Garbanzo Burgers

A week ago, I was lucky enough to win a copy of the cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson from Barbara at Moveable Feasts. Thank you, Barbara! You may know Heidi Swanson from her culinary website 101 Cookbooks or Mighty Foods. She's a wonderful photography and graphic designer and great cook.

Super Natural Cooking is filled with recipes on how to add more healthy, natural ingredients to our diet. When I first leafed through the book, I was surprised to see so many recipes that sounded not only healthy but flavorful as well, including recipes for desserts. This recipe for Garbanzo Burgers was the first to grab my attention with its ingredients and creativity. 

Rather than making a pattie using beans to use as the 'burger', the pattie becomes the 'bun'! What a great idea.

A delicious mixture of garbanzo beans, egg, sprouts,, onion, parsley, and whole wheat bread crumbs form the patty which then becomes the bun for more healthy filling ingredients. The original recipe calls for chopped cilantro, which I'm not a huge fan of, so I substituted parsley.  I also decided to add a healthy splash of Tabasco for 'kick'. 

I am growing my own arugula sprouts right now and it's such a fun and easy way to add sprouts to salads or sandwiches like this.

The mixture is then formed into patties and fried in olive oil until golden on both sides.  The patties are carefully sliced in half and then your imagination is the limit for the filling.  I chose avocado, tomato, chives, more arugula sprouts, and sliced radishes.

I think these would be a wonderful served with a salad or roasted vegetables also.

It was such a flavorful and delicious 'burger' and a wonderful lunch or meatless meal.

I'm looking forward to trying more recipes from Super Natural Cooking after this very tasty, first experience.

Garbanzo Burgers
Adapted from Super Natural Cooking
Printable Recipe

Note - This recipe is halved from the original and yielded 5 medium Garbanzo Burgers

For the garbanzo burgers:

1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (about 1-1/3 cups)
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Several dashes of Tabasco
1/2 cup sprouts, such as arugula, alfalfa, broccoli,
1/2 cup toasted whole-grain bread crumbs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil for frying

Filling ideas:

Additional sprouts
Avocado slices
Tomato slices
Chives or sliced onion
Radish slices
Another dash or two of Tabasco or your favorite salsa.

Combine the drained garbanzo beans, eggs, and salt in a food processor and puree until mixture is the consistency of thick, chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the parsley, onion, lemon zest and Tabasco. Add the bread crumbs and stir until blended. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes while the pan is heating so the crumbs absorb some of the moisture. You should be able to easily form the mixture into patties after this time.

Preheat a large frying pan (I used a large cast iron skillet) with the olive oil over medium low heat. Add as many patties as you can without crowding. Cover the pan and cook them for 5-10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. If necessary, turn up the heat slightly if they are not browning. Flip the patties over and cook for another 7 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the patties from the skillet and cool on a wire rack and cook any remaining patties.

Carefully cut each patty in half with a long, serrated knife. Add your favorite fillings.

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Chipotle Pork Cheeseburgers

It's funny how recipes come your way sometimes.  Last week I was working with a friend and he was telling me that his daughter was home for a couple of weeks from school and doing some cooking for he and his wife.  He was raving about the pork and Muenster cheeseburgers that she had made the night before and how the pork was mixed with chipotle, grilled with melted Muenster cheese and served with avocado and tomatillo slices.  Pork cheeseburgers???

But, due to his exuberance about the recipe, I assumed my husband would also like them and immediately got on the computer and did a quick search for the recipe and made them this week.

My friend was absolutely right - they are wonderful!  A great change from the usual beef burgers on the grill with a surprising smokey-spicy flavor.  The mayo and avocado add just enough creaminess to balance the heat of the chipotles and the sliced tomatillo added a wonderful, cool crunch. I didn't add the cilantro garnish - just a personal preference. I added more chipotles than the original recipe called for and even added a little adobo sauce to the mayonnaise.

Chipotle-Cheese Pork Burgers

Adapted from Gourmet

Photo Credit Gourmet.com

Printable Recipe

Serves 2-4 depending on the size you make the burgers and the appetites of those your are serving. I prefer 1/3 pound per person.

1 pound regular ground pork (not extra lean)
3 teaspoons minced chipotle pepper in adobo* plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (this is more than the original recipe calls for)
2 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 slices Muenster cheese
2-4 hamburger buns, toasted

Garnish:

1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon adobe sauce added
1 large tomatillo (1/4 pound), husked and rinsed, then sliced thin
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro sprigs (optional)

Preheat a outdoor grill or grill pan on the stovetop to medium heat. In a medium bowl, add the ground pork, diced chipotles and adobe sauce, minced garlic, and salt and gently mix together just until combined. Form into patties.

Oil grill rack or pan and grill patties, covered, 4-5 minutes. Flip patties over and grill another 4-5 minutes. Top with a slice of cheese and grill just until cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes more and remove to a plate.

Spread buns with mayonnaise and assemble burgers with tomatillo, avocado, and cilantro (optional).

Chipotles in Adobo sauce can be found in the Hispanic aisle of your grocery store near the other chili peppers. They have a wonderful, smoky-tangy flavor.