice

Instructions
If you have dried fava beans, cook them according to the packaging instructions.

Pulse the walnuts in a blender or food processor so they are finely chopped.

Shred your beets. You can use raw beets, or we used a combination of precooked beets and pickled beets.

For raw beets, sauté in a pan for 6-7 minutes with 2 tablespoons of oil plus the salt, garlic powder, cumin and smoked paprika. I had a blend that combined these seasonings, so I just used 3.75 teaspoons of that.

If you used precooked beets like I did, you do not need to cook them. I just stirred my seasonings into them. The end result for either option should be slightly softened seasoned shredded beets.

For the pan option, if there is excess liquid, strain it out when you’re done using a colander or sieve.

Pour the cooked beets into a mixing bowl with the bread crumbs, cooked fava beans, chopped walnuts, miso paste, aminos/Worcestershire, tomato paste, parsley, chives, corn starch and black pepper. Mix everything together thoroughly.

Transfer one third of this mixture to a blender or food processor with 1 tablespoon of oil and 2 tablespoons of water. Pulse until it is smooth but still a little chunky. (It should be more like a tapenade than a hummus.)

Add the pureed mixture back to your bowl and mix it well.

Shape the mixture into four patties.

Grill or fry (using the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil) the burgers until they are crisp on both sides. If you use a pan, you may only be able to do 1-2 burgers at a time to avoid overcrowding.

Serve the burgers on your favorite vegan, gluten free buns or bread with the toppings of your choice. We used buns, and I topped mine with vegan cheese, lettuce and vegan mayo.

If you can stomach it, enjoy with an episode or a season of “Hannibal!”

The Easy Route
This is probably one of the easiest options for a homemade patty. If you know of a good vegan, gluten-free premade beet burger or have a restaurant near you that makes something similar, please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
I have an appreciation for the Hannibal Lecter films, but I haven’t enjoyed any of them nearly as much as I’ve enjoyed Bryan Fuller’s 2013-2015 TV show “Hannibal.”

Much like Fuller’s “Pushing Daisies,” “Hannibal” has achieved a cult following, with fans constantly asking the creators and stars for another season.

While “Pushing Daisies” and “Hannibal” may seem very different on the surface, they both are a foodie’s delight, with “Pushing Daisies” being a dream and “Hannibal” being a nightmare.

Both shows have you rallying around a core group of characters as they try to solve mysteries, too. All this is to say, if you enjoyed “Pushing Daisies,” you should give “Hannibal” a shot.

“Hannibal” follows the friendship between Detective Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), who teams up with Graham and his colleagues as a consultant.

The cinematography, story structure and set design build to make “Hannibal” a dark fairytale of sorts, while also incorporating aspects of the horror and thriller genres.

Joining the perfectly paired Dancy and Mikkelsen in the cast are Laurence Fishburne, Caroline Dhavernas, Raúl Esparza and Gillian Anderson. They are all incredible in their roles, and their performances helped me keep watching week after week as the show aired.

I am definitely part of the “Hannibal” hive, and anytime I see pictures of these stars and/or Fuller reuniting in any capacity, I get excited. I love this dark, twisty thriller and was disappointed when the show was canceled.

“Hannibal” is definitely not for everyone (it is quite bloody and gory at points, especially for a major network TV show), but if you want to take a chance on something a little different this Halloween season, I cannot recommend the show enough.

If you decide to make beet burgers or watch “Hannibal,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes