Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

Whaaaat??! Veggie burgers? Where's the meat!

 

I know, I know! Kind of strange seeing this girl post a recipe for a veggie burger but hear me out!

 

I made plans for myself to try to go completely meat-less -minus fish and 2 eggs/week, of course!- for a few weeks, starting this past Monday. Doing it mainly for health reasons and actually feeling great about it! This will be my second meat challenge this year and I'm feeling pumped about doing this again but working harder to eat better meat-less meals.

 

So how to do this without giving up, feeling hungry, and getting discouraged?

 

Get creative in the kitchen. Try new things and experiment. Figure out new flavors or combinations that you like and ones you may not but glad you at least had the guts to try. Play around with your food! Make it fun.

 

The first thing I thought of doing was buying three cans of chickpeas and deciding on making three totally different dishes I've never had before than the usual ways of delving into the garbanzo bean. Gotta start somewhere!

 

I looked online for some inspiration or even a new recipe to try and right away I locked my eyes on the recipe for Zucchini Chickpea Burgers....and that was the first new meal I was going to create with one of my cans. I was a little wary but definitely went in with an open-mind.

 

I found the recipe on Vicky's blog: http://avocadopesto.com

 

and here's the link to her recipe: Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

 

I made a couple of changes for my own preferences (and the fact I rarely follow a recipe!) but here is her recipe below:

 



Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

Recipe type: Dinner

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 6

 

Killer veggie burgers made with zucchini, chickpeas, quinoa and sunflower seeds. This will be your new favorite burger. Vegan and gluten free too!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1½ cup zucchini, grated on the largest setting of a box grater
• ½ cup sunflower seeds, toasted
• ¾ teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
• Black pepper to taste
   
• 1½ cup canned chickpeas
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/3 cup dry)
• ⅔ cups water
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• ½ teaspoon smoked and spicy paprika
• To serve::
• 8 hamburger buns or sliced bread (Udi’s gluten free for gluten free version)
• red onion, thinly sliced
• large handful arugula
• 4 tablespoons wasabi mayo (omit for vegan version)
• 4 tablespoons edamame hummus
• 3 small cucumbers, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add zucchini, and saute until zucchini is cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Grind pumpkin seeds, sea salt, and pepper in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add quinoa, chickpeas, dijon mustard, lemon, dill, and paprika, to the mixture. Pulse to combine a few times and then run the food processor until the mixture is broken up but hasn’t completely lost its texture. If you need to, add a little water to the mixture.
3. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add the zucchini, onion, and garlic. Mix until combined.
4. Shape the mixture into 6-8 patties with your hands.
5. Heat remaining olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook burgers for five minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Serve each burger on hamburger buns with a dollop of wasabi mayo, edamame hummus, sliced cucumbers, red onions and arugula.

 

Here's my end result:

 



 

And my changes:

• I ended up replacing the sunflower seeds with pine nuts. 
• No need to add any water to the mix. It was perfectly moist.
• The olive oil was kind of low for only 2 Tbsp and splitting it for the first steps and when cooking the burgers but I stuck to it.
• I had no dijon mustard in my kitchen so I used regular mustard but cut it down to less than 2 Tbsp. I got a hint of it when I tried the burger but not overpowering at all. I wouldn't mind using this again or just buying some dijon.
• I used dried dill instead of fresh. I don't use it that often to buy fresh so dried came in handy today.
• I had smoky paprika on hand already so used that though it isn't spicy at all.
• I added 1 tsp of red pepper flakes for a kick!
• I was out of arugula. :)
• Instead of making wasabi mayo, I made wasabi yogurt instead. Just made about 1/2-1 tsp of wasabi and added to about 1/2 cup of plain low-fat yogurt. It was more than perfect! That and I'm trying to avoid mayo as much as I can.
• And I didn't have edamame hummus - which I absolutely love, by the way!

My thoughts?

 

I actually really like this burger. I forgot that it wasn't meat for a second! I wouldn't mind making this once in a while. I was able to get 7 burgers out of the mix, which I ended up freezing them to enjoy on another day. So far it's been about 5 hours since I had lunch and I'm still feeling full, no appetite at all, and I'm not missing meat...so far! I encourage you to try this out and taste for yourself!