Monday, August 11, 2014

Lentil-Chickpea Burger

I was at a dinner party last night and heard a couple people mention following me on facebook and reading my blog (I love when that happens), and then someone said, "But I haven't seen much lately"  (I hate when that happens!).  But he was right.  I've been so busy cooking for other people, having classes and doing freelance recipe writing and editing (and don't get me wrong - I'm loving it!), but that has left my poor little blog neglected.

So here I am, with one of my favorite new veggie burger recipes: Lentil-Chickpea Burgers.  I made it last month for one of my weekly clients who's interested in eating more vegetarian meals, and it was such a hit that she requests it every week.  Sounds like a good comeback blog item to me.....

I start out by cooking lentils.  I prefer green lentils because they tend to hold up better than red lentils.  You only need 1 cup of cooked lentils for the burgers, but I find it a little more difficult to cook small amounts of lentils, so I go ahead and use 1 cup uncooked; it'll yield more lentils than you need, but you can save the rest and add to soup or a salad.  Put the lentils and enough water to cover by a couple inches (usually 3 times the amount of dried lentils) in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  I only cook them for about 10 minutes, so they are still fairly firm.  Then drain them, measure out 1 cup and put them in a food processor.

Add a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), some shredded carrot, chopped scallion, fresh cilantro, ground cumin and coriander, lemon zest and salt & pepper.  Pulse it to break down the ingredients a bit , then add an egg and some panko and pulse again until fully combined.


Since I work with people who avoid both of those last ingredients, I have a couple alternatives for you, if you are in the same boat: instead of an egg, you can make a flax slurry - 1 tablespoon ground flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water is the equivalent to 1 egg (let it sit for a couple minutes to congeal), and if you are going gluten-free, just place a couple slices of toasted gluten-free bread in a food processor and blend until you have breadcrumbs.

Form the mixture into 4-6 patties, depending on the size you like and pan fry in oil about 4-5 minutes per side until lightly browned - a cast iron skillet will help facilitate that beautiful browning.  Leave enough space between patties so that you can easily flip them.


I top mine with a little avocado sauce - blend 1 avocado, juice of 1 lime, a handful of cilantro, about 1/2 cup water and a pinch of salt in a Bullet or mini chopper.  If you only have a blender, this amount may be too small to blend properly, so double it, using just enough water to get the consistency you like. 



Lentil-Chickpea Burgers
Serves 4

1 cup cooked green lentils
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 large scallion, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 cup panko
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Place cooked lentils, chickpeas, carrot, cilantro, scallion, zest, cumin and coriander in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 4-5 times to break down the ingredients.
  • Add panko, egg, salt and pepper and continue to pulse until well blended.
  • Form into 4-6 patties, depending on your taste.
  • Heat oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) and cook 4-5 minutes per side until lightly browned.
Yum it up.....and cook happy!