I’m practicing my burger skills for summer! My most recent creation was a Falafel Burger. These burgers are extremely easy and cost effective to create (If you have a well stocked pantry, you won’t need to buy much!). The burgers themselves are vegan (I added tzatziki but feel free to leave it vegan).
(Note: My new kitten, Gilligan, decided to photo bomb my burger photo in order to make his first appearance on the blog)
Serves 3 people
Ingredients
PATTIES:
1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed with cold water and drained
1 half red onion, quartered
1 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil (set aside a little additional olive oil for cooking)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup breadcrumbs (I like taking any bread I have on hand and making fresh breadcrumbs–simply toast the bread and pulse in the food processor. For this recipe, I used the fourth sesame bun in the pack!)
TOPPINGS / BUN:
Tzatziki (My local farmer’s market has an amazing one! Most grocery stores carry a version of this. If you can’t find it, I would use a little greek yogurt blended with salt, pepper, and fresh cucumber to make a quick version)
Sliced tomato\
Thinly sliced red onion
Fresh spinach
I used a sesame bun from the farmer’s market but use what you have/want here–pita would be great too!
Directions
Add all of the patty ingredients (EXCEPT breadcrumbs!) into a food processor and blend until people would mistake your mixture for guacamole.
Mix in breadcrumbs.
Divide burger mixture into three parts. Place each portion in a piece of saran wrap and once wrapped, shape patty. Refrigerate for at least an hour! This cannot be skipped. The patties must set up so that they do not fall apart on the grill.
You can very easily cook the burgers on the stovetop–just pan fry in a tablespoon of olive oil! However, I have the ability to grill so, to grill is a must!
Brush each patty with your remaining olive oil and slice buns, so they can be toasted on the grill after the burgers are done.
Okay, now for the grilling. I’ll be honest, I sacrificed one burger to the grill in my first attempt. Because veggie burgers aren’t “held together” like meat burgers are, if they aren’t set up or are flipped too early, you will watch dinner fall apart! To avoid this fate, here are a few critical tips:
1) Make sure the grill is HOT. We want to create an instant sear on the burger. If the burger doesn’t get enough heat, it will never brown up enough to be able to safely flip the burger without breaking it.
2) Make sure your burger is oiled! (an oil that can withstand the heat, like canola)
3) Don’t touch! You absolutely must not touch your burger until it has clearly browned up completely on the first side. You will begin to see sides curl up a bit and show the browning on the edges. Make sure to gently test if the burger has “released” from the grill before flipping. I estimate 10 minutes a side for these burgers but that completely depends on your grill and I am hesitant to give timing because it’s about when the burger is ready. Let’s just say, when it flips easily–it’s ready! All the ingredients here are cooked so we aren’t trying to cook throughout but rather, making sure it’s crispy and has achieved the texture we want.
After finishing your burgers, don’t forget to toast up the buns!
Last thing, of course, is to assemble.
I served my falafel burger alongside a simple tomato cucumber salad. (Hothouse cucumbers, roma tomatoes, avocado, thinly sliced green onions, tossed in lemon, olive oil, and fresh dill)