Chickpea-chili veggie burgers

Can you believe I’ve never had a veggie burger on this blog? Then again, I’m not much of a burger person to begin with, so maybe it’s not that surprising. All I had to see, though, was the word "chickpea," and I knew this Urban Vegan recipe was for me. If you have any special kind of chili powder on hand, like ancho or chipotle, now’s the time to use it. If for some reason you don’t have chili powder at all, I’m betting this would also be good with paprika in its place. Maybe even garam masala, for an Indian chana-burger?! Ooh, I’ll have to give that a shot sometime...

15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped roasted red pepper
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
2 slices stale whole grain bread, crumbled
Up to 4 Tbsp vegetable broth or water
Up to 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
6 whole grain buns, split and toasted
Burger toppings, as desired

Place the chickpeas, red pepper, onion, garlic, chili powder, salt, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. (I also threw in a teaspoon of my homemade vegan bouillon just to give it an extra herby kick, but it’s not required.) By the way, if you don’t have roasted red peppers on hand, or if you don’t want to open a jar for just 2 Tbsp, feel free to use raw red pepper.



Process, adding enough veggie broth or water to get the mixture smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the crumbled bread. (If you don’t have stale bread, just toast two fresh slices before crumbling.)



Process until fairly smooth, adding more broth or water if needed. Dough should be sticky but malleable. Transfer to a large bowl and add enough oats so that you can pick up the dough in your hands without it sticking (I actually ended up using just over 3/4 cup). Refrigerate the mixture for one hour.



Remove the dough from the fridge and form into six (big!) patties. Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add three patties and cook, turning once, until each side is golden (probably 5-6 minutes total). Transfer cooked burgers to a plate, heat the other 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, and cook the three remaining patties.



Serve on toasted buns (or lettuce leaves) with any accoutrements you wish. Fries would be the natural choice for a side dish, but I made a warm corn-and-pea salad and savory pesto muffins as accompaniments. I ate my burger with black olive tapenade, making it feel kind of Italianesque (some Tuscan white bean dip would do the same trick). Topped with salsa or guacamole, this could become una hamburguesa mexicana. If you try my garam masala suggestion, I’d have it with Indian spice hummus. Or you can go the classic ketchup and mustard route; it’s up to you!



Yield: 6 patties. Per patty (without bun): 192 calories, 6.7g fat (1g sat), 28.6g carbs, 5g fiber, 5.6g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Tidy joes (vegan sloppy joes)
Roasted potato wraps w/black bean hummus
Curried tempeh-mango salad