Vegetarian chickpea burgers.

Flicking through last month's issue of one of my favourite magazines, Healthy Food Guide (issue April 2012), I came across this recipe and I just had to give it a go (page 40).

Since being a vegetarian, I have found it extremely difficult to find nice tasting veggie burgers. In my opinion, Quorn burgers are horrible and I will never touch them again (although I like almost all other Quorn products). I've tried Tesco's meat-free burgers too and they are equally as disgusting. So I have always kept an eye out for an easy-ish looking veggie burger recipe to try and I have finally found one that has taken my fancy (I have tried making my own experimental bean burgers before - blog post here - but they didn't turn out so good.. Bit of a disaster really..).

These chickpea burgers are really delicious. Mine didn't turn out quite as neat looking as the ones photographed in the magazine, but I don't mind... As long as they taste good, that's all that matters. A couple of them burnt a little (although I couldn't taste any burntness) and others crumbled into pieces, but both my family and I really enjoyed them. They felt like the perfect meal to enjoy on a sunny day like today. They'll also be great for barbecues in the Summertime. The burger looks so appetising when assembled with all the garnishes, and it definitely tastes as good as it looks. The lemon and sweet chilli dressing is incredible. If I were to make these again, I'd definitely make two batches of the dressing as I just want to smother everything in it!

This recipe serves 4 people and is approx. 295 kcal per serving with the garnish, but without a roll. (I've not included the roll because you may use different rolls as I've used.. Just add on how many calories 1 roll of your choice is worth to the calories above, which will give you an approx. amount per serving with garnish and your roll of choice). The chickpea burgers on their own are approx. 210 kcal each.

Here's how it's made:

Please note: You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the burger/dressing:
- 400g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp dried crushed chilli flakes
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped
- Low-kcal cooking oil spray

For the garnish:
- 4 x rolls, halved and toasted, if you wish (You can choose whatever rolls you'd prefer. E.g. sourdough, pita bread, wholemeal, soft white, etc. I chose "Warburton's Sandwich Thins" for our burgers, which are 100kcal per Thin).
- 100g spinach
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- 1 small avocado, sliced
- 50g reduced-fat feta/salad cheese, crumbled

Method:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for about 8 minutes, or until very tender. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice to create the dressing and set aside.

2. Drain the potatoes, then whiz in a food processor with the chickpeas until roughly crushed. Add the spring onions, cumin, chilli flakes and zest and whiz to combine. Gently stir in the eggs and parsley, then divide the mixture into 4 x 10cm patties.

3. Heat a little low-kcal cooking oil spray in a frying pan, then cook the patties over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked. (Don't worry too much if they fall apart like mine did - they'll be a bit messy but they'll taste just as good).

4. To serve, top the bottom half of each roll with spinach leaves, a chickpea burger, tomato and avocado slices, then the feta/salad cheese. Drizzle over the lemon and sweet chilli dressing, then add the roll tops.

Enjoy! :D