Chickpea Burgers

By now you may think that chickpeas also known as garbanzo beans are my favorite.  Not so.  Actually its red beans.  I love the rich bold flavor.  A close second is adzuki beans but I can’t seem to find it here.  The options are supermarket are:

1. Yellow split peas
2. Green split peas
3. Brown lentils
4. Black eye peas (yuckity yuck)
5. Pink beans
6. Pinto beans
7. Navy beans
8. Cranberry beans
9. Red beans
10. Red lentils

There may be others but these are the main ones.

At our house because of cost and other concerns, like me hating black eye peas and my mom hating pinto beans, we buy the following:

1. Yellow split peas – we buy this in largest quantities because it is cheapest.
2. Green split peas- we buy a lot of this because it is also cheap.
3. Brown lentils- my mom doesn’t like this but my brother and I do
4. Black eye peas- I refuse to eat this, life is too short to eat things that don’t taste good to you.
5. Pink beans-  my mom doesn’t like it and the brand at our supermarket takes a long time to cook.
6. Pinto beans- my mom says it feels like eating mud
   
7. Navy beans- I never really got into them
   
8. Cranberry beans- we buy sometimes. It’s a little pricey.
   
9. Red beans- pricey, we buy small amounts
   
10. Red lentils- a favorite here, we buy it when our budget allows
    
11. Pigeon peas- these grow in our backyard but sometimes my mom buys it.

I try to eat a variety of beans and grains to ensure I get lots of protein.  Of course I occasionally eat fish but my diet is mainly plant based.  This is how garbanzo beans came to be in the rotation at our house.  I bought it to make hummus and decided to make curried chickpeas.  My mom loved it and now we almost always have some in the house.  I make several burgers using whatever I have on hand at the time.  Here is one of my grain free version.

Ingredients:
1 small carrot
2 sprigs parsley or 1 tsp dried
1 sprig thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
 1/4 of a red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 potato cooked
2 cups cooked/canned garbanzo beans
1 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Place chopped carrot, parsley, thyme, red pepper and garlic in food processor and chop.
2. Add garbanzo beans and chop.
3. Add potato and salt.
4. Run the food processor until everything is well mixed.  Finish mixing by hand if necessary.
5. Heat a skillet and add a small amount of oil of your choice.  My cast iron skillet is fine with no oil if I let it get really hot.
6. Shape spoonfuls of the mixture into patties.  
7. Place patties in skillet.  Flip when the edges begin to lift or the bottoms are golden brown.
8. Serve and enjoy!

I paired it with flat bread for nice sandwich.  I added banana coconut ice cream for a breakfast of champions.

What beans are your favorites? Which beans  do you buy the most of?

Related articles

• 5 Plant-Based and Protein-Powered Meals Without Soy (onegreenplanet.org)
• Spicy Chickpea Burgers (milesforthought.wordpress.com)
• Beet Tikkis /Beetroot Patties (cookingwithsapana.wordpress.com)