Veggie Burgers!

I'm pretty sure that Matt and I have never left a bookshop empty handed. He heads straight to their history section while I make a beeline for the cooking section - we each end up convincing ourselves that we don't have enough history / cooking books, and we desperately a few more. And so that's how I ended up with with a cookbook completely devoted to veggie burgers - Veggie Burgers Every Which Way.  What I really liked about this one was the variety of veggie burgers in the book - there's a chapter on bean-based burgers, vegetable-based burgers, grain-based burgers, all sorts of different type of burgers. 

Corn from our farm share! We had grilled corn with our veggie burgers.

We're doing a lot of grilling this summer, and we often want something to grill other than the standard (but delicious) grilled vegetables.  I found this book after we had tried to create a (somewhat successful) recipe for grilled falafel burgers.  They tasted fine, but fell apart really easily and would have been better cooked on a stove than on the open grates of the grill.  Lesson learned.  Anyway, we've tried out a few of the recipes so far - the basic, no frills bean burger; a fancy Tuscan-inspired bean burger with olives (it was delicious!); and this one, a super quick and easy, delicious burger made with garbanzo and black beans. 

Chickpeas - they are neither a chick nor a pea.  This joke never gets old!

The recipe couldn't be easier.  It involves only ingredients you probably already have on hand, especially if you go the lazy route and used canned beans rather than soak your own.  Which is what I did.  I think it took me less time to make them start to finish than for Matt to get the coals ready on the grill.  In case you use that as your unit of time measurement, as we do.  The recipe calls for pan-frying them, but we had no problem with them on the grill - they hold up nicely, and I like the smoky grill flavor. 

This is the "after" picture.

Anyway, you basically throw everything in the food processor, add some panko or bread crumbs, cheese, and parsley, and shape into patties.  We have a small Cuisinart, so I had to do it all in two batches and then mix everything together in a bowl.  So that wasn't hard.  Matt notes that they could use a little more 'zazz' and we should add in a dash or two of cayenne pepper next time.  I think some dried mustard would go well, too, if you don't want to go the spicy route.  But I like mustard on just about everything, so take that into consideration. 

All ready to go!

We went a little over the top and melted some cheese on our burgers as they finished cooking - yum!  You don't need to do this, clearly, and they still taste good without the extra cheese.  They also keep well - the recipe makes eight burgers, so we had the leftovers for lunch during the week and they were still delicious.  We also decided that these will make a good veggie option for friends during a cookout.  We're planning on having a Welcome Back! get together for Matt's department, and this recipe would be a great alternative to actual meat-based burgers for our veggie friends. 

Grilled corn.  YUM!

And the final product!  Some got a little more well-done than others...

 

Pub Burgers

From Veggie Burgers Every Which Way by Lukas Volger
1 onion, chopped
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups panko or breadcrumbs
1 cup grated nicely-melting cheese (we used cheddar)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Combine the onion, egg, beans, chili powder and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the panko, cheese, and parsley.  Shape into eight patties.  Cook about 6-8 minutes per side on a medium-heat part of your grill.  You could also pan-fry them in a skillet for about 8-12 minutes total.