Chickpea, Zucchini and Nigella Seed Burgers

Veggie burgers are one of my favorite things to make. I love that you can season them any way you choose. These burgers are chickpea based with a little vital wheat gluten for the added chew. Raw zucchini was added for moisture, flavor and nutrition. The hot crushed peppers add zip to the burgers, which we like. The turmeric and nigella seeds were added for both flavor and their cancer fighting ability.

Chickpea, Zucchini and Nigella Seed Burgers
Makes 7 burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup of dried garbanzo beans, picked through and rinsed
6 cups of water, filtered
1 large zucchini, shredded
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of nigella seeds
½ tablespoon of turmeric
2 tablespoons of hot crushed peppers
½ tablespoon of powdered garlic
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten

Directions:

Cook garbanzo beans in water until tender. Drain beans thoroughly and move to your food processor. Process until all the beans are pulverized. Move the pulverized garbanzo beans to a large mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a half sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

Place shredded zucchini in a colander and mix with kosher salt. Allow to stand for 15 for water to drain. Squeeze zucchini of excess water and move to the mixing bowl.

Add nigella seeds, turmeric, hot crushed peppers and powdered garlic to the garbanzo and zucchini. Mix the ingredients thoroughly so the ingredients are evenly distributed. Taste the mixture for salt and pepper now. Add the vital wheat gluten and knead the mixture to thoroughly incorporate the wheat gluten.

Form the mixture into seven even patties and place them on the baking sheet.

Bake the patties for 25 minutes, or until firm and cooked through. If you like a crunchy exterior you can place the patties in a hot cast iron pan for a couple of minutes on each side.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 130.72
Calories From Fat (13%) - 17.14

Total Fat - 2.04g
Saturated Fat - 0.23g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 78.88mg
Potassium - 360.66mg
Total Carbohydrates - 20.01g
Fiber - 5.79g
Sugar - 3.65g
Protein - 9.42g

Comments:

Both my husband and I liked this burger variation. The texture was softer than more usual burgers, but was a good change. I normally add a lot of more vital wheat gluten to give them a more meat like chew. In the summer we like to eat food that has a lighter feel.

I served this burger with a fresh salsa of cucumber, tomato, purslane, sherry vinegar and avocado. The avocado was added for Omega 9, and the purslane for included for the short chain Omega 3. I served a little lemon chia seed dressing on the burger for moisture (and because I am a sauce fiend).

The extra burgers will freeze and reheat well. I like to wrap mine in plastic film and then store them in zippered freezer bags. They make great lunches, and quick dinners since they can be defrosted in the microwave and then crisped in a pan.

Overall we both liked these burgers. Tomorrow I will try them reheated in a cast iron pan to see if we prefer them with a crunchy exterior. If we do I will update this post.

Update:

Today we crisped the burgers in a teaspoon of canola oil in a hot cast iron pan. Both my husband and I agree the crust on the exterior adds a lot to these burgers. Even though we are trying to keep our total fat percentage extremely low (below 13%) we feel the crust on these burgers is necessary. One teaspoon of canola oil add 40 calories and 4.5 grams of fat (0.33 grams of that saturated) to the recipe.