Curry chickpea burgers

I’m totally on a homemade veggie burger kick.  Who knew they could be so good?  And super filling too!  I particularly love this recipe because it calls for sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  Yea, that’s right folks. Seeds in a burger.   The seeds give the burgers a crunchy texture, while the curry is jazzing up the rest of the chickpea mixture.  This recipe was originally completely vegan, but of course I couldn’t let a container of plain greek yogurt sit in the fridge without doctoring it up and slathering it on my veggie burger, along with some nice, fresh spinach and a Thomas’ sandwich thin.  Is this sounding oddly similar to my Mediterranean lentil burgers?  Well birds of a feather….Here’s what I did:

Serves 4

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup regular oats

2 carrots, grated

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1.5 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Tumeric

1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt, to taste

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1 cup non-fat greek yogurt

1/4 cup red pepper jelly

In a food processor, whirl around the oats, grated carrots and all of the seasonings.

Once that’s all chopped up and combined, throw in the chickpeas and the oil (I actually did this separately and combined it later, since my food processor is miniature).  Pulse it until the peas are chopped, but not creamed.  We like texture!

Then add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and stir (don’t process).

Meanwhile, take the greek yogurt and mix with the red pepper jelly.  If you don’t have pepper jelly, you can use a chutney or throw in some curry powder and salt and pepper.  Just wing it (clearly I winged it since I used *cranberry* red pepper jelly)!

Divide the mixture into four servings and make into patties.  In a medium hot pan, grill the burgers for about 3-5  minutes per side.

I served the burgers on toasted sandwich thins with spinach one night and the next, I just put the burger on top of a bed of spinach and drizzled the yogurt sauce over as the dressing.  Scrumptous!

I know you can’t replace a good hamburger, but for a satisfying and healthy alternative, this veggie burger sure gives a wonderful Indian-infused kick to a week night meal.

- Jackie