Friday, April 8, 2011

Quinoa Burgers made with chickpeas and served with a lemon dill sauce.

I am a self proclaimed (vegan) cookbook lover! I read them like others read novels. I get immersed in the pictures (no wonder!), and I love to see how others combine ingredients, spices, and herbs. I can follow directions to a "T", and according to a patient of mine, he says I'm a good German girl, because of it. I usually don't deviate from recipes too far, unless I actually don't have an ingredient, or I know I want to make some changes.

Which leads into my recommendation of a fairly new cookbook that is out now, by the name of Vegan Diner- classic comfort food for the soul, by Julie Hasson, who is well known on her Everyday Dish TV.
Can I tell you how much I L-O-V-E this cookbook??? Simple down home cooking that tastes great!

The quinoa burger recipe comes from that cookbook, and I only changed the spice blend I used, which she encourages the reader to do, to fit their taste.  Quinoa is naturally gluten free, which is a plus for so many too!

quinoa burger

 


The adapted recipe for

Quinoa Burgers from Vegan Diner, by Julie Hasson

1/2 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
12 oz chickpeas, (about 1 1/2 cups canned and drained, or homemade)
1/2 cup quick oats (not instant)
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa ***
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp of poultry seasoning or favorite spice blend (I used a local blend called Symeon's Seasoning from a local restaurant)
1 tsp of smoked paprika
2 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Amino or soy sauce
2 Tbsp of chickpea flour
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
additional chickpea flour for dusting the burgers
olive oil for cooking
Burger buns
Lettuce or greens
sliced tomato and onion for serving

Makes 6 burgers. Add the onion and garlic to a food processor bowl, and pulse till finely chopped. Add the chickpeas and oats, and pulse until well mixed, but not pureed. Remove to a large bowl, and stir in the quinoa, parsley, poultry seasoning or spice mix, smoked paprika, Braggs, and chickpea flour. Stir in 1-2 Tbsp of water if necessary to help the burger mixture stick together, but you don't want it too moist. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thoroughly mix the ingredients well, cover the bowl, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Form the burger mixture into 6 balls, and press into 3 1/2-4 inch patties.

quinoa burger patties

Heat a large cast iron skillet or heavy duty fry pan over medium high heat. And lightly coat or spray with olive oil. Place the chickpea flour on a small plate and dust the burgers on all sides with the flour. Add the burgers to the hot skillet. Cook the patties for about 5 minutes, or until nicely browned and crispy. Reduce the heat to medium if necessary, to continue cooking without burning. Add more olive oil if needed, to keep the burgers from sticking. Flip the burgers over and cook on the other side. Repeat with the remaining burgers.

Remove from the skillet and let sit for minutes before serving. Letting the burgers rest will give them a better texture. Serve on a roll with all of the fixings you like, or serve or a salad as shown.


*** to cook quinoa, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a pan on the stove, rinse 3/4 of a cup of quinoa in a mesh strainer under running water. Once water is boiling, add the quinoa, cover and cook for 12-15 minutes till the quinoa appears spiraled, and the water is absorbed. ( I like to add vegetable stock powder to the water for a little extra taste, and then reducing the amt of salt added to the recipe)


Lemon Dill sauce

1/4 cup Vegenaise (or mayo)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp dried dill
1/2-1 tsp of garlic powder
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Mix in a small bowl and add as a topping to your burger. If you like a lot of sauce, you may want to double the recipe. (I only used a small amt to keep the calories down)

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Boy am I ever glad you are as wonderfully addicted to cook books as me! I just wish I could follow recipes better (I seem to tweak them from the start). I look forward to trying this recipe!

Jess said...

I lurves me some good cookbooks! I really think you'll like this recipe. So far everything I've made in this cookbook has been fab! Totally worth every cent paid!

Jenny @ Fitness Health and Food said...

mmm mmm

those do look delicious what a great vegan substitute to our salmon cakes - that look amazingly similar.

Thanks so much for the idea! :)

Jess said...

sure thing! Hope you like them!

Anonymous said...

these look lovely im definitely trying them out asap!

Anonymous said...

These look delish I love quinoa burgers and these little burgers look perfect for spring :)