Chickpea Burgers (aka My Very First Post!)

With the encouragement of friends and an angel I met at Central Market, I’ve decided to chronicle my food adventures. Most of my posts will be about what’s cooking in my kitchen, and that’s usually a recipe from my huge collection of Everyday Food magazines. Other favorites include Joy of Cooking, Jamie Oliver’s books, and even Kraft’s quarterly publications. I’m always looking for new recipes… Send me your favorites!

So last night I whipped up a recipe I’ve tried once before – Chickpea Burgers from the July/August 2003 issue of Everyday Food. The burgers are a fantastic option for our vegetarian friends, though my meat-loving husband enjoys them as well. I think you could even make them gluten-free if you used gluten-free bread.

Anyway, I combined chickpeas, scallions, sandwich bread, peanuts, cumin and ginger in my food processor to make what essentially amounts to hummus patties. They don’t look very appetizing at this point:

Grills work miracles, though. Unfortunately, I don’t own one (yet). Chalk it up to apartment living. I DO have a fabulous All-Clad grill pan, thankfully. A little olive oil, medium-high heat, and four minutes on each side later, things are looking considerably more delicious:

Aside from the fact that these burgers are yummy, I love how quickly they can be made. Cooking time is under 10 minutes, and you could make the patties ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator.

TIPS: Last time I made these, I used almonds instead of peanuts. I think I like the almond flavor a bit better. Also, make sure you use a decent-sized food processor or even a blender. I love my Cuisinart Mini-Prep (and the friend who bought it for me!), but this recipe really needs more than a 3-cup capacity bowl.

Recipe link:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=42b243e303a0f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=chickpea%20burger&rsc=ns2006_m1