Chickpea & Coriander Veggie Burgers

I must admit, this is not a recipe I turn to often but the beauty of chickpeas is that they last longer than Ghandi’s flip-flops (I can assure you they taste a lot better)!

Their longevity is fantastic if you don’t own a snow plough to get to the supermarket…

Serves: I made 3 burgers with the ingredients mentioned.

Preparation time: 15 minutes to cook but you have to chill the mixture for at least 10 minutes!

Ingredients:

400g can of chickpeas, drained
½ red chilli, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
Zest of ¾ lemon (and a squeeze of lemon juice)
1 tsp ground cumin (not shown in picture)
1 tsp paprika (not shown in picture)
Small bunch coriander, chopped
1 egg
½ medium red onion, ½ diced, ½ sliced
½ medium white onion, ½ diced, ½ sliced
1 tbsp olive oil (not shown in picture)
4 small wholemeal buns (I had to use whole-wheat seeded bread as I had no buns)
3 small tomatoes, sliced to serve (not shown in picture)

Method:

Blitz the chickpeas, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, half the coriander and the egg in a blender.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl with the chopped chilli and mix in the diced onions.
Play patacake to create 3 or 4 burgers and chill for at least 10 mins.
Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot.
Fry the burgers for around 4 mins each side. Your spatula skills will need to be at their best here to avoid any burger crumble! Also, keep the heat on medium so the burgers don’t burn!
To serve, slice each bun and fill with a burger, a few slices of tomato and the remaining coriander.
Feel free to whack in some cool cucumber, copped chilli or red onion for a bit of extra filling.
When I do them again, a dollop of chilli sauce may not go amiss; just to give the burgers a bit more moisture.

If I was to do this recipe again, with full access to the local supermarket, I would:

Use whole-wheat buns about the size of the burgers – When taking a bite around the edge of the burgers I felt a little bit of bread overload!
Add a tiny dollop of chilli sauce to moisten the burgers and add a kick!

I hope you enjoy this vegetarian option – let me know if you have any questions and share your attempts with @myhomevitality on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Please support my latest initiative #FriendsAndFamilyFeast (#FFF) – On the last Saturday of every month I want you guys to cook for your friends and family. Don’t worry, I’ll be doing it with you so if you need any pointers check out My Home Vitality’s social media posts and my profile: Shaun