The Ultimate Vegetarian Burgers

By Lisa Brink 

My many years of teaching experience have taught me a few things:

Firstly, I've learned that coriander – or cilantro to our US friends - is the Number One Most Controversial Ingredient, with olives and peppers following shortly behind.

I've learned that students hate to sift flour, avoid any recipes that involve separating eggs and, in extreme cases, would rather be blind than bake blind*.

Finally, I've learned that in any group gathering of students there will always be as many as 25% of diners who are either vegetarian or have chosen to be milchik that day, and that hostesses need to plan their menus with this in mind.

I know from conversations with vegetarian students that they are most insulted when they sit down to a meal and, when all the other guests are dished up a hearty meat or chicken dish, the non-meat eaters are fobbed off with a bowl of plain pasta or a couple of baked potatoes.

Non-meat eaters deserve equal treatment at the dining table, and by making a vegetarian dish that appeals to all, you can encourage the carnivores to broaden their culinary horizons too.

These even-better-than-beef veggie burgers fit the bill perfectly, and have been unanimously voted my students' Favorite Vegetarian Dish of All Time.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE FLAVOR-PACKED VEGETARIAN BURGERS

1 chopped onion

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 grated carrot

400 gram can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

4  teaspoons peanut butter or whole tahini paste

¼ cup chopped coriander/cilantro

1/2 cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Round rolls, buttered

Baby leaves or lettuce

Slices of onion

Humus

1. Fry the onion and garlic until soft, add cumin and carrots and fry for 5 minutes and then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Place chickpeas in a food processor and process till ground into a thick paste.
3. Combine onions and chickpeas with remaining ingredients and mix until a thick paste forms, adding more flour if necessary.
4. Season well and shape into patties, then place in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.
5. Preheat a little oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add burgers and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until golden.
6. Serve burgers on their own or in buttered rolls with rocket, sliced onion and humus.

* Baking blind – for the uninformed – is the process of prebaking a pie crust before adding the filling.

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