Before we start, a few caveats about this vegetarian burger recipe... First of all, we will be cooking this indoors, on a skillet. These burgers will not really have the structural integrity to hold together in one piece on a barbecue or any sort of grill. If you are determined to bring veggie burgers to a cookout, I would definitely recommend some of the store bought options that I discuss in other sections of this site.
The second thing is that these are not meant to be a 100% match in taste to a real burger. I don't think that any veggie burgers really are, but the textured vegetable protein of the store brands might be a little closer. This recipe does however make a nice little patty that goes great on a bun. In my opinion it does have a hearty and even 'meaty' taste, but you can judge that for yourself...
Ingredients
1 medium onion, minced 1 tsp ground cumin 3 cloves garlic, minced 1¾ cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained 1½ tbsp peanut butter ¼ cup parsley, minced 1/3 cup flour ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp olive oil
Preparation
1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and sauté onions at a medium setting. Stir frequently, for about 5 minutes, until they soften. Add cumin and garlic and stir for another 2 minutes.
2. Put chickpeas in a large bowl, along with the ingredients from step 1. Mash together well, using a fork or large blunt object. Mix in peanut butter and parsley.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl: mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Once these are combined, you can add them to the chickpeas and the rest of the ingredients.
4. Shape mixture into 4 'burger' patties. Dust each with an additional layer of flour. Fry the patties in the remaining 1 tbsp of oil, for about 2 minutes a side.
