Nomalicious Falafel Burgers

I've been doing research into recipes that will freeze and re-heat well, that are also vegetarian.  Of the many places I have been looking, cookbooks have been a great resource.  The recipe that I want to high-light today came from one such book, "The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook" by Kim O'Donnel.

I made a batch of these yesterday, and was really happy with the results.  So, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cp dried chickpeas
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cp fresh cilantro or parsley (or 1/4 cp each), chopped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4~1/2 cup olive oil


Equipment:
1x spatula
2x large bowl
1x food processor
1x measuring implements

Directions:
1. Soak the chickpeas at least 8 hrs at room temp.  They will be roughly 2cups when done soaking. Drain and set aside.
2. Pulverize the chickpeas in the food processor until the beans just form a paste that sticks together when you squeeze it in your hand.  Over processing the chickpeas will likely end up making bad burgers.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, save for the oil.  Combine by pulsing the food processor ~12 times.
4. Refrigerate batter ~1 hr, until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350F (if your oven is more awesome than mine)
6. Remove batter from fridge and shape into patties, using scant 1/3 cup measure.  Handle batter as little as possible.
7. Place on a plate/baking tray and cover. A cutting board covered with parchment paper also works. Return to the fridge and chill for another 10~15 minutes.
8. Heat the oil in shallow skillet, and place the patties in the hot oil in small batches. Fry until golden brown (~3 minutes).
9. Flip the patties and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
10. Place on baking tray and place them in the oven to finish cooking.

Serve in pita, hamburger bun, or atop romaine lettuce, decorated with things like lettuce, tomato, and other burger fixings.  This will make somewhere between 6-8 patties.



Also included in the book is a recipe for Tahini sauce.  Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds, and can be difficult to find, and can be pretty expensive once you do. This sauce is fairly tasty, but the recipe makes a lot, and it supposedly only lasts a few days.  The recipe is as follows:

Tahini sauce:
1 cp tahini, stirred well
1/4~1/2 cp lemon juice
1~2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  The sauce should be pourable, so add extra water if needed.  It should keep in the fridge for a few days.

Possible Alterations:
There are some other recipes included in The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook that has the same basic batter, but changes the spices.  If you're very curious about it, you should get a copy (buying is good, but don't forget about your local library!)

While I like the tahini sauce, I would probably not want to make that much of it ever again.  It's expensive, and ketchup, mustard, and mayo-sriracha sauce all do a fantastic job on the burger anyway. Also, I ended up adding way more garlic than recommended, as well as probably went a over the recommended amount of salt.  Tahini has a bitter aftertaste, so salt helps counter-act that.  I know this because I initially forgot to add the salt, and realized my error when I tasted the sauce.

All told, I will definitely give this recipe another go, especially to see how it handles the freezing/re-heating process.

Good eats, and happy gaming!