Beetroot & Chickpea Burgers

It was tiring writing a post every day for a week! I think I’ve been sufficiently lazy for long enough to start posting recipes again.

I’m starting to get tired of winter – not the rain, though. Never the rain. I don’t need a lynch mob outside my door. But I’m bored of the (mostly) insipid sunshine and my desperately-in-need-of-a-tan legs. I miss those hazy summer evenings when you feel like eating colourful salads every day. I physically can’t eat a salad in winter; my intestines prefer to feel like a plush, heated hotel room instead of the cold walls of a damp prison cell.

This veggie burger – original recipe from none other than Masterchef maven Shannon Bennett – is the perfect in-betweener. Light enough for a summer dinner on your sunny patio but hearty enough for a winter’s night with Netflix by the fire (or gas heater, in my case – it’s not as romantic but at least my toes are toasty).

It’s the holy grail of veg burgers for me as it doesn’t fall apart (so key but yet so impossible to achieve!?) and the outside turns crispy. It’s a lot of yum with a sprinkle of magic.

Just be prepared for your beetroot prep to leave your sink looking like you’ve been massacring very rare steak…oh the irony.

Crispy beetroot & chickpea burgers

Ingredients

Slaw:

• 2 handfuls shredded cabbage
• 1 bunch coriander, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (vegans can use soya)

Patties:

• 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 400g cooked beetroot (available in vacuum packs or you can cook your own)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1/3 cup brown rice flour
• Handful chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. For patties, place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz til combined.
2. Dust with extra flour and place on a plate. Chill for 30 minutes to firm up.
3. For the slaw, combine cabbage, coriander, lime juice and fish/soya sauce in a bowl. (Tip: I like the really salty slaw with the slightly sweet hint of beetroot, but if this is too overpowering for you, add a touch of sweet chilli or coconut sugar to offset the salt)
4. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook patties for 8 minutes, turning halfway, or until firm and golden. Make sure you start on medium heat – cooking these straight off the bat on high will make them stick. If you’re unsure, start on low heat and turn it up gradually.
5. Serve on lightly toasted burger rolls with a spread of mayonnaise/vegannaise and top patties with the slaw.