I know it’s very un-Iowan but we just had our first sweetcorn of the summer! It was absolutely delicious, though, and I’ll be getting some more this weekend. I served the corn with these Chile Chickpea Burgers – an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while kind of loosely inspired by falafel. I’ve tried making bean burgers before but they always turned out too bland for my tastes. I remedied that by adding a can of green chiles and some typical falafel flavors like garlic and lemon.
These chickpea burgers are just a little spicy but you could make them more or less spicy by adjusting the spices or adding hot sauce. Green chiles are mild so don’t be afraid of using a whole can. This recipe made 7 patties using a 1/2 cup measuring cup. It’s kind of an odd number of burgers to have, but they are great as leftovers and we’ve been eating them all week on salads and in wraps, like so:
I served mine with salsa on top but they would be good with guacamole, hummus, or tzatziki too. I used coconut oil, but you could easily replace with olive or other oil of your choice.
Chile Chickpea Burgers
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons ground flax
2 Tablespoons water
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded carrots (about 1 large)
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 (4oz.) can whole green chiles, drained
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (juice from 1/2 a lemon)
salt & pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Make your “flax egg” by combining the ground flax and 2 Tablespoons of water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until thickened.
Place all ingredients (including flax egg) in a food processor and blitz away until it’s all combined. You may have to add a little more water – the mixture should be moist enough to hold together but not too sticky.
Scoop into 1/2 cup mounds on a lightly greased (I used olive oil in my misto) baking sheet. With your hands or a rubber spatula, form them into burger-sized patties that are about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Bake on a lower rack for 25 minutes and then gently flip them over. If they don’t flip easily, return them to the oven for 5-10 more minutes and try again. After flipping, bake for about 15 more minutes (will depend on the size, I baked mine for 40 minutes total). You can tell when they are done because they will get slightly golden brown.
