CHICKPEA BURGERS

Personally, I love burgers but with an eye on keeping my red meat down, I've been looking at alternatives. Soybean burgers are perfectly horrid, ( Tofu nutrition is great, but please don't give me soybeans!) but chickpea burgers, aka falafel, are delicious and very easy to cook.

As always with a chickpea dish, start by soaking a cup of chickpeas overnight with ample water. Actually preferably 12-15 hours. Rinse with fresh water several times.

Cooked chickpeas freeze very well, so always soak and cook a 3-4 times the amount you actually want for your chickpea burgers.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1-2 cups of soaked chickpeas.
2. 1 punnet of mushrooms
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF MUSHROOMS





3. 2-4 shallots
4. 2 eggs
5. 3 TBSP flour
6. A couple teaspoons of your favourite herbs: perhaps parsley, origanum and cumin
7. 1-2 cloves garlic, a slither of chili if you like it hot.
8. Half tsp salt, shake of freshly ground pepper.
9. Generous slosh of olive oil.

HOW IT'S DONE

• Boil (or pressure cook) the soaked chickpeas for an hour and a half. Drain and rinse several times. Sample a couple chickpeas to make sure they are soft, otherwise your chickpea burgers will give you indigestion.
• In a mixing bowl, add chickpeas, mushrooms, egg, flour, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper, herbs, olive oil.
• Using a hand blender, chop all the ingredients into a coarse thick paste. Add more olive oil if necessary.



• HOW TO GROW CHILLI - you only need one plant.
  
  







• Into a large heavy-bottomed pan add a good dollop of butter and a slosh of olive oil. Turn the heat up to moderately high.










• Crack another egg into a soup bowl, beat with a fork, adding a little water.
• In another soup bowl add a little flour.
• Make the paste into patties, flour them lightly, drop into the egg and then into the hot butter.

ASIDE: Why should you only fry with olive oil or butter?

GREEN SALAD

WHY ARE WE SO CRAZY ABOUT CHICKPEAS?

They are also rich in phytosterols ( What are phytosterols ?) high in vegetable protein, low in fat, full of soluble fibre that keeps you regular... just one of the super food. I'm not a vegetarian, but why should the vegans have a monopoly on the all the good stuff, he?

Oh dear, the ole fart won't follow a recipe, and yes, you probably spotted it. I left out the mushrooms! Oh well, true falafel doesn't have mushrooms, and the family raved about them anyway, even my carnivore son-in-law, so we'll make our burgers again this week. I froze enough of the cooked chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans, by the way) for five more dishes, or probably our authentic hummus recipe ...

POLYUNSATURATED SEED OILS

USEFUL LINKS

CHICKPEA BURGERS

Did you find this page useful? Then perhaps forward this falafel recipe to a friend with high cholesterol, or suffering from constipation.