On a Veggie High! (+Recipe #2)

It’s only been three days, but OH MY! am I enjoying my vegetarian diet so far.  I feel so… full of fresh, delicious, healthy food!  To a carnivore, I imagine my enthusiasm sounds similar to how runner’s high sounds to a couch potato (“how can she be enjoying this?!”) – but I am!

I am far from going hungry, I assure you; or from relying on a pasta diet.  In fact in the past few days, I’ve had some of the tastiest food I’ve had in sometime.  Last night, my darling Ksen, with my silly resolution in mind, was kind enough to make cheesy quinoa cakes with a yogurt dill sauce… which we all enjoyed munching on while learning to play Euchre (at which Courtney was the 4th best player).

I also found my new favorite-ever salad from Sweet Green: Romaine with peppers, portobellos, spicy broccoli, crispy kale, goat cheese and roasted tofu with curry yogurt dressing.  I really love the Sweet Green up the street, not just because they gave me a free gift card to compensate for forgetting the turkey on my salad, but everyone who works there is so darn friendly!  I always leave smiling.

Anyway, tonight I tried my second new recipe: Chickpea Burgers with  a Balsamic Almond Butter Glaze.  Courtney is questioning the definition of a burger (“can you just put ‘burger’ on the end of anything to make me like it?”), which I think is a legitimate argument.  But I LOVED these.  In fact I’m thrilled that there are 4 more in the fridge, waiting to be baked.

I did have a bit of an issue because we don’t have a food processor, and it turns out our blender doesn’t really suffice.  I added an egg white, some lemon juice and a few teaspoons of water, but still I had to blend these in small batches.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 small green chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons flax meal
• 1 cup rolled oats
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Unsweetened Almond Butter
• Egg white
• Squirt of lemon juice

These are pretty simple.  You just mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, then transfer to a food processor, or blender if you have put off buying a food processor.  Form mixture into 6 patties and brush both sides with oil (I used Olive Oil).  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix 1 part balsamic vinegar and one part almond butter in a small bowl.  Remove burgers and switch oven to broil.  Top patties with balsamic glaze and cheese of choice and broil under bubbling.  This was excellent with brie and avocado, as the recipe recommended.  The outcome is similar to a falafel and really tasty- highly recommended even for those who eat meat!

Johanna