Oriental Veggie Burgers

What is it: big, green, hanging on the wall and squeaking? It’s a herring. Why is it big? It grew that way. Why green? My herring, I paint it the way I want. Why is it hanging on the wall? My herring, I hang it anywhere I want. And why squeaking? If they hang me on the wall, I’ll squeak too!

What a sophomoric joke! Yet it answers the question, why these veggie burgers are called oriental. My burgers, I call them the way I want. We are back to chick peas, or garbanzo beans, as they are known. As I said in my previous post, you can dress them any way you want, and today I felt Oriental.

As always, I started with the base. Cooked chick peas, garlic, cumin, and fresh parsley. You put all this into a food processor and pulse it to a paste. I don’t pulverize it to death; I prefer to leave it somewhat chunky.

Add some eggs, a couple of diced scallions (just for fun!), and finely ground corn meal. If you want to, you can use bread crumbs instead of corn meal, but then it won’t be gluten free. The taste is different, too, as corn meal contributes a distinct hint of roasted corn. And now comes the dress-up part.

In addition to salt and pepper, I generously sprinkled it with ginger, wasabi powder, and sesame seeds. For more details on wasabi powder, please see my post Amazing Tuna Cakes. Why wasabi and sesame seeds? My burgers, I put in them what I want. If you make them, they are your burgers, and you put in them what you want. Possibilities are endless.

I use a hamburger press to shape them, and they come out huge. You can also oil your hands lightly, roll the mix into balls and flatten them to make round patties. Remember, it’s your burger – you know the rest! Then you throw them on a grill or griddle. I don’t recommend frying – We try not to fry! – but besides that, they might crumble at the edges.

Here they are, on my trusty griddle, about three minutes on each side. With brown rice and soy sauce, it will be a delicious and very healthy dinner.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooked chick peas (I use frozen, but if you use cans, you need 2 15 oz cans)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup corn meal, finely ground
• 2 eggs
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Cumin, ginger, wasabi powder to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE

• Pulse chick peas with garlic and cumin in a food processor
• Add corn meal, eggs, and scallions
• Add ginger, wasabi, salt and pepper, and mix well
• Pre-heat grill or griddle on medium, lightly spray with oil
• Form round flat patties and grill on each side until golden brown

Enjoy!