"My family and I were cleaning out our house for Passover,” says Yonah, “and I wanted to give myself a challenge. I used ingredients that we needed to get rid of for Passover for the burger. Then I thought, kale is a very big power food, and I have it a lot and enjoy it, so why don’t I make a salad with it? I was thinking that most burgers come with coleslaw, so I made a kale slaw instead." - Yonah Kalikow, age 10, Massachusetts

Makes 4 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the Burgers:

• ½ cup quinoa
• 1 cup dried green or brown lentils
• 3 bay leaves
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 large tomato, finely diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and grated or chopped
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• ½ cup BBQ sauce
• 1 cup wasabi peas
• Hamburger rolls
• Garnish: Tomato and onion slices, lettuce leaves

For the Kale Slaw:

• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• Juice of ½ lemon

For the Dressing:

• ½ lemon
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons raw agave syrup or honey

For the Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons Sriracha
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon raw agave syrup or honey

Preparation: 

1. To cook the quinoa/lentils for the Burgers: In a large pot, combine quinoa and lentils. Add 3 cups of water and bay leaves, bring to a boil over moderate heat, cover, and cook on low for about 30 minutes, or until quinoa and lentils are tender. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.
2. In a wok or sauté pan, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil over moderate heat. Add the tomato and onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the lentil/quinoa mix, soy sauce and BBQ sauce, and stir for 2 minutes.
3. To make the Kale Slaw and Dressing: In a large bowl, combine the kale, carrots, and cranberries. Squeeze lemon over slaw, add mustard and agave, and stir well to combine.
4. Put the wasabi peas into a blender and coarsely grind. Add two-thirds of the lentil/quinoa mixture and pulse until smooth, then return to pan, mix thoroughly and let cool. Once cool, shape into 4 large patties or 8 small ones.
5. In a large sauté pan, warm the remaining olive oil and cook patties over moderate heat for 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly golden. Meantime, in a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients. Serve on rolls with sauce and slaw.

431 calories; 13g fat; 36 carbohydrates; 14g protein

More information about the Kids' State Dinner:

• Check out the other winning 2014 Kids' State Dinner Recipes here.
• Learn more about Kids' State Dinner here.