Chickpea Walnut Burgers with Whipped Feta and Balsamic Roasted Veggies
A hearty vegetarian dinner for any day of the week!
Ingredients
- For the Chickpea Patties:
- 2.5 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 6 Tablespoons warm water
- 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
- 1 15oz can drained and rinsed chickpeas
- packed 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- heaping 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- red pepper flakes to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup gluten free breadcrumbs (or whole wheat if not gluten free)
- 3-4 gluten free hamburger buns (or whole wheat if not gluten free) For the Balsamic Roasted Veggies:
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1/4 large red onion
- drizzle of oil (I use grapeseed oil)
- 1-2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, taken off the stem but not chopped (or 1/2-1 tsp dried thyme)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar For the Whipped Feta:
- 1 cup plain feta crumbles
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/8 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste (I usually use a good amount of pepper and very little salt because feta cheese is already salty!)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Prepare the flax egg: mix flax seeds and water in a small mixing bowl and set aside to thicken.
- Prep the roasted veggies: Slice the roma (plum) tomatoes lengthwise into quarters, and the onion into 1/2 inch-thick half moon slices. Remove thyme leaves from their stems.
- Place the tomatoes and onions on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle the veggies with your cooking oil of choosing, and lightly brush the oil around the veggies with your hand. Sprinkle veggies with thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Make the the chickpea patties: Place the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and process until walnuts resemble coarse crumbles. Do not over process, as the crumbles will continue to get smaller when the chickpeas are added.
- Add the chickpeas, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to the food processor and pulse just a few times until the chickpeas are broken up and some of them have formed a thick paste.
- Remove the chickpea mixture from the food processor and add the flax egg and breadcrumbs and mix by hand until both are fully incorporated.
- Form mixture into patties and place on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the patties and roast the veggies: Place both the prepped veggies and chickpea patties into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Make the balsamic reduction: Place the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and place over medium or medium-low heat on the stove. Allow the vinegar to simmer and evaporate until the volume is cut in half. Sometimes I even reduce it a little more to about a third of the volume if I’m after a sweeter taste or thicker consistency!
- Prepare the whipped feta: Wash out your food processor, and then place all ingredients for the whipped feta inside. Blend for at least 1-2 minutes or until mixture is smooth and spreadable.
- Assemble the burgers: When the veggies and burgers are done baking, place a chickpea patty on a bun (gluten free if needed), and top with whipped feta, roasted veggies, and balsamic reduction. Enjoy!
Caritas Wellness 
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